[Husker] PineTar and Aluminum Bats (fwd)

[Jeff Volk]

Mike wrote:

>>I also question your math.  

>>115 MPH is 167 feet/second.  The mound is 60'6" from the plate, so after 
>>the pitch the pitcher is about 55 feet from the batter.  It will take 
>>.327 seconds for the ball to travel from the plate to the pitcher.

>>What are you basing that reaction time upon?  According to most research,
>>a well-conditioned athlete has a reaction time of between .11 and .18 seconds.

My mistake - I was paraphrasing roughly from what I remember of the episode that I saw last night and should have stated as such. The HBO piece goes very in depth in regards to the mathematics - I suggest one watch the program if they want the full scope - including opinions of the bat manufacturers, the NCAA, the Consumer Product Safety Board and the parents of at least one player who was killed by a batted ball that struck him in the temple. 

>>It's interesting that aluminum bats were originally intended to save money,
>>but have you actually priced them lately?   A state-of-the-art aluminum
>>bat can cost $300.  

At retail price a new high-tech aluminum bat runs upward of $300. By contrast, a new Louisville Slugger composite wood bat retails for around $80. While these are designed for greater durability, you are still going to have a splintered bat on many inside pitches - pitches that can result in hits with an aluminum bat. If a good hitter breaks even 4 bats over the course of a season, which is not unreasonable, the cost is close to or about a wash. My guess however is that there are still economic advantages to aluminum, or given even the remote chance of a safety issue the NCAA would mandate a change. 

By no means am I an aluminum bat apologist. Coming from the viewpoint of my ex-scouting days, aluminum bats develop HORRIBLE habits in both hitters and pitchers. Hitters tend to open up to soon and develop "inside out" swings that actually result in less power and most pitchers never really learn to locate pitches inside. Nevermind how difficult it is for a scout to project the raw power and HR potential in a player when he switches from aluminum to wood. 

It isn't likely that aluminum bats are going to go away on the collegiate or even HS/Legion level anytime soon and sadly it will probably take a very public, gruesome and tragic event to occur before the NCAA really looks at the issue closely. 

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Volk