Sotball Bats

[kssa]

Someone in our league told me about a pitcher in florida or Georgia that was killed by a line drive. Does anyone know anything about this ? If you do please post a message here.If you know of an article about this please post the link...Thenks Gary

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by kssa
Someone in our league told me about a pitcher in florida or Georgia that was killed by a line drive. Does anyone know anything about this ? If you do please post a message here.If you know of an article about this please post the link...Thenks Gary

*******************

Unaware of specifics, but ASA has reported 5 deaths by batted balls over the past 13 months.

[bluezebra]

Don't you just love those aluminum bats?

Bob

[greymule]

I heard the story a few years ago. In this version, it was a titanium bat and that's why ASA banned them. Maybe it's just another urban legend. (I assume that these reported deaths were in slow-pitch.)

In my opinion, today's bats, as well as the balls that don't soften up, are a major cause of the declining interest in slow-pitch. Twenty-five years ago, here in Mercer County, New Jersey, there were 110 men's teams in the county leagues alone, and every township had a flourishing league with two, three, four divisions. There were also good industrial leagues. Tournaments abounded. You could play in one every weekend from April through September and beyond (and a lot of guys did). You could also play an entire high-level tournament without a single ball being hit over a 300-foot fence.

The balls were Dudley SP12s, and the bats, while metal, were no more live than wooden bats. Scores were lower, anybody could beat anybody, and everybody had a lot more fun.

Now, over an evening's three games, I routinely see 125 runs scored, 20 to 25 balls hit over the fence (often whatever the home run limit is), every game stopped by the mercy rule before the seventh inning, and a general lethargy on the field. Guy blasts one, he waits at the plate to see whether it's caught. Guy hits a grounder, he trots until (a) the ball is fielded, in which case he stops running, or (b) the ball goes through the infield, in which case he slows his trot and stops on first. Guy hits one back to the pitcher, he walks directly to the dugout. I've had BU games where I made zero calls.

[ntxblue]

The version I heard was just a couple of months ago. Men's fastpitch - player was pitching batting practice and got nailed with a line drive to the head. Seems like it was supposed to have happened in Georgia. Can't remember where I heard it.

I tried to search on the Atlanta paper but they wanted $10 for giving me that priviledge.

[oppool]

Do you or anyone else know how ASA meeting last friday on going to the softer core ball came out??


Thanks

Don

[IRISHMAFIA]

It was not a meeting, it was the date the votes were due on the emergency legislation.

No, I have not received the results yet. I do know Texas was fighting the change, tooth and nail.

[Steve M]

I do not know anything about recent player injuries due to bats - I've read about some but I'm sure many others have too.

Here are two injuries that I do know about.

Some years ago - when Titanium bats were in use - there was a player hit in the face in a men's B fastpitch game. This player was a runner, running on the pitch from 1B, and a line drive hit him on the left side of his face. He was knocked out and the game was delayed for over a half hour to allow medical folks to arrive, prepare, and transport him. Several facial bones were badly broken, no permanent damage, and he was never the same player afterwards.

The other was a test that was done a few years ago testing bat performance. One of the testers was hit on his hand, pretty much ripping apart his ring finger. After a number of operations, over two hundred thousand dollars in expense, his finger is as recovered as it is likely to ever be. Thankfully, his insurance covered everything.

Steve M

[whiskers_ump]

Originally posted by IRISHMAFIA
It was not a meeting, it was the date the votes were due on the emergency legislation.

No, I have not received the results yet. I do know Texas was fighting the change, tooth and nail.

TEXAS?

WHY?



glen

[Del-Blue]

Glen,

I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate, but Mike told me it had something to do with the leagues in Texas having bought thousands of the .44 core balls.

Bob

[ump57006]

I don't know if this bat has gotten into you area or not, but it is the hottest bat i have see yet. It is the Miken Ultra; manufactured in Minnesota. ASA has the 1.20 bpf rule but the manufacutes are always one step ahead. This bat flexes in the handel just like you see a graphite golf club. I see guys in our town that have been playing for 15 years and never before hit a home run(300ft.) they are now hitting it 320-340 ft. I umped a tournament 2 weeks ago and the pitcher was wearing a hockey goalie face mask.(smart move for his protection) Our beloved sport of slow-pitch softball is in serious troble.
In the 10 years of umping we have gone from a 50cor ball to 47cor, now 44cor. I hear 40 cor is right around the corner.

thanks ump57006

[Del-Blue]

Saw one Monday in a local league here in Delaware. The two batters I saw swing it, hit weak grounders to SS. They were trying to swing to hard. I heard it costs $400.00.

Bob

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by ump57006
I don't know if this bat has gotten into you area or not, but it is the hottest bat i have see yet. It is the Miken Ultra; manufactured in Minnesota. ASA has the 1.20 bpf rule but the manufacutes are always one step ahead. This bat flexes in the handel just like you see a graphite golf club. I see guys in our town that have been playing for 15 years and never before hit a home run(300ft.) they are now hitting it 320-340 ft. I umped a tournament 2 weeks ago and the pitcher was wearing a hockey goalie face mask.(smart move for his protection) Our beloved sport of slow-pitch softball is in serious troble.
In the 10 years of umping we have gone from a 50cor ball to 47cor, now 44cor. I hear 40 cor is right around the corner.

thanks ump57006

Just for the record, ASA does not recognize any BPF standards attached to any bat. ASA conducts tests and measures bats against their standards. The BPF is a manufacturer's measure of their bat. The minute USSSA recognized the 1.2 BPF, did you notice how many bats began sporting that marking?

I've seen the Ultra in use for the past month and I am not any more impressed with that bat than I am the PST.

Just personal opinion, but if the player doesn't know how to hit, these bats do little for them. The danger comes when you have players who know how to swing the bat. Part of the problem is some programs are so small, you have a mix of good/mediocre/bad players all in the same leagues and that is where people are getting hurt.

[greymule]

From my position behind the plate, I've seen balls change direction radically in their first 30 or 40 feet of travel. For example, balls that start toward the pitcher and then veer upwards and to the right. Also, the knuckle balls that are sometimes hit are still going so fast when they reach the outfielders that they take jumps of what appear to be several feet. I umpire at fields I used to play on. Now there are 20 homers a night where there weren't 20 homers a year in the dead bat era.

But when you attend a major league game and see a pitcher take a one-handed swing and then pull an outside pitch on a line against the facing of the mezzanine, you wonder what's going on up there, too.

Remember when a team that hit 200 home runs had to be a real murderers' row? Now a team hits 200 home runs and can't finish in the first division.

[ump57006]

If ASA doesn't use the 1.2 BPF; what testing standard do we use?? Please explain if you know.

thanks,
van
uic
brookings, south dakota