Should metal bats be banned in little league?

Question

a while ago, a kid in some Long Island town was hit by a metal bat in a game and Died(i think). Now the family of said child are trying to get aluminum bats banned from little leagues every where. Is this Fair?????? be specific

Answer 1

Aluminum bats should be banned for many reasons. Aluminum bats became popular because in the long run they used to be cheaper to use than wooden bats. Wood bats break much easier than aluminum bats. Colleges and High Schools saved money by going to aluminum bats. Now aluminum bats cost anywhere between 5 to 10 times as much as an expensive wood bat. Little league age kids would break these bats much less frequently.

Also a ball travels faster off of an aluminum bat than it does off of a wood bat. This puts a pitcher in a very dangerous position, especially in LL games where the pitcher is only 45' (should be at 50' but...) from a batter that could be as old as 13 years of age. I have coached & umpired youth baseball for 13 years and have seen 3 pitchers hit by line drives. Very scary stuff.

As a coach at the high school level now, I have my players take BP with a wood bat simply because they can get a better feel for when they have made good contact with a wood bat. I think this helps them develop into better hitters.

With this being said, the LL organization gets a significant amount of money from equipment manufacturers. Knowing their past, it is doubtful they would stand up to these groups and make the change to wood bats.

Answer 2

Actually the finding are not inconclusive. Aluminum bats provide a "spring" effect when they make contact with a baseball. Aluminum bats are also lighter which allows for more bat speed, the ball comes off the bat faster.

I like the idea of 50" pitching for 11 & 12 year olds for many reasons, this just being one.

I think alumunium is alright, but get rid of the toothpicks, 32 " 20 oz bats are a big problem. If they stay with aluminum make them go to big barrel, which are heavier, and slows the swing down some.

Answer 3

I feel like an answering this for the umpteenth time.

The kid got hit by a line drive while pitching. No one knows if he would have been hit if it was off a wood bat or not. The BESR (bat escape speed ratio) regulates that the ball rebounds from an aluminum bat with the same velocity (or as near as it can get) as a wood bat of the same size and weight.

Physicists ahve tested the rebound of baseballs off wood and aluminum and their findings are inconclusive about non-wood bats have faster velocities.

Bottom line -- keep the aluminum because a wood bat is ALWAYS one swing away from becoming firewood.

Answer 4

as someone who has pitched against wooden and aluminium bats, it is definatel,y a good idea to remove aluminum bats from little league. The ball jumps off of the metal bats faster and harder. Wooden bats are safer and there are a lot of little leagues out there trying to get rid of metal bats because kids are getting seriously hurt and in some unfortunate cases dying.

Answer 5

If the kid got hit with a wooden bat, it still might kill him. Why was anybody throwing bats in the first place.
And wood bats splintering might get some kids hurt too. keep the aluminum bats.

Answer 6

I don't really think aluminum bats are necessary. i'm 14 and i use a wooden bat. i dont understand how aluminum bats are dangerous. as long as a player doesn't use them as a weapon, i dont have a problem with it

i just dont think that it's necessarily smart for a player to use aluminum bats until pros, where they have to use wood and make that adjustment

Answer 7

Keep the metal bats up through high school. Everything above that should be wood.

Answer 8

that is the stupidest thing ive ever heard with wood bats it probably wouldnt make a difference

Answer 9

yes they are dangerous

Answer 10

HELL NO!