Where Are The Parents? Update
By Keiti | May 19, 2008
So, yesterday I mentioned that a child’s parents in New Jersey were suing over the use of metal bats in children’s baseball as a result of the injuries their son sustained.
DH and I had a brief conversation in the comments section of yesterday’s post where he informed me that the use of metal bats in children’s baseball had been a bone of contention for some time. I conceded that if the problem came up 8-10 years ago and if Little League Baseball hadn’t addressed the problem, then suing them was most likely the right thing to do.
But with new information coming to light today I’m pretty much back where I started yesterday in terms of the parents suing various companies. According to the Little League Baseball & Softball Online, a study was done by the National Consumer Product Safety Commission which came to the determination in 2007 that “there is no evidence to suggest that aluminum bats pose any greater risk than wood bats.”
Additionally, the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research did a study (as mentioned on the Little League Baseball Online site) that stated the number of catastrophic injuries to pitchers was only “15 out of more than 9,500,000 high school and college participants since 1982.” (The best that I can determine is that this information was released in 2007, though I could be incorrect about that.)
I did do a quick google search to round up additional information and was unable to locate anything that made any sense to me in terms of presentation. Deciphering stats is not a strong suit of mine. I will allow for the fact that I don’t have other stats to either back up or kick down the information on the Little League site.
But if the stats I was able to locate are true then the use of metal bats vs. wood bats is a moot point with neither one being better or worse than the other when it comes to injuries.
I am, however, left with the following question:
Why is it that if only wood bats are allowed in professional baseball (as per rule 1.10 of the Official Rules of Major League Baseball) why in the hell do Little Leaguers feel the need to use metal bats?
I’m inclined to think that DH was right when he said that it’s the parents who create the super-competitive atmosphere that fuels the urge for state-of-the-art equipment.
I still think that this should not be lawsuit material due to the fact that it was a freak accident, but my final word is that whatever is good enough for pro Baseball should be good enough for the Little League.
Topics: Misfit Hall of Shame, News Stories |
May 20th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Professional baseball mandates only wood bats for multiple reasons - wooden bats don’t hit the ball as far and keeping the ball “in the park” makes for a more exciting game. Secondly, and probably more importantly, the “crack” of a ball being hit by a wooden bat is so unique and classic to America that they dare not replace it with a metallic “ping” sound. Kind of like taking the crust off of a slice of Americana and trying to pass it off as an award winning pie.
Also, aluminum bats have been around forever, try searching for complex metal matrix bats or carbon metal composite bats along with the “apparent coefficient of restitution” …that might lead you to different stats…or I might be completely wet behind the ears on this one.
May 21st, 2008 at 1:34 am
That’s all well and good, but my point is why should Little League players feel compelled to play with anything other than what the pros use?
The logic of it doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, rationally, I understand the competitiveness of it (not to mention the concept of keeping up with the Joneses) but the bullshit of it all doesn’t escape me.
It says a good deal about the way our society functions.
And it’s really sad.
May 21st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Yup, I think if parents encouraged their children to become rock musicians and artists all of this could be avoided. I’m already saving for my daughters future drug addictions. Does anyone know if these savings bonds for future rock musicians and artists and their inevitable drug problems are non-taxable?
May 21st, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Keith, I love the fact that you’re an incurable smart-ass!
Send me an email - I don’t like it when you’re so quiet…
