The new rules for HS baseball bats meant to slow the speed of the batted ball may have had another effect: more doctored bats.
Here’s an interesting article about two ways unscrupulous players/parents/coaches may break the rules: rolling and shaving.
Some people will do anything to get an edge. What do you think about doctored bats? Is it a problem in your league?
Students at the South Bronx High School got a thrill when New York Yankee CF Curtis Granderson stopped by the school to speak to students.
Granderson’s Grand Kids Foundation is donating 300 Louisville Slugger bats to the school’s athletics program. Baseball and softball players will be benefit from Granderson’s generosity, and the whole school benefits from his effort to reach out to students.
He’s one of the good guys!
A North Dakota high school league that had decided to use wood bats exclusively a few years ago has reversed direction and has unanimously voted to allow aluminum bats in Class B competition for the 2011-12 season.
The initial decision to ban aluminum bats in 2007 was driven by safety concerns - concerns that have been allayed by the power-reduction inherent in BBCOR-rated aluminum bats.
This move conforms to standards adopted by the National Federation of High School Associations and the NCAA.
As expected, the new NCAA specifications for bats that took effect this season have resulted in less power at the plate in college baseball.
This article talks about what’s going on - and takes a look ahead to next year, when these guidelines are extended to high school baseball.
Opinions are mixed, but we think less power is a fair trade-off for increased safety. And it may even make for more interesting, nuanced baseball games.
What do you think?
This video has been floating around for a while, but we’re still impressed by Josh Womack’s bat flip trick. We have tried it ourselves, but haven’t met with much success. Apparently Josh has a few more bat tricks up his sleeve. Worth checking out.
When we were compiling all the new 2011 bats from top manufacturers, we didn’t think about what kind of bats would be best for this kind of trick, but you can find plenty of info on the newest bats for this year here.
A hot topic for some time now, the NCAA’s guidelines for bats in the upcoming 2011 baseball season, in which the super powerful aluminum bats of old are giving way to bats with far less punch, is still generating talk.
We generally agree with this guy’s take on things - and we had to smile at the line by the coach who is looking forward to faster games so he can get home earlier on game days.
What do you think about the NCAA standards for bats in 2011?
Like Gwen Stefani, we’re big on Japanese culture. OK, so maybe not exactly like Gwen Stefani. Maybe more like Bob Horner. Remember him?
Horner was long our favorite Atlanta Braves player when we were back in the day. We saw him hit four home runs in a game against the Expos, and he had a single, colorful season playing for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Japan, where he was best known for…. oh, but we digress.
What we wanted to tell you about was the cool chopsticks a Japanese company is making from baseball bats broken in Nippon Professional Baseball League games. These chopsticks feature NPB team logos, and they’re a big hit with Japanese fans. Now we’re on the hunt for a set of Tokyo Yakult Swallows chopsticks, though we lack the digital dexterity to put them to use.
More news about bats being blamed for injuries incurred in baseball games. This article describes how the family of an 11-year-old Little Leaguer is suing sporting goods manufacturer Easton-Bell because they made the aluminum bat that was used in the play when a line drive struck the boy in the head.
We’re sorry to see anyone get hurt - this boy suffered brain injuries and deafness in one ear - but we wonder if the manufacturer is really to blame. Unless the product is defective, is the manufacturer responsible? What do you think?
We all know maple bats are more likely to shatter than ash bats - we’ve seen enough first-hand evidence. But why is that?
Is it because maple is harder than ash?
We always thought so, but this article explains how maple is only 5% more dense than ash. And more importantly, it explains how bat manufacturers choose maple billets with lower-than-average density and how they design bats with thinner handles because batters favor lighter bats.
The Rangers may have come up short against the Giants, but Texans are eager to tell you about the size of their state’s contribution to the game.
No, we’re not talking about players. We’re talking about wood, leather, peanuts, hot dogs and hot dog buns.
Where would we be without the 500 milion cubic feet of lumber Texas produces every year? Everything’s bigger in Texas, they say.
