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June 12, 2007

DON’T TAKE MY BAT AWAY


We need your help!

Recently the New York City Council voted to ban the use of aluminum bats for all high school ballplayers. Now the New Jersey Legislature is considering doing the same thing, but worse! The Jersey ban would forbid the use of aluminum bats for everyone who plays baseball – from youth baseball to high school ball. They even considered banning aluminum bats from softball.

When they realized what a bad idea that was, they dropped softball but still want to ban aluminum for all baseball games in the state.

This is an unfair assault on parents’, coaches’ and players’ rights to make choices on which sports equipment they like best.

A broad coalition of baseball organizations including Babe Ruth League, Inc. have officially launched the “DON’T TAKE MY BAT AWAY” coalition, a grassroots campaign to protect a player’s right to pick the bat they like best, wood or aluminum.

The coalition includes many baseball organizations such as:

National High School Baseball Coaches Association
USA Baseball
Little League
Babe Ruth League
PONY Baseball
The New York City Council cited safety as their only reason for banning aluminum bats. But wood bats break, shatter and splinter, which introduces other risks to the game and boosts costs for parents and leagues.

A study by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research showed that in the past twenty years, a catastrophic injury to a pitcher occurred only once for every million high school aged participants. Independent governmental groups like the Consumer Product Safety Commission said aluminum bats are as safe as wood bats.

Bottom Line: Today’s metal bats are regulated to hit like wood, and both bat types are safe.

We believe Babe Ruth League, Little League and Pony Baseball should decide based on their knowledge and the various studies they’ve reviewed.

The Don’t Take My Bat Away coalition in New Jersey is launching a grassroots effort now to help parents, coaches and players who support letting players use the bat they like best, wood or aluminum.

A new website, www.DTMBA.com will serve as the online nerve center for this campaign, providing all the scientific evidence regarding the safety of aluminum bats, keeping you informed on the campaign’s progress, and providing newcomers with the means to make their own voices heard.

Here is one easy thing you can do TODAY to help: Sign the Online Petition Today!

Visit the website: www.DTMBA.com and make your voice heard by signing the online petition. It is critically important to sign-up to support safety and player choice when it comes to using aluminum bats. Thank you for doing your part for this coalition effort.

Sincerely,
Steven Tellefsen
President/CEO
Babe Ruth League, Inc.

P.S. Don’t let the New York City ban of aluminum bats spread to New Jersey! Join this growing coalition by signing the online petition today.

Once you know an organization is fudging the facts it makes you wonder how many facts are indeed being fudged.

Baseball was meant to be played with wood bats. Stop yer cryin', ya sissies.

If Metal hits like wood, then how come so many power-hittin metal bat players suddenly become warning track power spray hitters with wood bats?

Yeah, like that Ryan Howard guy.

I spend a bit of time around the Cape Cod League in the summer and have gotten friendly with some of the host parents. They all tell me that a kid's college average will drop 100 points on the Cape using wooden bats.

Metal built to perform like wood? I think not....

-g

Anyone else remember graphite bats? Back in the '70's, I remember graphite bats that performed similar to wood. Just a thought.

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.

Wood is Good!
 

There is an adult "city league" whose teams are comprised mostly of JUCO and Div III players.

Last year they decided to go to wood only for all regular season games (it's an NABF league I think).

Using metal:
The teams used to score 8-10 runs per team per game, and the 7 inning contests used to last about 2.5 - 3 hrs.

Using Wood:
The scores are now 4-5 runs per team and the games are done in about 1.5 hrs.

Using the above data, wood is more difficult to hit with.... and umpires (at least this one) LOVE wood bat games!

I took a quick look at internet site that sells bats. Here's the description of one of the bats. Most that I looked at make similar claims. I didn't see it noted anywhere that any of these bats act just like wood.

The addition of CNT, make possible by Zyvex NanoSolve materials, strengthens composite structures to allow for bigger sweet spots and maximum performance along the entire length of the barrel. The Easton Stealth Comp CNT bats also offer maximum bat head speed with the patented 2-piece ConneXion. Acting like a hinge, the ConneXion provides the most efficient energy transfer from handle to barrel, resulting in maximum bat head whip for a quicker bat and more power through the hitting zone.

he he he.... that's priceless! Someone should post that info on www.dtmba.com

If you want to do away with metal bats because the perform better, more power to you. But that is not the reason being given. The reason being given is that metal is more dangerous than wood and there is no statistical proof. In fact, metal bats are designed to be as safe as wood bats.

Further, the government should not be involved in deciding what kind of equipment is used to play a game. The decision should be made by the sport's own governing body.

What causes a batter to hit with greater power? The bat speed through the hitting zone... metal bats designed to increase this factor are generating greater power. I assume that "power" is actually the energy the ball would transfer on impact (force) which is mass x velocity. Since the mass is static, it stands to reason that the velocity of the batted ball is greater. If the velocity is greater, Fx has less time to react to the batted ball and stands at greater risk of being hit.

They're not hitting for more power; they're hitting for power more. If they could hit the sweet spot on wood as often as they do on metal they'd hit it out just as often. Don't confuse the HR stats dropping for a change in power; it's a change in how well hit the ball is.

[QUOTE=greymule]June 12, 2007

Hopefully the metal bat will "go away"

This argument reminds of the days when baseball / football stadiums went from grass to artifical turf.

Eventually most if not all went back to grass the way the game was meant to be played.

The same holds true for metal vs. wood. The game was meant for wood bats.

Also, if a college student does want to give the PROS a shot why use metal? He will be at a disadvantage when he goes to A, AA or Triple A ball where wood is used.

All I can say is this.

On average, wood bat games are quicker than metal bat games. One of the advantages of the game played by metal is the DP balls (provided the fielder can field it) Since the ball comes at you quicker you have a better chance of completing the DP.

On the "flip side"
you get those "cheap" otherwise known as the metal bat base hit when a player gets jammed.

Personally I hope all leagues go back to wood. Let's wait and see

Pete Booth

Anything new?

Let's see....whining, misleading claims, more whining...

Nope, nothing new.