Letters to the Editor
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‘Aluminum Bats May Go Way of Trans Fat’
New York City Councilman James Oddo is quoted in an October 19 article [New York, “‘Aluminum Bats May Go Way of Trans Fat,” October 19, 2006] about his proposal to ban aluminum baseball bats as having said, “When we pass this bill, it will create a tidal wave and you’ll have independent testing of the bats so they perform like wood.”
The fact of the matter is that baseball’s various governing bodies such as the NCAA, National Federation of High Schools, American Legion, Little League, Babe Ruth League, PONY, and others have been independently testing non-wood bats to ensure that they perform like wood for a number of years. Councilman Oddo should know that from the last time he attempted to ban aluminum bats in 2001.
Bat manufacturers, like our company, are required to submit all new models for testing. Any bat model that does not fall within performance caps set by baseball’s governing organizations is not approved for play.
Baseball’s governing bodies track injuries and have found no cause for alarm and no increase in batted ball incidents in recent years. In fact, some organizations like Little League Baseball have witnessed a significant decline in batted ball injuries over the last 10 years.
We wish that no player would ever be hurt, if that were possible in a game played by millions. It’s not. Batted ball injuries have always been part of the game, including when only wood bats were used. We believe that those who propose banning non-wood bats are misleading the public into thinking that youth baseball players will not be injured by batted balls in games played with wood bats. That’s a very slippery slope and, I assure you, won’t be the case. For example, the most significant injury we’re aware of in college baseball this year took place in the Cape Cod League. A Stanford University pitcher was hit in the eye and has been fighting to save his eyesight. The Cape Cod League uses only wood bats. Our 122-year-old company has made wood bats since 1884 and non-wood bats since the 1970s.
We’re happy to make and sell whatever type of league-approved bats players wish to use. Based on the independent scientific testing of non-wood bats conducted for baseball’s governing organizations and the declining number of batted ball injuries, we believe players should continue to have a choice in what type of approved bat they can use.
Baseball’s governing organizations have done a good job of ensuring the game is safe. They are in a far better position to monitor and police safety issues in their games than politicians. We believe baseball’s governing bodies should be permitted to continue overseeing their game without government mandate.
RICK REDMAN
VP Corporate Communications
Hillerich & Bradsby Co.
Louisville Slugger®
Louisville, KY
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