Kids playing baseball get severely injured, and even die. Thankfully, these incidents -- often the result of batted balls -- are as rare as they are tragic.
But politicians are trained to exploit opportunities. They are seeing one in youth sports: Ban the metal bat. Save the kids.
Here's the math: In youth baseball, almost all batted balls resulting in injury are hit with metal bats. Now subtract from the equation that metal bats are used by almost every player. You are left with the answer that the bats must be the problem.
Forget the easy argument there are more pressing issues facing New York City, which implemented such a ban for games involving minors, and the state Legislature, that has such a bill in committee. There are bills also pending in New Jersey and elsewhere.
And certainly don't discount the sincerity of advocates directly affected by an on-field tragedy.
This is still simply a bad idea, one that underplays the inherent dangers of any bat, and ignores the fiscal realities of the issue. It addresses a problem that may not even exist.
When a rare tragedy does occur with a ball struck by a metal bat, nobody calling for the ban stops to ask the basic question: Would the same thing have happened with a wood bat?
The answer, one can surmise, is yes.
"I had had some input from some people who had said these (metal bats) are dangerous," said Assemblyman David G. McDonough, R-Merrick, whose bat ban bill is in the Assembly Judiciary Committee. "Balls leave an aluminum bat at a higher speed than they do a wood bat. There is a danger to it."
First, as noted in a Times Union story last week on pros making the transition to wood bats, there's a larger surface area to make good contact with metal (aluminum for you old-schoolers) compared to wood.
Metal bats make good hitters great, and power hitters out of guys and gals who could only spray line drives with wood. Yes, the ball comes off the metal bat faster. How much faster? Some studies say up to 5 mph -- a difference between 97 and 102 mph.
Could that make a pitcher more vulnerable to getting hit by a scorched comebacker? Perhaps, but only fractionally to the point of irrelevance. This also applies to infielders, baseball or softball. (While playing shortstop in softball some years ago, I had my nose broken and eyes blackened on a bad-hop drive up the middle.)
"That 5 mph difference is one-fifth of a blink of an eye," said Ari Fleischer, a lobbyist and spokesman who represents manufacturers of both wood and metal bats. (Yes, it's the same guy who used to be the White House spokesman.)
Compared to other sports, baseball is a safe game, but line drives happen. There seems to be an equal risk with a pitcher getting pegged by a line drive off a wood bat. It's common to see a major-leaguer get hit by a ball hit back up the box.
One example: Earlier this season, a line drive off the bat of Boston Red Sox Julio Lugo broke the right leg of New York Yankees pitcher Jeff Karstens. Nobody blamed the bat.
"It makes no difference," Fleischer said. "If you are going to get clocked, you are going to get clocked on a ball up the middle, wood or aluminum."
Wood also has its own dangers, from shattered bats hurtling toward other players and fans, to shards threatening catchers, umpires and even hitters.
The hard plastic flap that hangs from catcher's masks were popularized in the late 1970s by Los Angeles Dodger Steve Yeager. Yeager had been struck in the throat by a broken bat while standing in the on-deck circle, and wanted additional protection.
Even in one piece, wood can be more dangerous because tenuous grips on the handle make them more likely than metal to fly out of a batter's hands, endangering anybody in the vicinity.
"There is risk in both," McDonough said. "But the overall risk is lowered if we just start using the wood bat, just because of the velocity of the ball."
No proof is offered. The thinking stops at the ball comes off the bat slightly faster.
In the Assembly bill, the fiscal implications of a bat ban are described as "unknown at this time." Here's the short answer: Significant. Metal bats are more expensive, but last much longer than wood. Costs would eventually rise significantly. With school and non-profit budgets strained to breaking points, this bill is yet another tack-on many leagues and parents will simply be unable to afford.
"If they ban aluminum, my (bat manufacturing) clients, with the exception of Easton, which is almost all aluminum, will make money," Fleischer said.
FYI: Metal bat bans are opposed by leagues and organizations ranging from the NCAA to Little League.
But they make for good politics.
A final thought: Let's say a metal bat ban does go through, in New York state and elsewhere. What will politicians then do when the next one-in-a-million tragedy occurs, this time involving a wood bat?
Hey, they killed off Lawn Jarts. Just saying. |