Aluminum Bat Ban? What do people think?

[northzax]

y'all probably know that the New York City Council is considering an override of Mayor Bloomberg's veto of a bill banning all non-wood bats at the high school level in New York.

[erpowers]

1. Why the Ban?

Why do people want them to be banned? I know a few years ago Jim Rome made a comment about college guys using aluminum bats. I think he was complaining that the aluminum bats cause the players to hit more home runs.

Do Aluminum bats cause more damage than wooden bats? I cannot see any problem in using alunminum bats, except that a kid might get hurt if hit with one. However, it seems a kid would not get hit if they were paying attention and just moved out of the if the bat was going in their direction. In addition, it seems that if a kid stayed the proper distance from the hitter they should not get hit with the bat. Does a ball hit with an aluminum bat travel faster or harder than a ball hit with a wooden bat?

[VelmaD]

2. to answer your last question...

yes, balls hit with aluminum bats travel faster and farther than balls hit with wooden bats.

[northzax]

3. reports on velocity vary

but anything not produced by the aluminum bat industry says that yes, balls leave aluminum bats at a significantly higher velocity (which is, of course, why people use them) it's not about getting hit with the bat, it'a about getting hit with the ball coming off the bat (a pitcher is only 66 feet away, of course, usually a couple of feet closer after finishing his motion, the ball gets there much faster.

Aluminum, of course, has a better recoil than wood, but you can also swing an aluminum bat faster, and it has a bigger sweet spot. studies have shown that an equivalent batter, with the same swing, will hit a 66 mile and hour fast ball (comparable to much of high school) 94 mph, while an ash bat would be 88 mph. that's a significant difference.

put it this way, can you imagine Barry Bonds with an aluminum bat in his hands? that would be a deadly weapon. pitchers would have to wear catchers' gear just to survive the few balls that he didn't hit 500 feet.

[LisaM]

4. It's about injuries

People have been killed with balls coming off aluminum bats, not to mention other alloys that are even more deadly. And, high school kids and college kids are a lot bigger and stronger than they were even ten years ago. Even in softball, there are some alloys that have had to be banned and you can't, for example, use titanium bats at all because of spectator injuries. I support all wood bats.

I actually think pro tennis would be well served to go back to wooden rackets - it would be a return to the elegant game of the past. I don't, however, expect it to happen!

[LisaM]

5. Edit - I support all wood bats in BASEBALL

Not softball!

[Hobarticus]

12. I agree...

Baseballs should only be hit by wooden bats, period. Softballs still move relatively slowly off the aluminum bats.

But I've been hit by balls hit off of both, on the pitcher's mound...they both freakin' hurt, and could easily have caused serious injury. At least with a softball, there's some reaction time.

[Reverend_Smitty]

6. I would be more worried about aluminum bats in Little League

The distance from home plate to the pitcher's mound is closer than the standard 60 feet and if you've seen some of those 12 year olds (some of them are as big as grown men), the balls coming off those bats could be lethal to the pitchers.

[PRETZEL]

7. Needless to say this is a tough issue,

I've been involved with Little League over the years and now with my step son, the Junior and Senior leagues.

One of the biggest, and I mean biggest, changes over the years (note: aluminum bats have been around for 30 years) is the technology. When I was a kid the aluminum bats were what is now termed "single barrell" which means that the bat was basically hollow inside. Now bats are either single, double, or even triple barrelled. They still weigh the same (from what I recall, there are weight standards in place at the various levels of play)but the efficiency and power generated is now greatly improved. That, to me is the biggest difference. It's not that the kids are any bigger and stronger than they were when I was a kid, it's that the equipment has changed so dramatically.

[LSK]

8. I dont see what advantage aluminum bats have

:shrug:

[PDittie]

9. They're much cheaper than wood bats

especially over the long run. (It's always about money.)

[mduffy31]

10. Wood bats break easily

that is the only advantage.

[Hobarticus]

11. Balls travel farther when hit off aluminum bats....

and they're much more "forgiving", making okay hitters into sluggers.

Kids have been killed by balls hit at them by aluminum bats; they come off so fast that they can't react, and the force can be fatal.

I've had my front teeth knocked in by batters with aluminum bats, and I didn't know what hit me. It was that quick.

[RL3AO]

13. On the flip side, who wants wooden splinters flying around?