Locals knock bat ban

Coaches question Assembly bill

By: Bill Greenwood
   A proposed bill banning aluminum, titanium and composite baseball and softball bats has gotten coaches and administrators in Monroe talking.
   Coaches interviewed by The Cranbury Press offered mixed reactions to the bill, with several opposing it and others expressing support. The primary issue for local opponents was that the legislation would not measurably increase safety, if at all, they said.
   The bill, which recently was passed by the state Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee and now goes to the full Assembly, would apply to teams with players 17 years old or younger.
   The proposal would affect 192,000 young boys and girls in the state in addition to those playing for 370 American Legion teams and more than 400 high school teams, according to news reports.
   The bill was prompted by an incident in a Wayne Police Athletic League game June 6 in which Steven Domalewski, 13, was hit in the chest by a ball hit with a metal bat, stopping his heart, according to press reports. He was revived and is now undergoing care at Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside for a traumatic brain injury.
   Proponents of the bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Patrick J. Diegnan (D-Middlesex), say balls hit with metal bats fly considerably faster than those hit with wooden bats, giving players in the field less time to react.
   However, opponents say there is little to no difference between the speed of a ball hit with a metal bat and one hit with a wooden bat. They also say metal bats must meet performance and safety specifications, thus making the law unnecessary.
   There are restrictions on bat weight in place in Monroe for both baseball and softball teams. Christopher Brooks, president of the Monroe Township Baseball Association, said in an e-mail that children age 12 and younger are required to use bats with no greater than a –12.5 BESR, or Bat Exit Speed Rating. This means that the weight of the bat cannot be more than 12.5 ounces less than the length of the bat in inches. For example, a 33-inch bat could weigh no less than 20.5 ounces.
   Players in the 13-year-old division are allowed to use a –7 bat, and players age 14 and older are required to use a –3 bat.
   Monroe High School Varsity Softball Coach Keith Hudak said players on his team are allowed to use a –9 bat.
   Several coaches said they opposed the bill because bat speed and weight ratios are the real problem. They also said that wooden bats are as dangerous as metal ones, would cost more to replace and could deter interest in youth baseball and softball.
   Mr. Brooks, who is against the bill, said any legislation on this matter should focus not on banning metal bats but on making all bats heavier. He said he fears that bat manufacturers would simply find a way to make wooden bats lighter if the law is passed, thus defeating the purpose of the bill.
   "By forcing bats to be heavier, thus not allowing average or marginal players to generate dangerous bat speeds, it would make the game much, much safer," he said. "The best, strongest players would be dangerous hitting with a bamboo stick."
   Mr. Brooks said that both metal and wooden bats can be dangerous. He said pitchers, who are positioned 46 feet from home plate in leagues for players age 12 and younger and 60 feet for players age 13 and older, would be unable to dodge a batted ball no matter what kind of bat was used.
   "Baseball is dangerous," he said. "No legislation is ever going to make it safe. Safer, yes. Safe, no."
   Mr. Hudak agreed. The softball coach has not taken a position on the bill, but says that no data exist to prove that wooden bats are significantly safer than metal ones. He does say, however, that balls fly faster off a metal bat.
   "You have to be aware," he said. "It could be a dangerous situation."
   Mr. Brooks added that the difficulty of swinging a heavier wooden bat might cause some young players to give up on baseball altogether.
   "At the recreation level, younger children simply would not be able to effectively swing a bat that weighs as much as its length, which I fear would create more failure and frustration among the players, thus more of them would quit in favor of other sports."
   Mr. Hudak, however, said he did not expect interest in softball to decline if the ban is passed. The idea of change might cause problems at first, he said, but he could not foresee any long-term problems.
   "I don’t think interest would go down," he said. "I think the girls that play softball really enjoy that game and love that game."
   Mr. Brooks said he also was concerned that a switch to wooden bats would cause financial problems for his league. He said the typical life-span of a current league-provided bat is five years, a number that would be drastically lowered by the introduction of wooden bats, which often break.
   "Wood bats break, and these days, they are just as expensive, if not more expensive, than aluminum bats," he said. "Financially, this could have an impact on registration fees."
   Mr. Hudak said his team itself would not be affected financially but his players would be hit hard because they all purchase their own bats.
   Oscar Vizcaino, manager of the MTBA’s travel team, supports the ban. He agreed that wooden bats can be dangerous but added that they are "the lesser of two evils" when compared to metal ones. He said the focus of any decision should be on the safety of the children playing and that using wooden bats would make things safer.
   "I think (the Legislature is) doing it for the right reasons," he said. "I think they’re looking at the kids’ safety."
   He added that the combination of metal bats, a pitcher’s mound 46 feet away from home plate, and the increasing size and strength of young athletes is an "equation that equals danger for me."