ASA & Bats

[Dakota]

Originally posted by Larks
Why cant the ASA set the standard for the entire season and stick with it instead of another mid season ban?

It's not right to change the rules and standards mid season. Players, teams and manufacturers have made financial commitments based on published standards from the ASA that each bat had to meet prior to 2003.

I'm not saying some bats dont need to go....lets just manage this one season at a time.

If you want to ban composites, double walls, bombats and 50% of the single walls for next year fine.

Just one ASA managers opinion.

Mike is much closer to this than I, but ASA has NOT, so far as I know, changed their standards one iota leading up to these bans. As an outside observer, what appears to me happened was the bat manufacturers submitted "cooked" bats or specially selected "prototypes" of bats that they knew would pass for testing by ASA. Then, their production bats were "hotter" than those submitted for testing and did not pass. Therefore, ASA banned them.

Your real beef is with the bat manufacturers for making bats that exceed the ASA performance standards and placing a (fradulent, IMO) ASA stamp on them.

Again... ASA has not changed the standard. Bat manufacturers are (IMO) intentionally making bats that are hotter than those submitted for the original testing. Some of the composite bats (according to what I have read) get "hotter" with use, and after a short time in the user's hands then exceed the standards. This, again, is (IMO) an intentional dodge by the manufacturers around the standard, and again, (IMO) they are to blame for selling you a bat that they certify meets ASA specifications when they know it does not.