[Dakota]

It was the bat manufacturers who were submitting carefully selected bats to ASA for certification, and then manufacturing hotter bats - bats that do not meet the ASA performance standard.

It was the bat manufacturers who designed bats that pass the performance standard when new but with use will exceed the standard.

Given the chaos in the bat market created by the manufacturers, and given that in slow pitch in particular, we now have pitchers wearing hockey goalie style head gear, ASA had to do something to protect the players and the game.

The ASA certification mark means that the bat of this model submitted by the manufacturer passed the ASA tests and that the manufacturer certifies that the bat sold at retail would also pass if tested.

It is the second half of that statement that has turned out to be not true - and it is the bat manufacturers who must bear 100% of the blame for that situation, including unhappy customers, long lists of banned bats that umpires must deal with, and all of that.

The ASA does not control bat manufacturing. If the manufacturer puts the ASA stamp on their bat, it is the manufacturer's obligation to produce bats that meet and continue to meet the ASA performance standards.

The bat is illegal because it will not pass the bat performance test. The mark is a certification that it will pass. The mark does not make the bat legal. Its performance makes it either legal or illegal.

Again: bat manufacturers have been fraudulently (IMO) putting certification marks on illegal bats.

ASA had to act because manufacturers were placing certification marks on illegal bats, or were manufacturing bats that become illegal with use.

In order to crack down, something had to change. I say good for ASA. It's going to be messy for a while, but don't forget - the manufacturers knew exactly what they were doing. They were manufacturing and selling illegal bats.