College Baseball Scoring

[kahnduit]

The scores showing up in the NCAA tournament are bordering on absurd. FSU downing OSU 37-6 is the most obvious example of the problem.

Will the NCAA ever bite the bullet and move to wooden bats? Football scores are great when playing football...not baseball.

Safety concerns are legitimate as well. One of Bradley's pitchers was struck in the forehead this year on a line drive. The ball cracked hard off the kid's head. He initially got up and finished the play. Then dropped to a knee and was removed from the game. Thankfully, it didn't end up being a serious injury.

I hope it doesn't take a high profile injury (like something at the CWS) to produce change. Wooden bats (or similar composites) appear to be a good solution. They are safer, and they protect the integrity of the game.

[Chico]

The scores showing up in the NCAA tournament are bordering on absurd. FSU downing OSU 37-6 is the most obvious example of the problem.

Will the NCAA ever bite the bullet and move to wooden bats? Football scores are great when playing football...not baseball.

Safety concerns are legitimate as well. One of Bradley's pitchers was struck in the forehead this year on a line drive. The ball cracked hard off the kid's head. He initially got up and finished the play. Then dropped to a knee and was removed from the game. Thankfully, it didn't end up being a serious injury.

I hope it doesn't take a high profile injury (like something at the CWS) to produce change. Wooden bats (or similar composites) appear to be a good solution. They are safer, and they protect the integrity of the game.

I'm not a big fan of aluminum bats either. First time I heard one I was playing 3rd base in a fast pitch game and it scared the h--- out of me. But wooden bats also are going to hurt someone bad one of these days. They are breaking way too easy.

[SFP]

I'm not a big fan of aluminum bats either. First time I heard one I was playing 3rd base in a fast pitch game and it scared the h--- out of me. But wooden bats also are going to hurt someone bad one of these days. They are breaking way too easy.

Wooden bats are breaking more because they are making them skinnier at the bottom to make them lighter. Also players are hitting the ball harder due to weight training and other strength regiments that were not done even 15 years ago.

The real problem for colleges though, with wooden bats is that they cost too much too replace. I also prefer to hear a nice smack of a wood bat over the ding of aluminum. It would be nice though, since college ball is a feeder system, to see MLB contribute a fund for just this to help off-set the cost.

[kahnduit]

Wooden bats are breaking more because they are making them skinnier at the bottom to make them lighter. Also players are hitting the ball harder due to weight training and other strength regiments that were not done even 15 years ago.

The real problem for colleges though, with wooden bats is that they cost too much too replace. I also prefer to hear a nice smack of a wood bat over the ding of aluminum. It would be nice though, since college ball is a feeder system, to see MLB contribute a fund for just this to help off-set the cost.

Good point regarding broken bats, the associated risks, and the cost of constantly replacing bats. I believe there are wood composite bats that out-last metal for about 1/3 the cost. I could be wrong about the durability and total costs of these bats.

I suspect Louisville, Easton, DeMarini, etc are the driving forces behind the status quo. They make too much money selling $400 bats to 13-19 year olds to let the rules change. Many kids go through 2 bats per year because the bats lose their ping. Outlawing metal at the college level could lead to similar changes in high school baseball. The game would improve, but the bat companies would lose significant profits.

[That Guy]

Although I love wooden bats and think that there is no place for aluminum bats in college baseball, wooden bats aren't a logical alternative - financially speaking. Let's say each player gets 20 bats per season, an amount that is very very low considering they be used for practices as well as 50+ games a year. Louisville Slugger bats run roughly $45 per bat. That's already $900 or bats per player. Even if each player were to get 2 top of the line aluminum bats, they'd still be spending less than they would for wooden bats.

As much as I'd love to see wooden bats, it just doesn't make business sense. Especially in this econimic climate, everyone is looking for ways to save money and cut costs...unless you're John Calipari and need a recruit.

[Disturbed]

As a point of reference, I played Division 1 baseball for four years in the early 80's, so here's my take.

I kinda grew up in the era when aluminum overtook wood. We used wood bats my first two years of H.S., then aluminum took over. The switch at that time for both high schools and colleges was performance related, not economic related. It was easier to hit with aluminum, and the ball went farther, so everybody switched. My high school team had approximately 15 players, and we all were allowed three bats. We played a normal high school schedule of 25-30 games. I can't remember anyone running out of bats. I suspect that a college player with a 60 game schedule could get by on 7 or 8 bats per year easily.

The bats then were made of ash, which is substantially more durable than maple, which I believe is the wood of choice for major leaguers these days. The switch to maple is because it is lighter. Obviously with the amount of bats you see exploding everyday in the majors, maple is not durable, and maple bats are about double the cost of ash bats. I think you would have to mandate that ash would be used.

I also believe if aluminum bats were made illegal in all but possibly the lower little leagues (under 10 years old), the price of wooden bats would come down because of mass production. I'm not an economist, but I believe this references economies of scale.

I would love to see wooden bats brought back in high school and college as soon as possible. They truly will show you who the real hitters are, and the craftier pitchers who don't necessarily throw real hard would come back in vogue. It would be a blessing for MLB scouts.