[Jim Porter]

There is a certain umpire on this forum (I won't mention his name -- he can say who he is if he wants) with whom I worked an MSBL (28+) game in Massachusetts one day a couple of years ago. He was the base umpire in, "B," and had a rocket smashed at him off a metal bat.

He had no chance to get out of the way. The best he could do was turn slightly. The ball nailed him in the wallet -- as I recall it actually broke his credit cards and driver's license in half. He also said he had a pretty good welt there for days afterwards.

That never would've happened with a wooden bat. He would've had the time to avoid the ball had it come off a wooden bat.

There's little doubt in my mind that metal is more dangerous.