Banning maple bats?

[OleMissCub]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AvbF0Ge4De9AuflAbz4xiTgHU84F?slug=jp-maplebats050808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

Someone’s going to die at a baseball stadium soon.

 

Might be a player. Could be an umpire. Possibly even a fan.

 

It almost was a coach.

 

The scar on Don Long’s left cheek still puffs around the edges, fresh enough that it looks like a misplaced zipper instead of the mark of someone who lived too hard. Like every scar, this one has a story, and it involves a piece of shattered wood, about two pounds heavy, that tomahawked 30 feet before slicing through his face.

 

Nate McLouth thought he just missed the sweet spot of the bat. It was April 15, the eighth inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates were getting pummeled at Dodger Stadium. Long, the Pirates’ hitting coach, milled about the dugout until he heard McLouth hammer Esteban Loaiza’s 0-2 pitch. Long looked up and tracked the ball down the right-field line. He had no idea baseball’s greatest weapon was headed right at him, and that had he been positioned an inch to the left or right, he might not be here to talk about it.

 

In 2005, alarmed by the increasing number of broken bats, baseball gave $109,000 to a man named Jim Sherwood and asked him to compare maple bats with the ash ones that used to be the norm. Sherwood runs the Baseball Research Center at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, and the conclusion of the study did not jibe with the hundreds of players who swear maple leads to better performance.

 

“We found that the batted-ball speeds were essentially the same for the two woods,” Sherwood said. “Maple has no advantage in getting a longer hit over an ash bat.”

The study also found something evident to anyone watching baseball: Ash bats crack while maple bats snap.

 

Players love their bats irrationally. Ichiro Suzuki keeps his in a silver case. Kosuke Fukudome weighs his to the gram. Jeff Cirillo slept with his. Some talk to them, kiss them, massage them. Anything to keep them happy.

 

Though, as one union source noted, after long struggles the players agreed to add earflaps onto helmets and ban amphetamines. If MLB is insistent enough, and perhaps willing to sacrifice something in return, the players might agree to forgo maple.

 

“I do not anticipate players will jump up and down and say, ‘You can take our bats away right away,’ ” the union source said. “If that’s backlash, I do expect some, yeah. Players may say, ‘Aren’t there other things you can do first?’ ”

 

Yes, though sources said MLB, while not sold on an outright ban, will push for one. The day after Long was hit, officials received video of the McLouth at-bat from multiple angles. One particularly gruesome shot came from a field-level camera pointed toward the dugout.

 

That afternoon, MLB officials contacted the union to set up a meeting to discuss maple bats.

 

Outspoken voices are beginning to emerge. Pirates manager John Russell and Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon have called them “dangerous,” and Mientkiewicz said it was “amazing” that one hasn’t struck and injured a player.

 

“It’s going to take somebody getting severely hurt to think about a change,” Mientkiewicz said. “Anybody who thinks I’m overreacting should go look at our hitting coach’s face. It was spooky. It was really spooky.”

 

More evidence of a nanny state in MLB or would it be a good decision?

[CuseCubFan69]

Didn't Bonds start this maple rush with his steroid year of 73 HR's?

[Soul]

Didn't Bonds start this maple rush with his steroid year of 73 HR's?

 

That's what I thought. But back then people erroneously attributed his home runs to the use of maple. Later it was found to be good old fashioned roids. Kind of like how people once thought the increased home runs were due to a "juiced ball."

[BigbadB]

Bats are breaking nearly as often as balls are hit out of play. It's become ridiculous. I have seen many shards of bat fly into the stands so far this year, one being a piece that surely would have done some damage if it hit someone. Instead, it landed in the aisle between rows at Dodger Stadium.

 

The frequency to which bats are splintering is definitely cause for concern. I think Adenhart broke every bat in one of the innings he pitched against the Angels last night.

 

You just don't know which direction a broken bat will fly, which is the biggest cause of concern.

