Been out of competitive ball for four or five years.
With the news of the lawsuit filed from the family who has a son who was struck in the chest by a rocket off of one of these bats, what is the scoop these days?
The initial idea for aluminum bats was to save money. Kids these days want $300 alloy bats that can't be used when the temparature falls below 60 degrees and only has pop for one year.
Bats have year models like cars.
I saw a T-ball bat for $250.
Wooden bats cost less than $30.
Time to go back to wood.

Ping!

I had not looked at bats in many years (20 or so). My jaw dropped to the floor when I started looking for bats online for my son who is starting coach pitch this year. I was in search of a good /inexpensive bat and was totally taken back by the prices for even the -10 youth bats. Some of these were more expensive than the top of the line eastons of my youth (ex. the Easton "Black Magic).

After going to my first college game in many years this season (Vandy v. Memphis in Jackson) all I can say is "wow!" The jump the ball gets off these bats is amazing. Vandy hit, I think, 4 HRs that night, 2 of which were absolute blasts, including one that cleared the right side of the scoreboard. I go to 15-20 DiamondJaxx games a year at Pringles Park and I have never seen ANY homerun even approach the height, distance, and speed of leaving the park that these shots did. Also, I think it's amazing that no one was killed by a foul ball that night, as several were hit on a rope into the stands, barely missing fans. The pro fouls are not hit with near the speed that these were hit.

I am with you! Bring back the wood!

First off let me inform you that the lawsuit these parents are filing is an absolute joke. They knew the danger when they allowed their son to play baseball. Dont use the cop out of "well the ball comes off the bat too hard." You guys really think the ball comes off the bat that much harder on aluminum than wood? Have you seen a major league pitcher get hit in the head with a line drive, its no different. As far as cost is concerned, in the long run aluminum will cost less than wood because if you break a wooden bat on your first swing you need another one. All parents and kids realize that nothing is cheap anymore and there is a safety risk for every sport you play. If your scared your kid may get hurt then dont allow them too play. But if he does, dont try and sue the people and the sport just because your child got injured.

Guru,
Have you ever spent a day in jury duty pool? Scared me straight.
No lawsuit is a joke.
The bats at Target or Kmart may be aluminum, but I just looked at Eastbay and they are all composite alloy. The ratios have gotten bigger! -13 oz?
The ball definitely comes off these bats hotter. They are so light the hitter generates more bat speed.
Dick's Sporting Goods is the first place I have seen with a chest protector for fielders.

TiggerFan Wrote:Been out of competitive ball for four or five years.
With the news of the lawsuit filed from the family who has a son who was struck in the chest by a rocket off of one of these bats, what is the scoop these days?
The initial idea for aluminum bats was to save money. Kids these days want $300 alloy bats that can't be used when the temparature falls below 60 degrees and only has pop for one year.
Bats have year models like cars.
I saw a T-ball bat for $250.
Wooden bats cost less than $30.
Time to go back to wood.

yeah, this is about to happen....


chances of:

NCAA div 1 football championship playoff> going to wooden bats for ametuer baseball



talking about going to wooden bats =

theguru20 Wrote:First off let me inform you that the lawsuit these parents are filing is an absolute joke. They knew the danger when they allowed their son to play baseball. Dont use the cop out of "well the ball comes off the bat too hard." You guys really think the ball comes off the bat that much harder on aluminum than wood? Have you seen a major league pitcher get hit in the head with a line drive, its no different. As far as cost is concerned, in the long run aluminum will cost less than wood because if you break a wooden bat on your first swing you need another one. All parents and kids realize that nothing is cheap anymore and there is a safety risk for every sport you play. If your scared your kid may get hurt then dont allow them too play. But if he does, dont try and sue the people and the sport just because your child got injured.

I'm sorry guru, but there is, or should be, a world of difference between the speed of a ball coming off a kid's bat and a major league bat. I played baseball from eight years old until I was a junior in high school. Kids got hurt. That was part of the game. There were twisted ankles, assorted bruises, broken fingers, broken ankles, etc. We even had a kid that broke his jaw and lost several teeth trying to catch a fly ball with his face. But as hard as we played, I don't remember there ever being a single instance in the entire time I played of a kid getting killed by a line drive, bean ball, or anything else.

What would it hurt to go back to wooden bats? As long as everyone is playing with the same type of equipment, it shouldn't make any difference.

no need to go back to wooden bats to fix this problem. all they need to do is take some of the pop out of the alloy bats with stricter guidelines for which bats are allowed to be used

theguru20 Wrote:First off let me inform you that the lawsuit these parents are filing is an absolute joke. They knew the danger when they allowed their son to play baseball. Dont use the cop out of "well the ball comes off the bat too hard." You guys really think the ball comes off the bat that much harder on aluminum than wood? Have you seen a major league pitcher get hit in the head with a line drive, its no different. As far as cost is concerned, in the long run aluminum will cost less than wood because if you break a wooden bat on your first swing you need another one. All parents and kids realize that nothing is cheap anymore and there is a safety risk for every sport you play. If your scared your kid may get hurt then dont allow them too play. But if he does, dont try and sue the people and the sport just because your child got injured.

The balls do come off aluminum faster than wood. The chemical structures of wood and aluminum mean that wood compresses more, absorbing the speed of the ball and not returning it to the ball as much as aluminum. Less give = more speed. Like bouncing a basketball off grass (give) vs. concrete (less give), the ball bounces off slower off of grass.

The question of choice would be more legitimate if there were more leagues that gave the choice of not using aluminum. They're starting to emerge, and it's about time...

My girlfriends little brother plays little league(9-10 yo), and I noticed that on one of the teams he played against, one kid did use a wooden bat. I think wood is better, cause it'll definitely get you stronger since they weigh more.

Wooden bats are safer, but the biggest reason you see the kiddie leagues all the way through college use the metal bats is total cost. You buy a metal bat once and it lasts virtually forever.

Wooden bats break all the time...colleges and youth programs can't afford to pay for replacements all the time...I used to break 3 or 4 bats a year when I played competitive ball as young at age 11 or 12.

GermantownTiger Wrote:Wooden bats are safer, but the biggest reason you see the kiddie leagues all the way through college use the metal bats is total cost. You buy a metal bat once and it lasts virtually forever.

Wooden bats break all the time...colleges and youth programs can't afford to pay for replacements all the time...I used to break 3 or 4 bats a year when I played competitive ball as young at age 11 or 12.

Don't know about you guys, but when my kid was still playing competitive, good alloy (not aluminum) bats were costing between $150 and $250, and they usually lasted one season only.
They aren't designed to last, and have limited pop. You cannot take them to a batting range with rubber balls or the warranty is void.
Can't use them when the temps drop below 60.
You can break a lot of wooden bats and still come out ahead.

Still have my trusty Nellie Fox from the 70's.

I don't disagree about the long term cost issue, but I took my kid in to pick out his first bat and was floored by the cost of the aluminum bats. My oldest is only 7, so the rockets aren't flying off the bats yet, but I would like to see a return to wood, just for the sake of nostalgia.

TiggerFan Wrote:Guru,
Have you ever spent a day in jury duty pool? Scared me straight.
No lawsuit is a joke.

You've lost your damn mind. There are plenty of lawsuits that are complete jokes. Hell, most lawsuits are complete jokes. And the court rulings are even funnier, i.e. burglarar suing a woman because when he was in the house stealing, he was injured. He won believe it or not. How is that not a joke?