Wooden bats should be used more in the lower leagues because metal bats give the batter an unnatural advantage, and do not prepare them for the majors. If you think of it like getting surgery for a weight problem, it becomes more of a shortcut, you don’t actually gain anything out of it. This will not help batters develop as they grow up and participate in higher leagues because they will have to stop using metal bats and have to put so much more effort than they were used to using wooden bats. However, not only will it effect the batter, it will also effect the pitchers as well. This is because the bat speed from metal bats are significantly faster than wooden bats, so the pitcher has less time to react to balls heading straight towards them. This will get them frightened and make them pitch more safely than aggressively (the one thing you do not want pitchers to develop is getting scared of the ball). Just as metal bats help batters achieve great results with minimal effort, it wooden bats help achieve real skill with maximum efforts. Now here are some facts to why metal bats give batters an advantage.
– Terms of Speed:
in 1977 a study, using 6 college baseball players, showed that Aluminum bats had an average mph of 92.5 mph. Compared to wooden bats only having 88.6 mph, that’s a 3.85 mph apart, which is a very significant difference when it comes to baseball. So when using metal bats, the ball drives faster than compared to wooden bats, stating the unfair advantage to the hitters
– Terms of Size:
When it comes to the sweet spot (best place to hit the ball from), both the metal and wooden bats have the same sized sweet spot. However, outside the sweet spot, the aluminum bats have a slightly larger length, giving a slight advantage in hitting the ball as to not hitting the ball at all. Another key note is that metal bats weigh less than wooden bats, making it easier to achieve a faster batting speed. So basically, it’s lighter and hits the ball further, obvious examples of less effort being made and better results being achieved
– Terms of safety:
This is how wooden and metal bats effect other types of players (pitchers, defense men, etc). This all goes back to the speed, weight and size of the bat and it mainly effects the pitchers in general. Pitchers have to control their emotions and can’t act on being afraid of the ball. However, knowing that metal bats hit the ball faster and the batter will hit more often, compared to wooden bats, can really scare pitchers in a way. Then they try and just play it safe rather than be aggressive and their goes his shot of ever making the majors.
– Terms of cost and durability:
When it comes to cost, the metal bats nearly triple what wooden bats cost on average. Now having said that, it is important to know that metal bats have a much longer life than wooden bats do, majorly effecting high schools decisions on which bats to get. For example, think of 1 wooden bat being broken every 10 games (for 60 games). Now multiply that number by 5, which would be 30, and that’s how many wooden bats it takes for a metal bat to be worn down. In terms of money, it would be spent better on metal bats
– Terms of baseball’s tradition:
For about 200 years, when baseball was first created, it had been using only wooden bats. That was the whole tradition of it, using a wooden bat and trying so hard to get a hit. Once you did, it was quite an accomplishment for that person. That’s what made the game fun and exciting for people. Now using metal bats, it’s not too exciting anymore knowing that it’s easier for batters to get hits and ruining the pitchers stats without earning that right.
There’s no doubt that metal bats serve some purpose for young kids. I believe that metal bats should be banned from all high school levels and any leagues above that because by high school level, you should be at a moderate skill level. Young kids will need metal bats because the wood would be too heavy for them and they will develop slower. In my opinion, this is the only situation which require metal bats.
To sum it up, wooden bats bring the tradition of how baseball was played in the past, one of the reasons it was considered one of the greatest games ever played. Metal bats giving the size, power and sweet zone advantage is ruining that tradition by helping the batters out. Baseball is one of those sports where luck has very little to do with anything, it was probably 99% skill and 1% luck. That’s what made it special, working very hard and getting rewarded was the best feeling anyone can ask for. But metal bats, they take away that feeling. Maybe some day, when metal bats officially get banned, we can go back to play the old way: with wood.
