A tragic accident in a High School baseball game that sent a pitcher into a coma after being hit in the head from a batted ball has created quite a stir against the use of aluminum bats. The school and its opponent have agreed to use wooden bats in their next game.
The use of aluminum bats in high schools and colleges has always concerned me. Major League Baseball does not allow aluminum bats and only uses wooden bats. However, high schools and colleges all across the land use this deadly weapon all because of economical reasons. T-Ball and Little Leagues also use these thunder sticks.Yes, wood costs more in the long run, but I’m sorry, you cannot put a price on the safety of our children. I hope this will lead to a more thorough investigation on the safety of wood vs aluminum bats. There are studies with wildly opposing results so it all depends which report you read. We need an unbiased analysis on this subject matter and quick.
Besides potentially being safer to use, wooden bats would also better prepare youngsters for minor league and major league play which only uses wooden bats. Having played with both types of bats I can tell you it makes a tremendous difference in hitting. It also changes the way you field the ball because of the incredible speed of the ball coming off the metal bat.
Here’s a short video about the horrific accident that might actually help change a decades long travesty. As fathers, I highly recommend that we discuss this with our little league coaches and league officials. Let’s talk to coaches and other dads and let’s see if we can make baseball as safe as possible before another one of our beloved children is hurt.
Editor’s Note: I toned down my obvious emotional involvement with this subject matter. I wrote this right after seeing the news footage of the boy that got hurt so I believe I was perhaps a little too upset to write about it rationally. All I know is that there is still too much confusion over the safety of aluminum bats vs wooden bats. If it turns out that they are equally dangerous, then so be it. I just want a consensus decision to be made.
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Someone asked a good question on facebook about statistics of aluminum vs wooden bats. They wanted proof that the ball does travel faster coming off metal bats than on wooden bats.
There are many studies that back this up… here’s just one of them
http://baseball.suite101.com/article.cfm/baseballs_hit_with_aluminum_bats_travel_farther
Note: I’m not saying wooden bats are safe, just safer than aluminum bats. Wooden bats break/splinter far more often and easier than metal bats but the odds of injury from these breaks are far less likely than being injured by a ball hit by an aluminum bat.
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Someone asked a good question on facebook about statistics of aluminum vs wooden bats. They wanted proof that the ball does travel faster coming off metal bats than on wooden bats.
There are many studies that back this up… here's just one of them
http://baseball.suite101.com/article.cfm/baseba…
Note: I'm not saying wooden bats are safe, just safer than aluminum bats. Wooden bats break/splinter far more often and easier than metal bats but the odds of injury from these breaks are far less likely than being injured by a ball hit by an aluminum bat.
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Someone asked a good question on facebook about statistics of aluminum vs wooden bats. They wanted proof that the ball does travel faster coming off metal bats than on wooden bats.
There are many studies that back this up… here's just one of them
http://baseball.suite101.com/article.cfm/baseba…
Note: I'm not saying wooden bats are safe, just safer than aluminum bats. Wooden bats break/splinter far more often and easier than metal bats but the odds of injury from these breaks are far less likely than being injured by a ball hit by an aluminum bat.
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Great post Pai! I always wondered about Aluminum bats. As a Dad, the only proof of the issue I needed was a simple one: I have seen many wooden bats break. I have never seen an aluminum bat break. If a bat hits a kid, which one is more likely to pack a bigger punch? Seems fairly obvious to me… Thanks for raising the awareness of this issue!
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Thanks Sass. Like I said, being hit with a hardball from ANY type of bat isn’t going to feel good…but anything we can do to reduce the impact (even a tiny bit) could make all the difference in the world.
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I agree we need to go to the wooden bats, the sound is just som much better. PING is now way to play ball
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Great post Pai! I always wondered about Aluminum bats. As a Dad, the only proof of the issue I needed was a simple one: I have seen many wooden bats break. I have never seen an aluminum bat break. If a bat hits a kid, which one is more likely to pack a bigger punch? Seems fairly obvious to me… Thanks for raising the awareness of this issue!
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Great post Pai! I always wondered about Aluminum bats. As a Dad, the only proof of the issue I needed was a simple one: I have seen many wooden bats break. I have never seen an aluminum bat break. If a bat hits a kid, which one is more likely to pack a bigger punch? Seems fairly obvious to me… Thanks for raising the awareness of this issue!
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Thanks Sass. Like I said, being hit with a hardball from ANY type of bat isn't going to feel good…but anything we can do to reduce the impact (even a tiny bit) could make all the difference in the world.
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Thanks Sass. Like I said, being hit with a hardball from ANY type of bat isn't going to feel good…but anything we can do to reduce the impact (even a tiny bit) could make all the difference in the world.
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I agree we need to go to the wooden bats, the sound is just som much better. PING is now way to play ball
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I agree we need to go to the wooden bats, the sound is just som much better. PING is now way to play ball
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I have daughters, and none of them into sports, especially baseball. They dance and sing and do marathon make-up sessions, bless their hearts. But I remember loving baseball as a young boy, and maybe one day (all too soon) will have a grandson interested in the game. I didn’t realize that the major leagues only use wooden bats. That seems reason enough to not use aluminum bats in school games. Great article.
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I have daughters, and none of them into sports, especially baseball. They dance and sing and do marathon make-up sessions, bless their hearts. But I remember loving baseball as a young boy, and maybe one day (all too soon) will have a grandson interested in the game. I didn’t realize that the major leagues only use wooden bats. That seems reason enough to not use aluminum bats in school games. Great article.
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I have daughters, and none of them into sports, especially baseball. They dance and sing and do marathon make-up sessions, bless their hearts. But I remember loving baseball as a young boy, and maybe one day (all too soon) will have a grandson interested in the game. I didn’t realize that the major leagues only use wooden bats. That seems reason enough to not use aluminum bats in school games. Great article.
