Final Essay

Juston Dea
Period 2
6/8/10

Wood vs. Metal Baseball Bats

During the semester, I wrote a blog about High School Baseball titled, “Wood Bats or Aluminum Bats for High School Baseball.” I had read an article in the sports page of the San Francisco Chronicle about a pitcher who was hit on the head by a baseball and was in critical condition in the hospital. The incident was near and dear to me because I was playing varsity baseball for Alameda High at the time. However, getting hit by a baseball is sort of a given if you play the game because sooner or later, the ball is going to take a bad bounce and end up whacking a player on the nose, hands, or body. Sometimes, you get hit by a pitched ball. Over the last three months, the blog has become my favorite because it was such a hot topic in the Bay Area and my baseball season was still going on as our team made the North Coast Sectional playoffs (NCS). I was surprised after I reread the blog that so much has changed since I read that first article. Since I play baseball, and am a pitcher as well, I see both sides of the argument, yet I feel torn between the possible solutions that have popped up. I will attempt to analyze the topic from many different angles to see if I can come up with a solution.
Earlier this year, during a high school baseball game, a 16-year-old pitcher at Marin Catholic High School was hit by a line drive from an opposing player from De La Salle High School. The pitcher was struck on the left temple with such force that he was knocked unconscious, was in critical condition in the hospital for almost a month, and currently is in rehabilitation therapy. The incident has created a huge debate on whether or not metal bats should be ban from baseball and should wood bats be used instead. Baseball’s rich tradition might lean towards going to wood bats exclusively, but safety would continue to be an issue as wood bats can splinter. Maybe the answer lies not in whether we pick metal or wood, but rather in training pitchers about how they can reduce their risk on the mound. Since protective gear is worn by certain players and umpires on the field, why not have protective gear for the pitcher. There is also possible legislation on a bill proposed by a San Rafael assemblyman that might ban metal bats in California for the next three years. If a switch to wooden bats becomes reality, what about the economics of the change, with so many school districts facing huge budget cuts. There seems to be no clear cut answers in sight, as the debate over metal or wood bats continue.
As I wrote in my blog, “Baseball is part of America’s past life and we have been using wood bats since then. To me, I think High School athletes are capable of playing and performing at their best with a wood bat… However, wood bats are not totally safe either, because they can crack or splinter on impact of a hard thrown baseball, therefore, sending a sharp wooden missile towards players and fans.” http://jud-jdizzle.blogspot.com/2010/04/wood-bats-or-aluminum-bats-for-high.html
I also wrote in my blog how wood bats would “make batters hit with better technique.” Well, I might not have thought about how well batters would hit! During the NCS playoffs, which just concluded yesterday (June 7, 2010), 6 teams from the Marin County Athletic League, or MCAL, used wood bats and none of them advanced to the finals. Some opponents commented on how easier it was to pitch to players that used wood bats, because it gave the pitchers the edge due to how “more perfect” the hitter had to hit the ball on the ‘sweet spot” of the bat. I hadn’t thought about it, but if switching to wood bats is to be the solution, giving pitchers more of an advantage, then would we see lower scoring games, would there be more shutout games (zero scores), and would it make the game not as entertaining?

Taking the other side of this issue, what about providing the pitcher with more protection, regardless of whether a metal or wooden bat is used? As I quoted in my blog, “As a pitcher, they are supposed to be trained to protect themselves after they pitch. When they follow through for their pitch, they should end up facing the plate in an athletic stance so they can react.” “On a baseball diamond, the pitcher is the closest player to the batter besides the catcher and the catcher wears protective gear so why shouldn’t the pitcher have it?” “There are many solutions to this dangerous problem but the problem is that it would ruin or compromise the traditional baseball ways of the game.”
http://jud-jdizzle.blogspot.com/2010/04/wood-bats-or-aluminum-bats-for-high.html
With baseball so rich in its traditions would proposed safety solutions mean too much change in the game of baseball as we know it?

The issue has moved from the baseball field to the league administrators, the school federations, and even the lawmakers of California. With so many newspaper articles written after the incident, the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL), which is the league Marin Catholic belongs to, decided to ban metal bats in their entire league for the remainder of the season. The banning of metal bats was also on the agenda for a North Coast Section (NCS) Board of Managers meeting held a few weeks ago. They voted to continue with metal bats for this season’s playoffs, but a change in the future might be proposed. Jared Huffman, Democrat Assemblyman from San Rafael, has drafted a bill to ban the use of non-wood bats for three years. If his bill is made into law, how will the little leagues and schools be able to pay for the purchase of new wood bats, and what do they do with the metal bats that they already have? The State budget in California has major cuts to the schools and there will be no money to fund the expense of wood bats. Also, not only is economics a problem, but the environment is in jeopardy if metal bat are banned. Wood bats are made of wood which means they come from trees and if California can only use wood bats, that is a lot of tree cutting. Whatever happened to “going green”? Probably more time will be needed to evaluate the impact of any changes made, more information will need to be collected, and more debates will occur before this issue is settled.
The unfortunate incident of the 16 year-old pitcher for Marin Catholic High School has brought a lot of debate and an eruption of new ideas regarding the use of metal or wood bats. Recently, there has been a back and forth argument on whether to switch to wood bats, or keep it the same with aluminum bats. But arguments on both sides have advantages and disadvantages. Metal bats hit too hard, wood can splinter, it’s easier for hitters to hit with metal, and wood makes players better hitters. There is probably an endless list of pros and cons on the topic. Another solution is to keep the bats the same but focus on protecting the pitcher. There are already temple guards that some pitchers wear to protect themselves and I think it should be a rule that all pitchers must wear one. But some people may think by doing so it will ruin the traditional game of baseball. Well, would you rather stick with traditional baseball and have more pitchers end up like the 16 year-old from Marin Catholic, or is better to make some sort of adjustment? Now this problem has gone to legislation and they are deciding whether to ban metal bats in the state of California. The big problem with this solution is that schools and baseball programs may not have enough money to afford buying the wood bats. There is no set solution to this problem yet, but there needs to be more time for studies and discussion.

Note: As of this final posting…The Alameda Hornet Baseball team placed second in North California Division II, finishing with a 21-8 record and as ACCAL League Champions for 2010…Go Hornets!