There is a growing concern with the recent transition to maple bats from ash in Major League Baseball.
During an Apr. 15 game of this year between the Pirates and Dodgers, Nate McLouth hammered a late-inning pitch down the right field line. Don Long, the Pirates hitting coach, was in the dugout when shards of the bat came flying at him without warning.
“Didn’t see it at all,” Long said. “It just hit me. I backed up. I saw the blood coming out on the card I keep and on my shoes.”
The shattered bat had sliced through the muscle in his cheek, resulting in nerve damage and was only inches away from putting his life in jeopardy.
Maple bats had hardly seen the light of day back in the early 2000s when Barry Bonds used one to hit his now controversial 73 home run season in 2001.
Now, nearly 50 percent of players use maple bats. Why?
According to the players that use them, it results in better performance. However, according to a 2005 Baseball Research Center testing at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, the difference between the performance of maple and ash bats was negligible.
Jim Sherwood headed up the MLB-funded research project.
“We found that the batted-ball speeds were essentially the same for the two woods,” Sherwood said. “Maple has no advantage in getting a longer hit over an ash bat.”
The research also showed that while ash bats crack, maple bats snap. This results in many more bats shattering and causing potential harm, as in the case of Don Long.
I know what you're thinking.
Whenever a fan enters a ballpark they are notified that bats, balls, and other objects can come flying into the stands. However, there is a growing number of shattered maple bats since its numbers have increased. Not to mention that fans are breaking attendance records like never before. All of this equals more "targets" for these maple bats.
This is posing a danger to pitchers, middle infielders, coaches, and fans alike. However, players consider the maple bat to be a harder feeling bat than the ash.
“I feel like they’re harder,” McLouth said. “Whether or not that’s scientifically true, I’m not sure. But psychologically, I feel like they are.”
There is also a financial motivation. Suppliers of maple bats that are licensed to Major League Baseball sell for $65, rather than $45 for ash bats. Hillerich & Bradsby, the parent company for Louisville Slugger, is just one of many companies filling this demand which is not diminishing.
The issue was brought to the attention of the union during a 2006 collective-bargaining negotiations. However, the union was not receptive to a unilateral ban, and stonewalled the idea of imposing specifications to reduce the bats from snapping.
With the Mitchell Report looming, both sides had to focus elsewhere.
As everyone knows, MLB players guard their bats religiously. For position players and designated hitters, it is a huge part (if not all) of their identity and how they play the game. With the MLB pushing to make the bats thicker and heavier, players will most likely reject the idea creating another stalemate between negotiations.
There are some players willing to speak up about this potential deadly problem.
During Doug Mientkiewicz's stint with the Yankees last season, he was advised by catcher Jorge Posada to switch to ash bats.
“They blow up constantly,” said Mientkiewicz, a first baseman now with the Pirates.
He later added that he was amazed that a maple bat hasn't struck or injured a player on the field.
He is not alone.
Pirates manager John Russell and Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon have both called them dangerous.
Will this problem ever be solved? Will players be willing to change back to ash bats? Is it a financial issue? Are the union and Major League Baseball willing to put the lives of players, coaches, fans at risk?
So far, no answers have been provided. However, I, as a fan, do not want to end up like Pirates manager Don Long.
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5 months ago
...Broken bat on Thursday nearly took Ensberg's head off over at first base for the Yankees. Dang Maple Bats!
5 months ago
It is not a question of type, but a question of dimensions.
Currently, a bat can have a weight drop (size in inches minus weight in ounces) of 3.5. This means that a player can swing a bat that is 35 inches long with a weight of 31.5 ounces. This limit should be dropped to 2.5 to ensure safety.
Bat companies are providing players with lighter and dryer wood bats, which are both prime suspects in broken bat cases.
Twin's closer Joe Nathan after getting a bruise from a flying bat barrel:
"I wasn't like, 'Man, they've gotta get rid of these things," Nathan said. Of maple bats, he added, "It is a bat that seems to blow up and send barrels flying, but that can happen with any bat. I don't think it's anything that pitchers have even thought about."
MLB needs to crack down on the dimensions of bats, and have firmer and more strict rules and regulations. It should be up to the player on which kind of bat (ash or maple) that they prefer.
from 4 months ago
I do think it's a question of the type of bat. The research proves that maple bats snap whereas ash bats crack. It seems as if every game there are 4-5 bats that break, that's got to be something that's addressed. Nathan even admitted that it is a bat that tends to explode and send the barrel flying. Bat problems like this rarely ever came up when ash bats where in use by the majority.
Again, trying to get bats that are heavier and wider won't settle well with most players because it greatly affects how they play the game. Widening the handle is a majority priority that the MLB is trying to address. Players obviously don't want a wider bat because it will result in slower bat speeds.
Bat companies are supplying players with both kinds of bats but I haven't heard of a case where ash (a softer bat) tended to explode. It shattered yes, but that bats didn't seem to behave this way as frequently as the maple bats seem to be doing now.
MLB tried bringing up these rules against the union but nothing formulated. Right now it is on the back burner but hopefully this issue will get resolved.
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