<font color=blue>Saying wood bats are safer, athletics officials barred the use of aluminum bats in the 2003 Massachusetts high school baseball tournament Thursday and recommended they be banned from all games.


If the recommendation is approved by the full board of state Interscholastic Athletic Association on Dec. 3, Massachusetts would become the first state with a statewide ban.

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Some coaches and representatives of bat manufacturers, including Easton Sports, Worth and Louisville Slugger, argued there is <b>``not a shred''</b> of evidence wood bats are safer than aluminum.

<b>``Safety is absolutely, clearly a non-issue here,'' said David Ettinger, an attorney representing bat manufacturers.</b>

Easton vice president Jim Darby said advocates of wood bats were relying on <b>outdated data</b> that suggested increased danger from quicker bat speed and a so-called ``trampoline'' effect when a ball hits aluminum.
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Article in the Boston Herald:
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/lo...ts10312002.htm

Any comments?

Any talk about high school softball?

My experience with high school (girls' fast-pitch) softball is that juiced bats are not a problem. I'm probably violating some federal law by saying this, but the girls don't hit the ball hard enough for bats to make a difference. (And high school uses .47-core and maybe even .50-core balls, too.) One college ump told me that they use juiced balls to try to get at least a few long balls into the game, so I doubt if they're going to worry about live bats, either.

So a mouthpiece for the bat companies says . . .

And cigarette smoking is good for you, too.

NCAA will require a .47 COR ball in 2004 or 2005. We heard this at a recent college clinic.

Steve M