Aluminum Vs. Wood

RT Staff Note: Great Web Site called Baseball Savvy...I found this article on the very hot topic of metal vs. wood bats...Go wood bats!!!

If you've been following the news or baseball or both recently in Northern California you probably heard about Marin Catholic pitcher Gunnar Sandberg who has been in a medically induced coma at Marin General Hospital after suffering a skull fracture when he was hit in the head by a line drive during a scrimmage in Kentfield March 11. Sandberg, a junior from Kentfield, was pitching against De La Salle High School of Concord when the incident occurred at 5:20 p.m. He was taken to the emergency room at the hospital where he was assessed overnight, and he was put in a temporary coma because of swelling of the brain.

Students and staff at Marin Catholic High School on Monday prayed in a morning Mass for 16-year-old Gunnar Sandberg, the Kentfield baseball pitcher who remained in critical condition after he was struck in the head by a line drive March 11.

Family and members of the school community continued to await results of a brain scan conducted on Sandberg.

The Mass, held in the school's gymnasium and led by the school president, the Rev. Thomas Daly, followed a candlelight vigil Sunday evening near Marin General Hospital, where Sandberg remains in a coma. Members of the De La Salle baseball team attended the vigil where close to 1,000 people attended.
First and foremost my my heart and prayers and thoughts go out to the Sandberg family. There is a large community of players, parents, families and coaches who are thinking and praying for your family every day.

Since this tragedy the topic of Aluminum vs. Wood bats has been a hot stove topic for the last week in this area with coaches entering the discussion whether or not we should be using aluminum bats.

The exclusive use of metal bats in amateur and youth baseball has been an issue concerning players' safety for several years. The North Dakota High School Activities Association has banned non-wood bats, according to a New York Times report from March 2007. New York City followed North Dakota's example, banning metal bats in August of that year, according to USA Today.

Little League, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the American Baseball Coaches Association are opposed to banning metal bats, saying the injury rate is not discernibly different than from wooden bats.

Metal bats have been in use since the 1920s, as a cost-effective solution to wooden bats occasionally snapping during games. By the 1970s they were in widespread use in high schools, and today they're used in nearly all youth baseball.

The North Coast Section, the umbrella group overseeing high school sports in much of the Bay Area, including Marin Catholic, follows national high school guidelines regulating bat safety, said commissioner Gil Lemmon.

Two studies have shown that balls hit by metal bats travel 4 mph faster than those hit by wooden bats, he said.
An email has gone out to all the coaches in our area asking for their input and whether they would support a ban or not. In the Marin County Athletic League where Marin Catholic plays in 7 out of the 10 coaches support metal bats.

Where do you stand on this issue?