Hearing the new college bats are terrible...
- Thread starter 8dog
- Start date
College baseball is more like pinball baseball. Maybe if the bats were more like real bats, you wouldn't have pitchers having to work the edges all the time (and walking a lot of batters even with the ridiculously wide strike zone college umpires usually give them) and could actually challenge a hitter.
mandating a difference of 3 instead of 5. I can't believe they ever let any of these guys swing with those things. That's how you get scores like 21-14 in the 1998 CWS final. That's also how people get killed.
I think its probably been a technology deal. Just needed to develop it.
I think its probably been a technology deal. Just needed to develop it.
There is no arguing that the bats used in college baseball are much more dangerous than wooden bats
but he very well could have. I'm not aware of college players dying year after year either though.
I'm saying that maybe they should start playing with plastic bats and balls because players "could" die or get hurt from either.
but in the same study, the impact or the actual damage done was far worse with the wooden bats. where all of the aluminum bat injuries were bruises, there were several fractures and one concussion with the wooden bats.
Thus, I would have to say that the evidence is inconclusive.
Thus, I would have to say that the evidence is inconclusive.
will be the ones that have good pitching. Now pitchers can jam hitters inside.
It probably will be to our advantage in some ways, though. Cohen wants a team with a lot of speed, and those teams typically have guys that are not power guys. It should be a little bit less of an adjustment for guys like CT Bradford and Jaron Shepherd. A guy like a Conner Powers or a Ryan Duffy would fly out more than they would in the past.
It's also going to make playing good defense even more imperative as well, and I think we'll probably see a lot more small ball. It might not be a bad thing.
It probably will be to our advantage in some ways, though. Cohen wants a team with a lot of speed, and those teams typically have guys that are not power guys. It should be a little bit less of an adjustment for guys like CT Bradford and Jaron Shepherd. A guy like a Conner Powers or a Ryan Duffy would fly out more than they would in the past.
It's also going to make playing good defense even more imperative as well, and I think we'll probably see a lot more small ball. It might not be a bad thing.
dying from getting struck be a batted ball was Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians in the early 1900's. Of course, that was off of a wood bat. Someone hit a ball that hit him in the temple, and killed him. Back then, they used baseballs that were often very dirty, and obviously more of a brown color, so MLB started making the umpires use newer, white baseballs even more.
I have actually heard of more damage from batters getting hit in the head from pitches. Like Tony Conigliaro in the late 60's, and Adam Greenberg of the Chicago Cubs earlier in this decade.
I remember Juan Encanarcion of the Cardinals was hit by a ball while on deck, and that ended his career.
The biggest danger with wood bats is that they break from time to time, and there is added danger because you have lots of objects moving- the ball and the sharp wooden pieces. Those can distract a fielder or a runner, which adds to the danger.
So, wood bats are not exactly totally friendly either.
I do support college baseball using wood, because I do not think that technology can replicate wood at this time in a form that will not break. I think all things being equal, they should use wood. Colleges did it for years until the 70's, and didn't seem to have a huge financial burden doing so.
I have actually heard of more damage from batters getting hit in the head from pitches. Like Tony Conigliaro in the late 60's, and Adam Greenberg of the Chicago Cubs earlier in this decade.
I remember Juan Encanarcion of the Cardinals was hit by a ball while on deck, and that ended his career.
The biggest danger with wood bats is that they break from time to time, and there is added danger because you have lots of objects moving- the ball and the sharp wooden pieces. Those can distract a fielder or a runner, which adds to the danger.
So, wood bats are not exactly totally friendly either.
I do support college baseball using wood, because I do not think that technology can replicate wood at this time in a form that will not break. I think all things being equal, they should use wood. Colleges did it for years until the 70's, and didn't seem to have a huge financial burden doing so.
AceLeroy said:
You could buy a wooden bat for about 100 dollars (high quality, Louisville Slugger, and a maple bat will cost about 120), but based on some numbers that I ran on how often MLB players go through bats (50 a year per wikianswers, so I have no idea how reliable that actually is), and I figured out how many bats a MLB player would go through during a 56 game season, and I came up with 14. So, if my math is anywhere near accurate, that's 1400 dollars in bats. Those are individual bats, and I'm sure that if there was a bat contract, they would probably be a little bit cheaper than they would idivudually.
A high quality aluminum bat will cost about 200+ dollars (Individual, same bat contract rules apply) , and should last all year. Players will go through 1-2 of those a year.
