NYC Bans Metal Bats for High Schoolers

[1951Campbell]

Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/nyregion/14cnd-bats.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[CaptainBallz]

I've never been this ambivalent about something in my life... ever..

[CaptainBallz]

Why is that? I assume you favor the safety and purity of wooden bats, but what's the downside other than the cost of replacing broken sticks?

edit: awwwww you're a tree hugger aren't you? Aren't you?! You damn tax and spend liberal hippie propagandermaker! :angry:

You're just a fascist modulating type, so I wouldn't expect you to understand...

Actually, my first post was supposed to include the word "never", which you'll now see featured in that post. Does that change much? Not really. Can this be considered serious Sox talk? Let's find out.

I was reading the article and trying to get that ire that comes with having an opinion on the matter and it just wasn't happening. I then realized that I just really couldn't care at all...

I guess I'd support the wooden bats, since it's all natural, like me... but I understand the aluminum bats from the standpoint of bball training wheels. I don't think a baseball to the temple off a wooden bat would be any less deadly than off an aluminum bat...

[fquaye14ten]

this is going to make these nyc kids incredible college players and terrible mlb players.

stupid move.

[LuvSox]

All bats should be banned from the Italian kids.

:soapbox:

[fquaye14ten]

no---it will make them appear ahead of the crowd in college, then they'll learn bad habits because they'll be able to get away with things they wouldn't have been in high school...once they reach the pro level they'll have to unlearn the things that made them successful at the college level.

glad to see you put ANY thought into this one, zoso :rolleyes:

[1951Campbell]

I'm going to have to go with Zoso on this one.

[fquaye14ten]

you guys ever play with wood bats when you were in babe ruth? I did....

Here's what it's like....riding a bike for 4 years, putting training wheels on it for the next four years, then taking them off again and expecting yourself to be better for it

[1951Campbell]

you guys ever play with wood bats when you were in babe ruth? I did....

Here's what it's like....riding a bike for 4 years, putting training wheels on it for the next four years, then taking them off again and expecting yourself to be better for it

Ya got me there, never used wood bats.

But I'm not sure why using wooden bats in high school wouldn't just make one simply not learn bad habits in the first place.

[fquaye14ten]

Ya got me there, never used wood bats.

But I'm not sure why using wooden bats in high school wouldn't just make one simply not learn bad habits in the first place.

Basically when you go to college the competition gets more difficult. You generally learn bad habits to compensate. These are going to undo any work wood bats did in removing bad habits in high school. However that means that they will have to change their swing for the SECOND time once they reach the pros. not a good thing. Better to only have to change it for the first time once you get there.

[1951Campbell]

You want to talk about bad habits, talk about metal bats.

That's true. However, I think I remember Greg Maddux or Tom Glavine saying soemthing to the effect that one good thing metal bats have done for hitters is give them the confidence to try and hit for power even when going the other way.

But other than that...with a metal bat, sure, swing away...you can't get jammed when the entire bat is one big sweet spot.

[fquaye14ten]

Actually it's the exact opposite of that because while training wheels make things easier, wooden bats make things harder. If you spend 4 years adjusting to something more difficult you come out stronger. Once you get to college you're ahead of everyone else. And if you get drafted by a pro team, the adjustment to wooden bats isn't really an adjustment at all, but a matter of refreshing what you already know.

you obviously misunderstood my analogy. Go back and re read it or if you're not inclined to do so here's the cliff's notes

wood bat in high school=no training wheel
aluminum bat in college= training wheels
wood bat in pros=no training wheels

now think about it

[fquaye14ten]

like I said, you're at an ADVANTAGE in college.

You're going to look better than you are

[maurice]

I used wood bats in little league. They'd crack, and we'd have to keep using them because they were too expensive to replace. Metal bats were rare in my neighborhood, as were non-wood tennis rackets, non-wood hockey sticks, high-quality ice skates, etc. When I used any of this fancy modern stuff for the first time, it felt like I was cheating 'cause it made playing these games about 400% easier. (I obviously wasn't a pitcher.) I also had to walk to school 8 miles uphill both ways with no shoes on broken glass and through 2 feet of snow.