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Matthew Van Dusen recently reported out of Bergen County,+ +New Jersey that township recreation officials have banned aluminum and non-wood baseball bats from the youth baseball league to protect players from high-speed line drives like the one that almost killed a Wayne boy last summer.
The recreation advisory board had discussed the move for a while but acted after a drive off an aluminum bat struck 12-year-old Steven Domalewski of Wayne in the chest in June and stopped his heart. "We thought there was a need for us to be pioneers in this area," said board president of the league, Rich Weiner.
This switch comes as the state Legislature mulls a ban on non-wood bats -- including aluminum, titanium and other alloys -- in most organized games involving children under 18.
Andy Wingfield, an assistant baseball coach at Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, said he has seen two young players hurt by line drives over the past five or six years. Also, a report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found that, between 1991 and 2001, eight players were struck and killed by drives from non-wood bats, two from wood bats and seven from bats whose composition was not known.
Several coaches and Little League officials told the legislative safety committee at a hearing in October that the ban is unnecessary since injuries are rare and children will leave the sport if they have to use wooden bats, which have smaller "sweet spots."
What do you think? Should aluminum bats be banned in youth baseball leagues?
(Photo provided by Getty Images, taken by Jim McIsaac)
When I was a boy, I had no idea that aluminum and composite bats would rule the youth baseball world, as when we were youths, jacking home runs and ripping line drives with wood bats as well or better than today's player does with their aluminum composites that are not only lighter, but are larger around, sometimes acquiring diameters of 2 3/4 inches. In Texas I am very happy to see wood bat tournaments popping up, which gives me hope that wood may once again become the norm for youth leagues instead of sping loaded, nano-technology enhanced, two-piece, carbon plated, $350.00 aero engineered metal bats, that teach our youth that if you can't hit the ball well, just spend another $300.00 and you will at least look like you have an interest in the sport. Our team uses these expensive bats in game play to level the tournament field, but all of our boys use wood on the practice field waiting for their time on the wood bat fields. Contrary to popular belief, wood bats do not slow the game, they make it much more interesting by putting every bat (not batter) at the same level. I applaud the Bergen County recreation officials for stepping up to the plate on this one, and ask that they hang in there on any inside pitches that may come from this, and I honestly hope that the nation stands behind this decision and takes a good long look at their own injuries on the ball field. Wood is NOT a bad thing for a youth to learn with, as it improves many mistakes in a swing and creates a true feeling of accomplishment for the kids swinging the bat as well as for the coaches watching these players improve with every swing. Some people are probable shaking their heads, thinking their player will never be the one on the receiving end of a sharply hit line drive, but to those people I say "Beware". I have two boys that play on our team and I worry in the back of my mind every time they climb onto the mound. We have been blessed with nine years of injury-free baseball, but it's possibly a swing away from changing. Our team is not a recreational youth team, we are a AAA 12U tournament travel team that has been very fortunate not to have any injuries due to bats, but that can change at the bat of an eye, or the swing of a bat. I don't know if banning the aluminum will do anything but upset a bunch of people that have spent a lot of money on bats instead of lessons, but I do believe aluminum bat manufacturing needs stronger BESR (Ball Exit Speed Rating) requirements for youth, and senior league bats, and bat manufacturers need to offer adjusted BESR's, also all leagues need to look at using speed adjusted bats for the age and level at which the players are playing, as in "recreational, AA, AAA, Majors, etc.", only increasing the BESR to fit the level of play. If bat manufacturers are going to improve bats for younger players, they might start with taking some of the "pop" out of the BESR, bringing them closer to wood for safety.
A Long Time Baseball Dad