NJ Coach Opposes Metal Bat Ban
July 30, 2006

From: Brian Giallella
To: sports@gmnews.com
Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2006 1:24 PM
Subject: Comments on Aluminum bat bill in NJ

Doug,
My name is Brian Giallella and I am the Head baseball coach at Steinert High
School in Hamilton, NJ. We just won the NJ Group IV State Championship this
past June. I have seen your article and would like to comment on the use of
aluminum bats in amateur baseball.
First of all, let me say that I am sad to hear about the young boy who was hit in
the chest with the ball. No one wants to see anyone, especially young kids hurt
in organized sports. However, there is an assumed risk when you play a sport
and that means the possibility of getting hurt. I guess the question is will wood
bats prevent injuries especially at the little league level. Absolutely Not! I have
seen a lot of data regarding the number of injuries to youngsters during a
baseball game and how many of those are attributed to the aluminum bat. It is a
very small number and my feeling is that the bat companies have done their
studies regarding the BESR (Bat exist speed ratio) , how fast the ball comes off
of the bat. Remember if this ratio becomes dangerous, then they can adjust this
ratio and the exist speed by changing the components of the bat. It has not
come to that and hopefully it will never need to be changed.
As for a true baseball person and from the standpoint of a baseball player and
coach, do I feel that using wood bats has an advantage to becoming a better
player....absolutely. But think about this, I encourage my players to use wood
during the off season and have them use wood during select practices to get
them to understand how to become a better hitter. These are Varsity players, 17
or 18 year olds and some of them have a hard time hitting with wood and it takes
them a while to learn how to be consistent. Now try putting a wood bat in a 13,
14 or 15 year olds hands and tell me how successful they will be. It may
discourage some players to the point of quitting. It can be very frustrating. Now
what about a little league player, who is use to an aluminum bat that has a length
to weight differential of -11 or so. They have to use a wood bat that is much
heavier and will in reality change baseball, what you will see is the number of
kids involved in baseball drastically drop because of failure. There are enough
problems in this world that cause kids to stop playing organized sports....it is not
necessary to add another!
Thank you for listening.
Brian