It seemed like a great day for a baseball game in sunny California for Brandon Patch’s parents to go watch their son play the game that he loved. That was until a baseball coming over 90+ mph off the hitter’s composite bat struck 18-year-old pitcher Brandon Patch in the temple killing him instantly.
The choice of materials used to construct baseball bats has evolved over the years, starting with solid wood, then to aluminum and now composite. Major League has stuck with the old fashion wood bats. This where the debate comes into play, fair or foul? Should everyone else have to use wood bats just like the pros? Wood bats seem to be the only answer to help make the game safe again for those that play.
It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that composite bats made the traditional aluminum bats nothing but a distant memory in amateur baseball. Composite bats are constructed with materials such as graphite, which make them run a lot steeper in prices ranging anywhere from 300-400 dollars, versus a wooden bat that can run from a mere 50-150 dollars. In the early 2000’s composite was the best new kept secret for hitters. It is a lot easier to have a .400 batting average with a composite bat, then it is to hit .400 with a wood bat. This led to a cause and effect situation with professional baseball scouts. Composite bats are giving at best mediocre college ball player’s astronomical stats, catches the professional scout’s eyes, then they draft a player whose whole career has only been associated with the use of composite bats. The media and sports writers write about these college superstar athletes saying they are destined to go straight to the big leagues, and how they won’t need any Minor League experience. To the media these days every high school or college player that has a .500 batting average is the second coming of Babe Ruth. More times then not do these cocky athletes get a rude awaking when they go from the luxury of composite bats to wood bats. So these athletes who were projected to spend no time in the Minor League end up only having a career in Minor Leagues, because the adjustment is just that much more difficult.
Not only do composite bats influence ones performance there is also the risk of “bat rolling.” Unlike traditional aluminum bats, composite bats can be enhanced even more by the repeated rolling of the bat between two hard rubber wheels. This causes the fibers to become more flexible, and greatly improving the bat’s trampoline effect and resulting in an increased ball speed and distance (Dangers of Composite.) University of Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin has become and outspoken critic, arguing “composite bats that get “juiced” are dangerous and produce competitive inequities. Just last week Cody Hawn of Tennessee hit a 500ft homerun against us. Coach Corbin noted, we had the number two overall pick in the Major League Draft last year, and I never witnessed him hit a 500ft homerun. Cody Hawn just last year was playing junior college baseball, and now he’s hitting a 500ft homerun against our number two pitcher? It doesn’t make sense to me?”(Bat Rolling.)
Composite bats aren’t the only bats that can be enhanced. Wood bats are capable of being corked. “A corked bat is specially modified baseball bat that has been filled with cork or a similar lighter less dense substance to make the bat lighter without losing much power,”(corked bat.) A lighter bat gives a hitter a quicker swing and may improve the hitters timing. Corked bats still don’t have the danger that surrounds composite bats. When a Major League baseball player gets caught with a enhanced bat they’re only suspended 7-10 games. Corked bats are still conciderd cheating. But, Major League Baseball is nowhere as consirend with corked bats, compared to the steroid epedmeic in baseball just for the mere fact corked bats don’t produce that much more of an advantage.
Baseball has always been labled “America’s past time,” and when the great game of baseball was created they used wood bats. Why mess with a good thing? As much as I hate to admit it the game has went from being strickly a pitching/ defensivly played game to a hitters game. Spectators want to watch the un common fourteen runs scored in a college baseball game. They don’t want to see the 1-0 pitchers duels anymore. Because of this many professional players have resorted to steroids, because they know wood bats cant produce the fireworks like composite bats can. In college baseball composite bats have created a inbalance between defense and offense. In 1970 when college players used aluminum bats the NCAA average batting average was a mere .260, and jumped to a outstanding .320 in the early 2000’s when composite bats first came onto the baseball secene. Runs per game also increased from the aluminum days. In 1970 the average runs scored per game was 4.5, compared to 10 in 2000 when composite bats were introduced, (Changed the Game.) This is compared to a playoff Major League Baseball caliber team that scores a average of 5 runs per game,( MLB average statistics.)
Besides the argument that composite bats make mediocre players look like future superstars, there is the dangers they produce for opposing pitchers and infielders. composite baseball bats have come under scrutiny more then ever lately after tests performed by the NCAA were conducted during the 2009 NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournamnent showing that the majority of composite bats used during the championship failed the BESR test. The BESR test is a performance criteria for bats to see if they are safe for play. The equation is called “BBS” which stands for batted ball speed, (BESR.) It is a scientific equation that formulates if the pitcher is throwing a certain speed, and if contact is made with the bat how fast will the ball come off the bat. “The equation is . Where vball is the pitched-speed of the ball, vbat is the linear speed of the bat at the location of impact; eA is the collision efficiency, a quantity that depends on the elastic properties of both the bat and ball, as well as on the moment-of-inertia of the bat, and the location of the impact on the bat barrel,” (Explaining BESR.)
University of Massachusetts Lowell Sports Performance Center decided to put the debate to rest of which is really safer so they conducted a study where, six college players took multiple swings in batting practice over the course of five days using randomly selected wood and composite bats. Batters took batting practice thrown by both pitchers, and pitching machines until they could produce 30 line drives. A radar gun measured the speed of the ball as it came off the bat. The average batted ball speed for a wood bat was 88.6 mph versus 99 mph for composite bats, (Composite vs. Wood.) The study Lowell Sports Performance Center conducted should be enough proof why composite bats should be outlawed in amateur sports. The younger and less experienced an athlete is the slower their reaction time is going to be. That’s why there are so many more injuries obtained by pitchers and infielders in Little League Baseball all the way up to college baseball caused by composite bats versus, injuries obtained by Major League pitchers and infielders from the use of wood bats.
Composite bats are not only dangerous for the defensive aspect of the game but, there is also an unfair advantage to the pitchers. I like to think the use of composite bats is just as unfair to a pitcher as say a clean steroid free Major League pitcher facing a hitter that uses performance enhancing drugs to help their game.
To make baseball fair, competitive, and as safe as it was back in the all wooden days I believe that all composite bats, and even aluminum bats should be outlawed for all ages divisions. This will prevent many injuries, deaths, and let a players real talent shine in the game that is known as America’s pastime.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
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1 comment:
I umpired for many years and I agree with you. All non woods bats (I despise aluminum bats. Hate them) must be banned before more kids are injured or worse. They have to go, now...
Jeff Hare Cedar Rapids sports examiner, examiner.com
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