Wood vs. Metal

This article over at The Town Talk gets my interest running.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Metal bats will be banned in high school baseball starting this September in the nation's largest school system after the City Council on Monday overrode a mayoral veto of the bill. The measure outlaws metal bats under the theory that they produce harder and faster hits, risking injury to young players who have less time to react. Opponents, who include Little League Baseball and sporting goods makers, say there is no evidence metal bats are more dangerous.

In all my youth, baseball was a constant. Whether we were playing a dirt lot pickup game that ran to dozens of innings with no one keeping score, or whether we put on uniforms and played in an organized league, or whether we lay awake at night, listening on a transistor radio to a faraway voice calling the play-by-play, baseball was a contant.

For many years, before I was allowed to own my own guns, my favored possessions were my catchers mitt and my baseball bat. The catchers mitt was modified by my Dad. He took it apart and stuffed it with insulation till it resembled nothing so much as an overstuffed pizza pan. You couldn't catch a ball one-handed, but you had enough padding there to stop a freight train.

The bat. A wooden Louisville Slugger, marked 30 on the butt. It was an official Dixie Youth model. It finally went away several years ago when one of my sons was swinging away during a game and broke it. Yeah, he got on base, but the bat never made it back to the rack. There is nothing like the CRACK of a wooden bat that makes me turn and look.

I've watched a lot of baseball these last few years, and the metal bats just don't do it for me. The PING of the bat loses something. I understand that baseball is dangerous and wooden bats shatter. I've seen lots of bats break and scatter across and infield. Mostly, when they had been modified in some way that made them illegal for use.

Now, New York is citing a study that says metal bats are more dangerous, give the ball too much speed and don't give the infielders enough reaction time.

We've all seen it. The pitcher winds up and delivers his fastball. The batter swings and a line drive launches back at the pitcher. The pitcher has two choices, but generally reflex throws the gloved hand at the ball and more often than not, the pitcher catches the ball. The crowd cheers or moans, depending on their loyalty, but tears well in the eyes of the pitcher.

Not because he has made a magnificent catch, but because it hurts like hell. His hand is on fire and the bones have been pulverized, clenched in an unshakeable death grip around the ball. It's a touching scene, but one we'll draw the curtain on.

I, personally, have always preferred a wooden bat. What think you?