Wood bats VS. Aluminum

[camarokids]

You ever see Jennie Finch throw???

- Chris

I saw it too, she is hot!

If I remember correctly, the major league batter could not hit one of her pitches.....

[chakes89]

Sean Casey was the only player to get a hit off of her when she made that publicity tour a few years ago

[bigtruck260]

"Real baseball" as opposed "fake baseball"? Not sexist?

So - the inferior version they have for girls is not "real baseball"?

Softball?

Because girls are simply not capable of playing baseball?

They can't even have girls only baseball? Because girls are not capable?

Not sexist?

This is what I love about being a female baseball fan; I am somehow less a participant in a sports-related community because of my biological sex. Nothing fails like being female, because the sports world takes part in discursive norms that are by definition, exclusionary. And somehow, I am supposed to believe it's "not sexist"!

That's why we have the NBA and the WNBA. As opposed to the MNBA and the WNBA. It's because the WNBA is the marked form, equated with the female, lesser sex. It's pretty obvious the message that women in this culture get. And the sports world does nothing but reinforce that women are second-class citizens.

Frik - get over yourself.

REAL Baseball = baseball where the players are of adult strength and the pitchers are able to throw the baseball from 60 and 1/2 feet at a speed above 75 mph. The batters are strong enough to connect on a pitch that speed and occasionally drive the ball 300+ feet.

Now, if you have played at that level great for you and I am impressed.

7th grade softball and intramural baseball does not count as REAL< ORGANIZED BASEBALL. It is becoming hard to be a friend of yours here.

[xpress34]

I guess my point is that aluminum can mask a lot of sins and as a result, I am against its use in the pros. Or perhaps more eloquently, hitting is an art and the wooden bat, its paintbrush.

GREAT statement!!! I could not agree more!!!

[xpress34]

I would love for some actual "bat people" to weigh in on this, because I may be wrong, but here's what I believe to be true...
The argument shouldn't be a simplistic wood vs metal one. It should be wood vs metal vs composite. IIRC, composite bats can be "tuned" just about any way you want them ("hotter" or "deader").
If there someday came to pass a shortage of wood so great that it required non-wood bats in pro baseball, I'm sure we'd see the introduction of "detuned" composite bats that mimicked the properties of wood bats as closely as possible. In fact, I think that's what should be used in high school and college now. You'd have a much better feel for how pitchers would perform against wood bats if they'd been pitching to players swinging something that performed like a wood bat.
(Sorry to have injected something like nuance into this thread...and to have not mentioned saving the farting squirrels!)

Mark
bigtime39@aol.com

Mark -

Your questions reminded me of something I forgot in an earlier post - another reason Aluminum will not make the Majors - and also why you won't see Composites (Graphite and such)...

The MLB rules on bats disallowed what they consider 'soft woods' - such as Willow and the like back in the 30's or something due to their 'whip effect' when being swung.

By that, I mean that like a Graphite shaft golf club (compared to a steel shaft) has greater 'flex' when you swing it, therefore creating greater velocity at the point of impact.

Both Aluminum bats and Composite bats also have a 'flex' tendency which is why some bats have been 'outlawed' by both USSSA and ASA Softball Associations.

Yes, there are some pictures of players in swing where you can see the Ash or Maple bats bowing or flexing, but that is minor compared to aluminum and composite.

Think about this - if a player can 'flex' a hardwood bat like that, imagine the increased flex he would get with an aluminum or composite bat.

I hope that answers your question...

[Vintagedeputy]

There's a guy here locally that makes things out of some type of polycarbonate plastic stuff. He makes axe handles, gun stocks and baseball bats. I'd love to see a guy like Pujols give one of these a whirl...

[aeneas01]

The argument shouldn't be a simplistic wood vs metal one. It should be wood vs metal vs composite. IIRC, composite bats can be "tuned" just about any way you want them ("hotter" or "deader").

i think this is moot given that non-wood bat performance standards (read: limits) were adopted by the ncaa, high schools and other baseball organizations in 2000 to ensure that, among other things, batted ball speeds of non-wood bats did not exceed the speeds of wood bats. here's a very informative read on the subject found at the u.s. consumer product safety commission website....

http://www.cpsc.gov/LIBRARY/FOIA/Foi...seball.pt1.pdf


....

[joelsabi]

High School Pitcher in Coma after Line-Drive Hit

Wed Mar 17, 12:28PM PT - AP 1:43 | 155395 views

A Northern California high school pitcher is in a medically-induced coma after getting hit in the head by a line drive. The incident is re-igniting the call to ban metal bats in youth baseball. (March 17)




http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749...hzY2hvb2xwaQ--

[spartakid]

Wow, I didn't realize this was national news. A kid from my school was the one who hit him... He (Obviously) feels really bad about it.

[ballhawknet]

Im sorry I missed this thread when it started over a year ago.

I think most if not all schools and Little Leagues have rules as to what type of aluminum bats are ok to use these days. They have to be BESR certified ( which measures the maximum speed at which a ball leaves the bat ) and at least in Little League where I coach , the umpires will line
up the bats and check the before the game.

From every study Ive read a wood bat will hit a ball just as far if swung at the same speed . Its bat speed not the aluminum. The bat compaines use to "cheat" by making a 33 inch bat that only weighed 28 ( or less ) ounces . Now the rules specify a -3 difference in length weight.

Ive tried the newer aluminum bats , and the trampoline effect is no where
near they way it used to be. They seem dead to me. I wonder what exact type of aluminum bat was being used here in the North California case.

Personally I would like to see all wood in all leagues. But that will never happen. It is a money issue , aluminum lasts forever...for the most part.

A side note , about 7-8 years ago ...I think , the White Sox where using an aluminum bat in batting practice. Many of the players where doing it.
I remember standing on the concourse at Comiskey and Ray Durham was
bouncing them of the back concourse wall and Thomas was coming within 50 feet of hitting the scoreboard !!! This lasted for about 3 weeks !!! It was crazy fun Good Time Ballhawking !!!