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Any implication that a non-wood bat presents a greater danger than a wood bat is simply FALSE. See the third-party research below:
1.) Bats used at the Little League level are governed by the BPF Standard: the rebound effect of the batted ball off non-wood bats cannot exceed the rebound effect of the batted ball off a wood bat.
2.) A 2007 study on the “Non-Wood vs. Wood Bats” by Illinois State University concluded that “there was no statistically significant evidence that non-wood bats result in an increased incidence of severity of injury.”
3.) In 2002 (before today’s standards were implemented), the Consumer Product Safety Commission stated “Available incident data are not sufficient to indicate that non-wood bats may pose an unreasonable risk of injury.”
From an injury perspective, it’s important to note that Little League Baseball started tracking catastrophic injuries in the 1950s. There have been eight Little League pitchers who have died from batted balls — six of those batted balls were hit with a wood bat. But no Little League pitchers have been struck and killed by a batted ball since 1973. In 2007, minor league baseball coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed during a game by a ball hit off a wood bat, while he was coaching first base. In 2004, a baseball player was struck and killed by a ball hit off a wood bat in Utah. Baseball is not dangerous, but unexpected injuries do occur – off both wood and non-wood bats.
In 2003, performance standards on non-wood bats were changed for high school and college baseball. Those bats are now governed by the BESR (Ball Exit Speed Ratio) standard. In layman’s terms, the speed of the batted balls off metal/non-wood bats is comparable to that of the best major league wood bat.
Today’s major leaguers all grew up using a non-wood bat. Secondly, amateur baseball is not the training ground for pro baseball. Amateur baseball’s only obligation is to give today’s young players a chance to play the game. There’s no need to force amateur baseball players to use a wood bat when many don’t want to play pro ball or will ever be good enough to play pro ball.
Baseball is one of the safest sports and the game is under constant supervision. In high school, tackle football, girls volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball, boys soccer, and girls soccer have higher injury rates than baseball. The main two reasons for injuries in baseball are thrown balls and collisions – not batted balls.
Finally, standards on bat performance are NOT established by bat makers. They are agreed upon by baseball’s governing bodies.
Sincerely,
Mike May
DTMBA
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Any implication that a non-wood bat presents a greater danger than a wood bat is simply FALSE. See the third-party research below:
1.) Bats used at the Little League level are governed by the BPF Standard: the rebound effect of the batted ball off non-wood bats cannot exceed the rebound effect of the batted ball off a wood bat.
2.) A 2007 study on the “Non-Wood vs. Wood Bats” by Illinois State University concluded that “there was no statistically significant evidence that non-wood bats result in an increased incidence of severity of injury.”
3.) In 2002 (before today’s standards were implemented), the Consumer Product Safety Commission stated “Available incident data are not sufficient to indicate that non-wood bats may pose an unreasonable risk of injury.”
From an injury perspective, it’s important to note that Little League Baseball started tracking catastrophic injuries in the 1950s. There have been eight Little League pitchers who have died from batted balls — six of those batted balls were hit with a wood bat. But no Little League pitchers have been struck and killed by a batted ball since 1973. In 2007, minor league baseball coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed during a game by a ball hit off a wood bat, while he was coaching first base. In 2004, a baseball player was struck and killed by a ball hit off a wood bat in Utah. Baseball is not dangerous, but unexpected injuries do occur – off both wood and non-wood bats.
In 2003, performance standards on non-wood bats were changed for high school and college baseball. Those bats are now governed by the BESR (Ball Exit Speed Ratio) standard. In layman’s terms, the speed of the batted balls off metal/non-wood bats is comparable to that of the best major league wood bat.
Today’s major leaguers all grew up using a non-wood bat. Secondly, amateur baseball is not the training ground for pro baseball. Amateur baseball’s only obligation is to give today’s young players a chance to play the game. There’s no need to force amateur baseball players to use a wood bat when many don’t want to play pro ball or will ever be good enough to play pro ball.
Baseball is one of the safest sports and the game is under constant supervision. In high school, tackle football, girls volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball, boys soccer, and girls soccer have higher injury rates than baseball. The main two reasons for injuries in baseball are thrown balls and collisions – not batted balls.
Finally, standards on bat performance are NOT established by bat makers. They are agreed upon by baseball’s governing bodies.
Sincerely,
Mike May
DTMBA
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McDavid Baseball shirts with high tech pads to protect the heart from trauma / cardiac arrest and All Star fielding helmets to protect pitchers from head trauma are being mandated by my son’s elite travel team.
So even if leagues go to wooden bats, fielding helmets for pitchers is still a good idea.
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McDavid Baseball shirts with high tech pads to protect the heart from trauma / cardiac arrest and All Star fielding helmets to protect pitchers from head trauma are being mandated by my son's elite travel team.
So even if leagues go to wooden bats, fielding helmets for pitchers is still a good idea.
#
McDavid Baseball shirts with high tech pads to protect the heart from trauma / cardiac arrest and All Star fielding helmets to protect pitchers from head trauma are being mandated by my son's elite travel team.
So even if leagues go to wooden bats, fielding helmets for pitchers is still a good idea.
#
McDavid Baseball shirts with high tech pads to protect the heart from trauma / cardiac arrest and All Star fielding helmets to protect pitchers from head trauma are being mandated by my son's elite travel team.
So even if leagues go to wooden bats, fielding helmets for pitchers is still a good idea.
#
McDavid Baseball shirts with high tech pads to protect the heart from trauma / cardiac arrest and All Star fielding helmets to protect pitchers from head trauma are being mandated by my son's elite travel team.
So even if leagues go to wooden bats, fielding helmets for pitchers is still a good idea.