MLB Investigating Broken Bats

[VTSoxFan]

Interesting article from the NYT this morning:

257 Broken Bats... and Counting (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/sports/baseball/25maple.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

[Old Sweater]

Just get this on the link. *Authorization Server Error*

IMO>>they do need to get rid of the maple bat.....bigger sweet spot or not.

[VTSoxFan]

Oops. I forgot, you probably have to be registered to see this. Here's the text:

July 25, 2008
In M.L.B. Study, 257 Broken Bats . . . and Counting
By JACK CURRY

Over the last three weeks, every bat in Major League Baseball that has shattered, chipped, cracked or smashed during a game has been collected so that it can be analyzed, part of a continuing heightened effort to deal with the safety concerns caused by the proliferation of broken bats.

In addition, Major League Baseball has also enlisted some eclectic new consultants — a wood research institute at the University of Wisconsin and a statistician at Harvard — as it tries to develop a better understanding of why so many bats are breaking and what can be done about it.

Since July 2, all 30 teams have been instructed to save their broken bats, a span of 260 games that has produced 257 broken bats, or nearly one per game.

“This is our biggest effort to have all the clubs’ bats collected,” said Pat Courtney, a spokesman for Major League Baseball.

The bats are being collected by the authenticators who work for Major League Baseball and who usually focus on validating instant memorabilia — like bats and balls — from that day’s games. Now those authenticators are noting the details of each broken-bat incident — the player, the type of bat and the manufacturer. Videotapes of broken bats are also being logged by MLB.com.

After the information is placed in a database, the bats are being sent to baseball’s newly appointed experts. Major League Baseball has now worked out a consulting agreement with Forest Products Laboratory, an institute at the University of Wisconsin that was established nearly a century ago by the United States Department of Agriculture.

In addition, Dr. Carl Morris, a statistician at Harvard, has been hired to assist baseball’s safety and health advisory committee in determining the significance of the data that is compiled.

After the safety committee met last month, it announced that it planned to consult with bat experts and bat manufacturers, conduct field and laboratory tests and gather information about protective procedures in various ballparks. It is expected that M.L.B.’s investigation will lead to stricter qualifications for companies to be approved to make bats.

The committee, made up of representatives from the commissioner’s office, the players union and all the teams, has also begun to visit bat manufacturers. Courtney said Louisville Slugger, which is the leading producer of major league bats, met with representatives of the committee this week at the company’s headquarters in Louisville, Ky. A questionnaire was also sent to the more than 30 manufacturers who are approved to make bats.

Sam Holman, the founder of the Original Maple Bat Corporation, has suggested that some companies could be using inferior wood, and that that could be a primary reason more bats are faltering. Holman, who said none of his 74 clients had complained about broken bats, said he favored stricter standards.

One of the rules that the committee is discussing involves the difference between the length and weight of bats: the maximum difference between the inches and ounces is three and a half. For instance, a 34-inch bat must weigh at least 30 ½ ounces. Because many players shave the handles of their bats, they make them even lighter and could therefore be violating the weight-length rule.

Any changes to the rules governing bats — like the weight-length variation — have to be collectively bargained with the union.

Commissioner Bud Selig has dismissed the idea that teams should add netting at ballparks in addition to the standard foul screen in the home-plate area. At the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium last week, Selig said additional netting was not a “practical solution” and would create other problems, such as obscuring the views of the fans who pay premium prices for tickets.

[KevinWI]

I blame global warming.

[luvJRoll]

I have XM radio and was listening to one of their daily programs a few weeks ago. They had a bat maker from Louisville Slugger on talking about maple and ash bats. He was saying that the problem is not with the wood itself, but in how the players are requesting the bats be made. He said that with players coming out of college and high school using aluminum bats they are accustomed to bats with skinny handles and fat tops with big sweet spots. They are then trying to translate that into a wood bat. The manufacturers are accommodating the players, but the fractured missiles that we see each game are the result. MLB just needs to implement rules regarding the specs of bat handle, length and weight, and we'd almost certainly see a reduction if not elimination of the problem.

[The Commissioner]

I agree. The thinner handles are a huge problem. MLB had better get their act together on this and soon. This is a time-bomb just waiting to go off. I don't want to have to see A-Rod get impaled before they take action.

[KHenry14]

Evidently Don Fehr is the big holdup with looking at the bat issue. No surprise there. :confused:

[luvJRoll]

Evidently Don Fehr is the big holdup with looking at the bat issue. No surprise there. :confused:

Some people blame global warming for all that's wrong in the world, I choose to blame Don Fehr. He's the reason we still have the DH :mad:, and I'm pretty sure, although it is pure speculation on my part of course, that he's the reason we still have artificial turf in baseball. He couldn't keep it in the NL, but I'll just bet he's doing his all to keep it in the AL.

Editors note: Most of the preceding post is tongue in cheek.

[brewcrew82]

Some people blame global warming for all that's wrong in the world, I choose to blame Don Fehr.

It's a welcome change of pace. Most people here blame Selig for all the worlds wrongs (I'm sure even global warming, after all he was a car salesman).