Metal bats may be banned in New York City..Thoughts On This?

[KFDM COOP]

Metal bats may be banned in New York City

NEW YORK — New York's City Council is considering a ban on metal bats, with former New York Mets reliever John Franco testifying Monday in support of the proposal.

Franco and the bill's supporters say metal bats hit balls faster and harder.

"I'm speaking from someone who was standing on the mound for 22 years, and I can see the difference," Franco told a council committee on Monday. "And while I'm standing in the stands watching my son play, or some of the other Little Leaguers, I can see the difference."

Franco said afterward he hopes a New York City high school ban would inspire others to follow. The council votes on the bill Wednesday.

Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina and other opponents have said previously there is no evidence to suggest metal bats are more dangerous.

Similar measures have been proposed by youth leagues and lawmakers in other states, including New Jersey, where a batted ball struck a 12-year-old boy in the chest, sending him into cardiac arrest. He was revived by spectators but was in a coma for months.

His father, Joseph Domalewski, told the committee on Monday his son sustained brain damage and still cannot walk.

"My son is doing a sentence, and to me the only thing he did wrong is to pitch to a guy holding a metal bat," he said.

Mussina and the ban's opponents believe the anti-metal movement relies on emotional anecdotes, but no scientific data. In 2005, an American Legion Baseball study found no substantial scientific evidence to support the argument that wooden bats are safer than metal, which has been in use since the early 1970s.

"I don't think it matters whether it's aluminum or wood or whatever the material is," Mussina said last fall. "I've been hit in the face. It's just part of it. I can understand they're emotional about it. But I don't see there's any more danger playing with aluminum or some other material."

Mussina is a member of the board of Little League Baseball, which also opposes the council's ban, along with sporting goods makers such as Easton Sports.

David Ettinger, an attorney for Easton, called the proposal "utterly irrational" on Monday. He indicated that the dispute might end up in court if it passes on Wednesday and is signed into law.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the mayor is skeptical about the merits of the measure but has not decided whether he would veto the bill.

[tvc184]

I don't know if it is right or wrong but I think it is silly and stupid to say that aluminum bats do not hit the ball harder and faster than wood. The reasoning used? There is no scientific proof. Right.... and cigarettes don't cause cancer either. Just because MIT has yet to study baseball bats doesn't negate what is going on.

Let's see, a guy buys his 11 year old kid a baseball bat for $250 because it hits the same way as wood. Talk about things that make you go hmmmmmm!!

[Guest kosmo]

I say bring it on.  Kids are just getting bigger, faster, stronger, and it's just a matter of time before someone gets killed by a ball hit of one of those 250 dollar rocket launchers.

[PANTHERPLAYA09]

YANKEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[EAGLE07]

I'd love to see metal bats banned. My hunch is this would be tied up in court for years and big money will eventually win.

[PANTHERPLAYA09]

YANKEEEEESSSSS

[bronco1]

I don't know if it is right or wrong but I think it is silly and stupid to say that aluminum bats do not hit the ball harder and faster than wood. The reasoning used? There is no scientific proof. Right.... and cigarettes don't cause cancer either. Just because MIT has yet to study baseball bats doesn't negate what is going on.

Let's see, a guy buys his 11 year old kid a baseball bat for $250 because it hits the same way as wood. Talk about things that make you go hmmmmmm!!

Great point. If they weren't better why do they make'em. Wooden bats would bring some character back into them game.

[JS]

Bring back the wood!

[falcolnfanatic]

This is bull#@$% metal bats are no more dangerous than wood bats you are just messing up the kid because he has to go back to metal bats in the NCAA BAD CALL >

[tvc184]

This is bull#@$% metal bats are no more dangerous than wood bats you are just messing up the kid because he has to go back to metal bats in the NCAA BAD CALL >

Anytime a ball is hit faster, it is more dangerous. Maybe that is acceptable to you and you are entitled to your opinion. To say that they are no more dangerous is a joke.

I don't care what the bat material is made of. Why not be like other sports that restrict the speed however. It would be easy to make a bat out of a material other than wood but that has the hitting properties of wood. That would satify the claimed argument that aluminum is more durable and thereby more cost effective.

[falcolnfanatic]

I have been playing baseball for 15 years and I have never seen a serious injury occur because the ball came off the metal bat too hard.  I bet you the the average number off texas kids seriously hurt because the ball cme off the bat too hard is less than 1%

[Guest Coogrkc]

Im sure Easton, TPX, Demarini, worth, nike, and all the other bat making companies wont support it.

[JS]

I have been playing baseball for 15 years and I have never seen a serious injury occur because the ball came off the metal bat too hard.  I bet you the the average number off texas kids seriously hurt because the ball cme off the bat too hard is less than 1%

If that 1% is your kid then that is to high.

[t-time]

I can see both sides of this. I really have to say let them use metal bats unless you're going to ban them all the way up to the pros. I think that a kid who plays for years with nothing but wood and then starts hitting with metal would end up with shoulder or back injuries.