[Sammy Sofa]

I don't see how this is a "nany state" at all. You'd have to be blind to see that bats are now basically breaking left and right compared to the old "ash days."

[Soul]

And the fans' safety should be a concern too. Sitting behind the dugouts might be a little more dangerous now. I've seen a couple people get whacked already this year. I'm not sure if it's statistically happening more often, but I'd be interested in seeing the numbers.

 

You can tell people to keep their eyes on the game, sure, but inevitably they're going to be chatting with their friends, buying a beer, etc.

[TruffleShuffle]

hockey sticks are breaking a lot more these days, too.

[hardcorecubfan]

Makes sense, with maple being the denser of the two woods though it has a tendencies for imperfections which makes it ideal for making tables and cabinets.

 

I think they should work on banning aluminum bats from little league on up

[Coach C]

While nobody died yet, the homeplate ump in the Colorado/KC game got whacked with one at his forehead. Went to the hospital and had concussion.

 

Ump released with mild concussion

[Derwood]

According to Len Kasper, the maple bats are part of the CBA, so Selig or the MLB can't just say "no more maple" mid-season

[Tracer Bullet]

I think they should work on banning aluminum bats from little league on up

 

Yeah, that seems likely.

[ConstableRabbit]

I think what may end up happening is a rule mandating a certain thickness of the bats. While maple is a problem because of how it splinters, players need to have thinner handles to account for the fact that maple is a harder and heavier than ash. The combination of thin handles and heavy barrels really contributes to bats breaking.

[badnews]

Let's ban everything and put everyone in a plastic bubble. Too many lives have been lost over not having people live in plastic bubbles already. The time to act is yesterday. Who could be the next victim? Maybe YOUR CHILD.

[TruffleShuffle]

Let's ban everything and put everyone in a plastic bubble. Too many lives have been lost over not having people live in plastic bubbles already. The time to act is yesterday. Who could be the next victim? Maybe YOUR CHILD.

 

okay, except ash bats are just as good as maple bats and don't splinter dangerously when broken. so why not make the switch?

[badnews]

So the players are just being irrationally superstitious and there's no difference?

 

Anyway, if something gets done it better be after the season, I don't want anything messing with the Cubs' offensive mojo.

[Jehrico]

According to Len Kasper, the maple bats are part of the CBA, so Selig or the MLB can't just say "no more maple" mid-season

Technically he can, the commissioner can make any changes at his will that he deems to be vital to the survival of the league. This is why he gets so much flak over handling the steriods issue. He could have implemented a program at any time then forced the MLBPA to publicly denounce steroid testing, which would have been a disaster for them, or accept it. Logistically, it would be a foolish move. I read somewhere that Louisville Slugger, or whoever the main supplier of bats is, along with other bat manufacturers, wouldn't immediately be able to keep up with the demand for ash bats if a change were made without notice. In fact, I think they said they'd need 12 months lead time to change up their production and procurement processes to adjust to the shifted demand. I don't know if I buy 12 months. I bet they could get their act together in an offseason if MLB went ahead without then and started soliciting new companies to make bats. Regardless, if he pulled the trigger on such a move without notice, they would run out of bats fairly quickly.

[OleMissCub]

A-Rod uses an Ash bat. I think that's good enough for me. Get rid of the maple. I'm sick of seeing bats explode five times a game.

[mul21]

So the players are just being irrationally superstitious and there's no difference?

 

Anyway, if something gets done it better be after the season, I don't want anything messing with the Cubs' offensive mojo.

 

That's correct. I read a study somewhere that said in laboratory testing there was almost zero difference in the way the ball came off the bat in maple vs. ash. The fad started after Bonds hit 73 using a maple bat and a bunch of guys started following suit. I read all that in the same article, just don't remember where it came from.

 

Edit: Apparently I read most of that in OMC's OP.

[UK1679666180]

I enjoy hitting with maple, I doubt I would want to change espec. if was anything beyond a rec. league.