Dr. Richard Greenwald Exchange with NYC Council
October 17, 2006
In 2006, New York City Council member James Oddo tried to find scientific evidence to support his position against non-wood bats. An Oddo staff member contacted Dr. Richard Greenwald regarding a 2002 study (which used 1990's-era, pre-BESR bats that would not be legal for use today, a fact pointed out by Greenwald). Greenwald did not provide the evidence sought by Oddo's office and, furthermore, he expressed concern that anyone would claim that non-wood bats could lead to fewer injuries, a position that was ignored by Oddo. Below is their e-mail exchange, obtained through a Freedom of Information request and included here with Dr. Greenwald's permission.
From: St22man@aol.com [mailto:St22man@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 4:43 PM
To: rgreenwald@simbex.com
Subject: (no subject)
Mr. Greenwald:
My name is Steven Matteo and I am the Chief of Staff for NYC Council Member James S. Oddo. I am writing you because the Youth Services Committee of the NYC Council will be holding a hearing on a bill to ban all aluminum bats in high school play (in NYC). The hearing is scheduled for next Monday, October 23, 2006.
While the bill only applies to the high school level, the bat manufacturers may be on the ropes. We feel we are finally poised to enact this legislation into law (more than 4 years after the first hearing on the bill).
While I apologize for the late notice, I am hopeful that you are able to lend a hand to the hearing, through live testimony or submitted written testimony. We are currently in need of scientific information that states that aluminum bats outperform wood bats. The bat manufacturers in attendance at this hearing will say aluminum bats perform just the same as wood and there is no data that proves these bats are dangerous, outperform wood or have led to injury.
We are very much aware of the study you conducted in 2002 that stated that aluminum bats produced faster batted ball speeds in part due to faster swings and greater elastic properties found in nearly all the aluminum bats. We think it would be beneficial to explain that data at the hearing.
I know I am contacting you at the last minute, but one of our lead witnesses no longer can attend and we feel we are at a disadvantage. I also know this is much to ask, but if at all possible, we would love to have you or a colleague attend the hearing or submit testimony.
Thank you for your assistance, cooperation and consideration.
If you would like to discuss in further detail, please call me at anytime at (917) 975-5541.
Regards and be well.
Steven Matteo
Chief of Staff
Office of Council Member James S. Oddo
(718) 980-1017
From: Rick Greenwald [mailto:rgreenwald@simbex.com]
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 1:50 PM
To: 'St22man@aol.com'
Subject: RE: (no subject)
Steven,
My apologies for not being able to attend or provide info for this meeting. I am curious about the outcome, however. I think the information I would have provided may not have been exactly what you might have hoped for. Here's the short version:
1) Our published research did show that some, but not all, aluminum bats tested did outperform wood bats in terms of batted ball speed.
2) However, I think in your email below, you mix the notion of increased batted ball speed (a metric of performance) with safety. This is a significant concern for me. I am not aware of any published peer-reviewed scientific data that supports the notion that there has been an increase in injuries related to being struck by a batted ball in baseball or softball at any level of play due to increased batted ball speed or bat performance. Baseball and softball appear to have remained at the very low end of the injury incidence lists.
3) I have stated publicly that the notion of limiting the use of bats to wood only is reasonable if a governing body wants to control some aspects of the game such as run production or game time based on the fact that non-wood bats often outperform wood bats. However, I would oppose any statement that linked such a limitation on using non-wood bats to injury, simply because there are no scientific data to support this contention. This is an important and overlooked point - I urge Councilman Oddo to consider this as you move forward.
I would welcome quality scientific research that quantified these issues, and if there were such a peer-reviewed scientific study, I would be interested in presenting it to the industry as part of my role as Chairman of the ASTM Subcommittee F08.26 on Baseball and Softball.
Are there Council meeting minutes available for this topic? I'd be happy to work with you and Councilman Oddo in the future - if it meets your needs.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Regards
Rick Greenwald,Phd
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