Aluminum Bats: Creating an Unreasonable Risk of Harm?

Anyone who has been around youth or college baseball recognizes the definitive 'ping' of an aluminum bat as it squarely strikes a pitched ball. Unlike professional baseball, which uses the traditional wooden bats, all other levels of organized baseball have switched to aluminum bats. The change is due mostly to cost: wooden bats break, and thus, have to be replaced. Aluminum bats, on the other hand, will last for years, if not decades. I have used the same aluminum bat at the batting cages for over twelve years.

There is a growing dark side to aluminum bats, though. As the technology continues to improve, and players continue to grow stronger, especially at the high school and collegiate level, the risk of injury due to aluminum bats grows higher. It is now routine for balls hit with aluminum bats to travel at over 100 miles per hour, increasing the danger for pitchers and infielders. In 1999, a college pitcher suffered a fractured skull when he was struck with a line drive off an aluminum bat. In 2003, a similar line drive struck and killed an 18 year-old Montanan pitcher (Wilkinson, State wants crack of bat to replace 'ping'," Christ. Sci. Monitor, 04/24/05). Most "catastrophic" injuries in baseball are caused by players being struck in the head with batted balls.

Due to these incidents, a movement has begun to ban aluminum bats and return the sport to traditional wooden bats. In Montana, the governor has signed a resolution calling for the adoption of wood bats by all American Legion teams nationwide. The proponents argue that wooden bats are safer and do not produce the inflated results of aluminum bats. But are such drastic measures really needed? There seem to be other, more workable, solutions.

First, some may argue that there is not a problem at all. One study has found that baseball is one of the safest sports to play -- with only 6.1 injuries per 1000 players. In addition, the great majority of these injuries are in no way related to aluminum bats: many are sprains, broken bones (many due to sliding incorrectly) and abrasions. There are only 0.11 "catastrophic injuries" in baseball per 100,000 (0.0001%). Admittedly, these numbers are small consolation to the two players listed above, but rules cannot account for all freak accidents. At least one court, though, has found that questions of the liability of aluminum bat manufacturers and leagues using aluminum bats must go to a jury and cannot be defeated on summary judgment (McKee, Bat ups chance of baseball injuries, appeals court rules," The Recorder, 12/24/02) . Thus, the legal regime may dictate a change.

This change, though, does not necessarily have to be a movement to wooden bats. While I would like to see all leagues use wooden bats, I am afraid that the cost of replacing broken bats could be prohibitive, especially in poorer areas. Thus, these alternatives could provide for more safety while still allowing for aluminum bats.

1. Place restrictions on aluminum bats. As technology continues to improve, so too will the quality of bats. Players want to have gaudy statistics; thus, they will use the "latest" bat that incorporates the newest technology and produces the farthest hit balls. The leagues have the option, though, of stepping in and placing regulations on which bats are permissible. Perhaps limitations could be placed on the "spring" of a bat (or some metric like this) that measures the speed of a batted ball. All sports regulate equipment; it would not seem difficult for baseball to regulate the bats.

2. Softer balls. Another measure, though one that could be more difficult, is to switch to a ball that is "softer." This would decrease the speed of batted balls and would also lessen injuries upon impact. I would think this would be the least popular of the proposals.

3. More protective equipment. This is probably my favorite idea. Why not give the pitchers, or all infielders, helmets? As a sport, baseball has remained largely unchanged for the past 80 years, even as players have grown stronger and technology has improved. Why not give the fielders a little more protection? This may seem a radical idea, but then again, so have other changes. Players that first used fielding gloves were mocked by their teammates, and batting helmets only became standard in Major League Baseball in 1956, after one player had been killed and several others severely injured by pitched balls. The most serious risk of injury is from a blow to the head; wearing helmets in the field would reduce the risk of this injury and allow youth baseball to continue with the current bats.

It seems certain that the combination of increased technology and litigation will result in changes to youth and college baseball. I hope, though, that the changes implemented to do not fundamentally alter the game or impose costs that will prevent some children from playing baseball.

FN: Thanks to TJ Graham for pointing out this story.

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