Aluminum v. wood bats? Who's right?
There's been a tremendous amount of debate in recent weeks about whether aluminum bats are just as safe as wooden bats. In fact, New York City recently passed a law which outlaws aluminum bats from being used in high school baseball games starting this fall.
In retaliation for this new law, the aluminum bat manufacturers quickly put together something called Don't Take My Bat Away to challenge this ban. This coalition has hired some heavy hitting p.r. types, like Trent Duffy, the former deputy press secretary to President Bush. And they are very good at putting forth a lot of soothing thoughts to sports parents who want to be reasured that their kids are safe using aluminum.
Problem is, anybody who has gone out and seen an aluminum bat game, and then seen a wood bat game realizes right away that there's a huge difference. Aluminum bats feature a much larger sweet spot, which allows the batter a much greater chance of smacking the pitch squarely. Plus, of course, aluminum bats don't break - again, a big advantage over wood. And then there's the trampoline effect of aluminum on a ball (as opposed to a ball off a wood bat).
Dr. Robert Adair, esteemed professor of physics at Yale, has made it clear that a batted ball off a metal bat is going to come at a pitcher at least 5-7 mph faster than a ball off a wood bat. That may mean the difference between a pitcher or a fielder having enough time to duck his head out of the way on a line drive hit back at them. And that, to me, is the essential key. I would be very wary about the so-called claims from the metal bat manufacturers about how their bats are just as safe as wood.
Look, ALL bats are dangerous. But in my experience, and I've been around baseball all my life, metal bats are just more dangerous than wood.