But the fact remains- colleges used wood for years and I can't think of a program that went belly-up because they used wood bats. Also, the Cape Cod and many other leagues use wood as well. So, while it is cheaper in the long run to use metal, using wood bats can be done.
I really would love to see wood in college baseball. If cost is that big of an issue (and I'm sure it is), I would be OK with a compromise of maybe using wood bats in some of the elite conference's (SEC, PAC-10, ACC, etc) conference games, and then metal against those that can not afford wood. It would just add so much to the quality of product on the field in that I think it would be baseball in a more "true" form.
<div>Todd4State said:
</div>There was a minor league first base coach that got smoked by a ball in the head a few years back that got killed.<div>
</div><div>http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/news/story?id=2945798
</div>
With the few scholarships left available to Baseball, college baseball should sell itself better as a preparation for professional baseball. For that reason they should go to wood bats. Most people playing college ball have a dream of going to the next level. This way they can prepare for life with an education and prepare for Baseball with the use of the tools they will be required to use at the next level.
I know in my day it was a big concern for scouts how to properly evaluate a player concerning their transition to a wood bat. I played right in the time of the change over from wood to aluminum. I used wood mostly until I was in high school. I found a Wilson Indestructo that was the first aluminum bat that would not bend or crack from my usage in my junior year of HS. When I got to State we used the Worth Tennessee Thumpers, but they would bend and collapse. I had actually brought the last of my Joe Torre Adirondack bats with me to State. Then I found the Easton during the CWS in 1979 and that bat was solid. I used a 35 in 31 oz monster. Even then I had two of them because they would not last a full season.
I know in my day it was a big concern for scouts how to properly evaluate a player concerning their transition to a wood bat. I played right in the time of the change over from wood to aluminum. I used wood mostly until I was in high school. I found a Wilson Indestructo that was the first aluminum bat that would not bend or crack from my usage in my junior year of HS. When I got to State we used the Worth Tennessee Thumpers, but they would bend and collapse. I had actually brought the last of my Joe Torre Adirondack bats with me to State. Then I found the Easton during the CWS in 1979 and that bat was solid. I used a 35 in 31 oz monster. Even then I had two of them because they would not last a full season.
J
JimHalpert.nafoom
Guest
is that college teams, at least SEC teams, don't pay for their bats. The coaches get tossed a nice chunk of change to use a company's bats exclusively.
Let's say you go to wood bats. A kid gets drafted out of high school. My thought is that he is more likely to go pro now b/c he could get exposed in college with the wood bat far easier and never get drafted again. Obviously, this applies to position players.
The better players are going to be better whether they use wood or metal. Use of wood in college will allow the player to experience the transition in college and have 2 to 4 years to make the adjustment. In the Pros they are not as patient and those adjustment years will be more critical.
I am a firm believer you should practice like you play. Heck, I think a batter should wear their helmet whenever they swing a bat. I went to Sam Houston State last year to have Coach Mark Johnson evaluate my nephew for us. It was a high school players "tryout day" type of camp. During the batting part they had the BP pitcher setup about 45 feet from home plate. It was kind of like they do in the HomeRun derby. I talked to Coach Johnson after the camp and told him I disagreed with evaluating kids in that fashion. I watched these kids and they never got to load their swings. They probably were not used to that drill. They basically had to guess when to load up because the time of the ball flight was significantly shorter. Therefore you were not really seeing the player as they might actually be in a game.
With all that said, I would have preferred to play college ball as close to pro ball as possible to better prepare me for that experience. Wood Bats would be a step in the right direction.
I am a firm believer you should practice like you play. Heck, I think a batter should wear their helmet whenever they swing a bat. I went to Sam Houston State last year to have Coach Mark Johnson evaluate my nephew for us. It was a high school players "tryout day" type of camp. During the batting part they had the BP pitcher setup about 45 feet from home plate. It was kind of like they do in the HomeRun derby. I talked to Coach Johnson after the camp and told him I disagreed with evaluating kids in that fashion. I watched these kids and they never got to load their swings. They probably were not used to that drill. They basically had to guess when to load up because the time of the ball flight was significantly shorter. Therefore you were not really seeing the player as they might actually be in a game.
With all that said, I would have preferred to play college ball as close to pro ball as possible to better prepare me for that experience. Wood Bats would be a step in the right direction.