[Jim Porter]

I've always enjoyed working wooden bat leagues more than metal bat leagues by a factor of about one hundred. It's more like baseball.

With metal bats now costing in the $300-$400 range, and maple wooden bats bought in bulk for $30-$40 each, the economic advantage of metal has become far slighter than it used to be. So the argument that wooden bats are more expensive over the course of a season has less merit. For those of you who weren't around when metal first came to baseball, that was the initial reason they gained in popularity -- metal was far cheaper in the long run.

So why is metal still being used? Obviously, because they're easier to hit with and the ball responds better off of them. They have a much larger sweet spot. Hitters can still smack the ball pretty good off the handle. They make hitting considerably easier.

Lousy reason, in my opinion, to keep them around.

Wood makes for a better baseball game on the average. How do I know? I have many years of experience working both and, to my perception, there is no competition. Wood rules.