Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

[ifiok25]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-maplebats050808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

What do y'all think?

[55]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

Great read, thanks for posting.

And I agree, maple is far more dangerous than ash. I have always used ash bats and they rarely break. They NEVER shatter like maple bats either, they just crack.

[ifiok25]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

Great read, thanks for posting.

And I agree, maple is far more dangerous than ash. I have always used ash bats and they rarely break. They NEVER shatter like maple bats either, they just crack.

Agreed. I've never understood why they still use these maple bats nowadays. The bats are not durable at all. Broken bats happen in every baseball game that I watch. They're poorly made. They should go back to ash to cut down on costs of replacing broken bats.

[J0nnD0ugh]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

What do y'all think?

I think the MLB will do what every corporation does. Wait until someone gets killed & disaster strikes before making any move. So when a 6 yr old in the stands is put in a coma on Fox's Game of the Week, or Johan Santana's neck is severed from a splintered bat, you'll see some action.

[av7]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

I think the MLB will do what every corporation does. Wait until someone gets killed & disaster strikes before making any move. So when a 6 yr old in the stands is put in a coma on Fox's Game of the Week, or Johan Santana's neck is severed from a splintered bat, you'll see some action.

Bringing this back up, Rockies vs Royals game last night saw the home plate ump get cut and had to get stitches because of a broken mapel bat..I guess yesterday/today MLB will start looking into the maple bat issue (http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseba...,5586726.story)

According to the joint statement, the next step in this process will be "consulting with bat manufacturers and experts in the field, conducting field studies, conducting laboratory tests of bats and gathering information about protective measures in major-league ballparks. Members of the committee will meet again this week to commence the data gathering process."

Commissioner Bud Selig is not believed to be in favor of potentially banning maple bats. Among the possible solutions expected to be considered are tighter restrictions on the bats' weight and new rules regarding handle thickness and weight.

[mjb2124]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

Bringing this back up, Rockies vs Royals game last night saw the home plate ump get cut and had to get stitches because of a broken mapel bat..I guess yesterday/today MLB will start looking into the maple bat issue (http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseba...,5586726.story)

They might wait longer. A month ago the Pirates hitting coach was struck with a broken maple bat in the cheek and received 20 stitches or so. That didn't even cause a blip on MLB's radar.

[p_rushing]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

This is not the bats fault. Maple wouldn't break as much as the other bats if MLB regulated the grade of the wood and put more controls on the handle sizes of the bats. They also need to check the bats before each game. The manufactures are meeting the standards the MLB sets, but they can't control what the players do to the bats after they get them. A lot of them are filing them down even further so the handle is even thinner.

this post has a good article about them
http://www.operationsports.com/forum...reak-much.html

[SPTO]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

I believe Maple Bats are Canadian made.

DAMNIT

Oh well blame my country.

Seriously, I do think that the epidemic of shattered bats breaking all over the place is going to seriously injure someone in a very horrible way. It's a good thing umpires wear masks or that umpire last night might've lost an eye.

[Jackdog]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

I believe Maple Bats are Canadian made.

DAMNIT

Oh well blame my country.

Seriously, I do think that the epidemic of shattered bats breaking all over the place is going to seriously injure someone in a very horrible way. It's a good thing umpires wear masks or that umpire last night might've lost an eye.

Home plate umpire Brian O'Nora ran towards the Royals dugout after part of a broken maple bat struck him in the head.

Your right,except about your country. These bats need to go.

[X*Cell]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

maple bats should be illegal... my brother is a pitcher, and God forbid these much-less-than-rare occurrences of broken bats strikes him and causes an injury... I'll be extremely pissed. Hitters can go back to the older days of regular wood.

[snepp]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

maple bats should be illegal...

No, ****ty craftsmanship should be illegal.

When maple bats got their start (Sam Bats) they were praised for their durability.

[Blzer]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

No, ****ty craftsmanship should be illegal.

You bet. Too many hitters these days just don't know how to swing a bat anymore. They're out there flailing at everything, trying to knock it out. Whatever happened to "good wood"?

As you can see, the hitters that don't break their bats as often are the ones that know what pitches to swing at and how to swing at them. I mean, look at the pitch Olivo swung at... no **** the bat will break. He pulled off with his body on a low 90s fastball 8 inches off the plate and got it with the very tip of the bat. It was expected to break. Don't blame the bat for that. That's like blaming a car with a low crash test rating for killing a passenger in a head-on collision with no seat belt on.

I say players learn to hit again. In this era with small ballparks and performance-enhancing inducers, those college players that were able to hit anything and everything out because of poor pitching and aluminum bats try and do the same thing with these wooden bats off of guys like Hamels and Duchscherer, and obviously it doesn't work. They better work with what they have, and do it right. I'm sick of watching slop swings, especially the young players on the Giants (including Feliz the past three years).



I know you were referring to the craftsmanship of the bats and not the batters' swings, by the way.

[X*Cell]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

eh but Johnny Damon breaks mad bats... is he considered a bad swinger? I wouldn't say so... I think the handles at least need to be fatter like they used to be.

[Blzer]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

eh but Johnny Damon breaks mad bats... is he considered a bad swinger? I wouldn't say so... I think the handles at least need to be fatter like they used to be.

Well, if you want my opinion, he's a pretty good hitter, but his swing would need some work as well. If you saw the YouTube video of the guy imitating MLB players, his Damon swing is rather spot on... shifting outward, pulling off, and letting go. Extension plus pull-off means no real top hand strength on contact. If you can't exert enough force on the ball, it will all go on the bat instead.

However, I agree with the bat handles. In fact, whenever I get a new wooden bat (not because they break, because they just wear out), I tape and tar those things like no tomorrow. I can't even wrap my fingers all the way around the handle. And you know what? It's a great feeling. I hate thin handles; never use them. They make the bat feel too "top-heavy" anyway.

[snepp]

Re: Maple bats can increase the risk of injury, even death

I know you were referring to the craftsmanship of the bats and not the batters' swings, by the way.

For a minute there I was wondering what the hell you were talking about.