Now that baseball has started up again, I'm wondering what's got to happen before baseball does something about the amount of bats that are breaking, and splinters and heads of bats flying into the stands or into a player. So many times last year, and now this year, I saw players ducking and weaving to get out of the way of these flying shards of wood. I don't remember it being that bad in the past. Are players asking for thiner handles for better feel? Should there be a required thickness of handles to try and reduce the amount of bats flying? I'm afraid someone is going to have to be skewered and bleed to death on the field before baseball does something.

Does wood ABSOLUTELY have to comprise MLB bats, or can aluminum or other composite items replace wood?

Not trying to be sacraligious, just asking a simple question.

That first game in Japan, Red Sox vs A's, man, I saw a few deadly missles flying. In Japan, they had safety netting in front of the fans in most of the areas.

Don

Bats flying into the stands is a chance you take when you go to a game. What's next, are you gonna complain about baseballs flying into the stands?

Due to man's decades and centuries of abuse of this planet, global warming has caused a degredation of the trees used to mill the bats, cuasing them to be weaker and break more often. We need to ban Baseball to prevent global warming so the bats will stop breaking!


Damn that was hard to type w/o breaking out laughing, but I'll bet some nutcase would cheer me for that post!

Of course balls going into stands can't be helped, unless they ring the field with a net which won't happen. But they can do something about the bats breaking. I think what will probably have to happen is a $100 million dollar pitch will have to be run through by the sharp end of the head of a broken bat. I agree, baseball really doesn't care about the fan, except for the ticket money, but you take out Johan Santana with a busted bat, and things will happen, I think.

To me, it is silly to have to change something about the bats. They are going to break no matter what. If you use aluminum, the risk of a ball killing someone is a lot greater than wood because the ball comes off that surface much faster than wood. Would you also like to put some type of leash on the bat? That way when a bat slips out of a players hands, they don't lose it in the stands and no one gets hit.

I understand all the points provided. But what got me thinking about this was seeing the new regulation concerning base coaches. They now are required to wear a helmet while coaching on the field because a coach was killed last year in a college or minor leauge game, I don't remember which one. So I'm thinking the next thing to happen is a pitcher or catcher is going to be flayed open by one of these splintering missles, and baseball is going to require bat handles be a certain diamiter to help alieviate the problem. It won't stop it completely, but will cut it back a bunch.

I think that baseball should not be able to be viewed in person, for our own good. People could be hit with balls flying extremely fast leading to major injuries or death. As for bats, wow! It’s only a matter of time till someone is killed by a bat going into the crowd. So – for our own good – ALL baseball games whether professional, semi-pro, college, high school or little league should be only televised… NO LIVE AUDIENCE! We must protect those incapable of making the decisions themselves. We know what is best for the baseball fan! We must make this change for them.



Duh...

quote:

Originally posted by duckcop:
I understand all the points provided. But what got me thinking about this was seeing the new regulation concerning base coaches. They now are required to wear a helmet while coaching on the field because a coach was killed last year in a college or minor leauge game, I don't remember which one. So I'm thinking the next thing to happen is a pitcher or catcher is going to be flayed open by one of these splintering missles, and baseball is going to require bat handles be a certain diamiter to help alieviate the problem. It won't stop it completely, but will cut it back a bunch.

Base coach killed.

If this is the one you were thinking of, he was killed by a ball.

I dont think they should change the bats. People who go to the games and sit that close know what could happen to them if a bat comes flying out of a batters hand or foul ball the goes straight to the bleacher seats. Maybe the could put the safety nets they have behind homeplate a little further out but people would be pissed off they had to watch the game behind the stupid net. well at least i know i hate sitting behind the plate for that reason.

quote:

I think that baseball should not be able to be viewed in person, for our own good.

Or like in Boston where you can't get tickets but when you do, you can't afford the seats.

Kind of seems like a no brainer to me. I took my son to a New Years day Florida Panther hockey game in Miami back in '99. During the warm ups, one player took a wicked slap shot that took off. It caught some fan in the head around row 25 maybe. They guy had to be carried out on a stretcher.

So what did the NHL do? Put up netting and I don't hear anyone whining about not being able to see the game.

Did MLB come unglued when they started making batters wear helmets? NHL with the helmets or goalie masks?

Don

Don, my solution solves all problems! Let's just all stay home and make the world a safer place! No chances of doing anything risky. Baseball on tv, it's just like being there only the beer is cheaper!

quote:

Originally posted by disagreed:
Don, my solution solves all problems! Let's just all stay home and make the world a safer place! No chances of doing anything risky. Baseball on tv, it's just like being there only the beer is cheaper!

Works for me. My couch is a whole lot more comfortable than those Fenway seats anyways...and no lines for the bathroom.

Don

Don't enjoy peeing in the trough Don? It's my favorite urinal!

The Cardinals have extended the screens this year at Busch Stadium. I'm not sure how far they go, but this was in response to a player getting hit in the eye in the on-deck circle and the coach getting killed.

For many years, prior to the goalie mask that catchers wear now, they had a plastic piece that hung down from their mask. This was designed because a catcher (Steve Yeager I think) got a sliver from a broken bat in the throat.

quote:

Originally posted by JerryG:
Does wood ABSOLUTELY have to comprise MLB bats, or can aluminum or other composite items replace wood?

Not trying to be sacraligious, just asking a simple question.

A long time ago I think I heard that they dont use alluminum bats in the pros because the ball flies off the bat a lot faster versus wood. Im sure they weighed the pros and cons of each though.

quote:

Originally posted by bkreigh:

quote:

Originally posted by JerryG:
Does wood ABSOLUTELY have to comprise MLB bats, or can aluminum or other composite items replace wood?

Not trying to be sacraligious, just asking a simple question.

A long time ago I think I heard that they dont use alluminum bats in the pros because the ball flies off the bat a lot faster versus wood. Im sure they weighed the pros and cons of each though.

I also think that they only use wood to maintain the tradition, as far as batting records go. If they switched to metal bats, then they would have to start a whole new set of records, so it would be hard to compare Ruth's records, with say, someone 10 yrs from now using a metal bat. There's always the debate about if the balls have stayed the same, but that's for a whole nother thread.

If MLB switched to metal bats, the ballparks would have to get a lot bigger or they would have to play with a restricted flight baseball.