Banning metal bats?

Guess so.

And no, they aren't unsafe at any speed rating. That's just fucking ridiculous.

 

A kid's bat speed is going to be the same no matter what bat he's swinging. The fact of the matter is, metal is more rigid than wood. Because of this, a greater proportion of the energy in a bat/ball collision is absorbed by wood than is absorbed by metal. In a metal bat/ball collision, the diferential in energy absorption transfers to the ball, which translates to greater "muzzle velocity" and thus greater distance. The old action/equal-opposite reaction thing ...  I say ban'em.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021120065531.htm

 

Why can't science come up with something so that you could make metal bats which provide the same effect as wood bats? That would seem to be the best solution if it could be technically possible.

 

Bat speed's not going to be the same when the bats weigh less. I udnerstand the other differences in aluminum vs. wood, but wood is going to weigh about the same. Aluminum bats have more variability there. One of the ways to cut down on the difference between the bats (but not eliminate it) is to regulate length vs. weight differential.

And spnited, I'm betting that you saw an entire team using illegal bats or the tournament didn't have such a restriction. But I still believe that aluminum bats can be safe if they are regulated in a way similar to the NCAA's regulations.

 

Oh, and Novelist, this from the link you posted:

Also:

 

It probably could but it would be hard to distinguish between bats. There would always be someone to try and beat system . Happens now with over zeaolus parents trying to slip in double core bats.

 

In this state, there are some high school leagues that use wood bats and a few years ago, the state tournament required wood bats.
I still don't understand why the whole state doesn't do one thing or the other all season, but this state's association seems very big on league autonomy (in football, some leagues have overtime and others don't. Some play 10-minute quarters, others play 11 or 12 and there are all kinds of different scoring systems used in golf). I'd rather see a team win a game because it's a better team than because it's used to using one kind of bat or the other.

 

And though it's a different sport that has probably gone with the metal bat a lot longer, I've seen a lot of metal bats break recently in fast pitch softball. Maybe the differential with wood is less noticeable when you start getting these high performance bats that aren't built to last.

 

Aren't the new maple bats less likely to break?

 

I know a handful of junior college baseball conferences (West Texas, Arizona, Nevada) are playing wood bats in league play. The winners of those districts usually do well at the NJCAA Tournament, too. I think it's just a matter of time before colleges go with wood bats. High schools, youth will probably stick with metal.

 

Why can't somebody come up with a molded plastic bat that would be as resilent as wood, but much more durable?

 

A few years ago, when one league went to wood bats (the same year the state tournament did) the JV and freshman teams used some sort of composite bat.