The results were conclusive. Aluminum bats produce faster speeds of balls off the bat than wood. It occurs during and after the collision of the ball and bat, and results in the ball springing off the bat. Now with speeds of mph plus the pitcher only has less than 0. According to the European Journal of Anesthesiology 18 7 ,It takes 0.
Four years ago, my own brother was pitching and received a come-backer to his face. Korpi became a YouTube sensation from his experience with a batted ball off an aluminum bat. MLB players use wooden bats because the ball has less velocity off the bat when compared to metal bats, which protects both players and fans.
Wooden bats also provide the benefits of being cost-effective, reducing bat modifications, and sticking to the tradition of using wooden bats in the MLB. The rest of this article will be diving into each of those reasons in more detail and, for further context, taking a look into why metal bats are popular among non-pros. So, why is this important? The average velocity of a ball coming off an aluminum bat is notably faster about eight mph faster than that of a ball coming off a wood bat.
This translates into baseballs flying at a faster speed towards fielders, which translates into less time to react to a ball and more risk to the fielders. Players hit the ball at higher velocities because aluminum bats are generally lighter. This means players can swing aluminum harder and faster than wooden bats for a much higher impact. Generally, balls coming off metal bats have a velocity of Imagine a scenario where professional batters use a metal bat.
There have actually been numerous cases where baseball players have been detrimentally hurt by the ball moving at mph or more. An example of this unfortunate event is the case of Brandon McCarthy.
He was hit by a batted ball moving at a velocity a little above mph, which caused him to suffer a skull fracture, epidural hemorrhage, and a brain contusion— which was life-threatening. If this much damage could be done to someone by a wooden bat, one can only imagine how much damage can be done to many more pitchers if batters used metal bats.
In an effort to avoid serious injuries to pitchers, using a wooden bat is the optimal solution. Beyond protecting the pitcher, using wooden bats also helps protect the fans at the game. Even when wooden bats are used there are still the occasional baseballs flying into the stands and using wooden bats over metal bats helps to reduce the potential injuries to those fans.
Also, if metal bats were to be used, almost all MLB teams would have to change the dimensions of their stadium. Besides the obvious cost of money it would take to re-do the dimensions of the stadium, there is also the cost of fans being further away from the field and making the game less enjoyable.
So, to avoid paying for new stadium dimensions and to ensure that we enjoy the game, wood bats work well. With metal and composite bats, players can modify the bat to their preference after players have purchased the bat. So, this makes wooden bats much better to use in the MLB. In general, wood bats are less expensive than metal bats. The energy absorbed when the ball is deformed is almost 75 percent lost to heat, and thus wasted as far as propelling the ball.
Because of this trampoline effect, you can hit the ball somewhat faster, and somewhat farther. In fact, when the NCAA approved the use of aluminum bats in , we started comparing statistics and found that the team batting averages went up about twenty points, and the home-run production about doubled.
The primary reason that wooden bats are required in the pros is due to this performance difference. Ever-increasing performance of metal bats has begun to affect the game at the college level and below. Aluminum bat makers have been exploring stronger and lighter metal alloys. The results include ever-lighter bats with thinner walls, and consequently higher bat speeds and even greater trampoline effects. A ball hit by these bats travels farther, faster. The gas pressure in the bladder supports bat walls, pushing them out after they are deformed under impact.
This support allows a much thinner wall and a greater trampoline effect. Batting averages and home-run production have gone up consistently at the college level as these advances have appeared. Titanium was used briefly, but it was quickly prohibited because that metal's combination of high strength, light weight, and elasticity was clearly going to result in shattering all hitting records in all phases of the game.
Recently, a heated debate has broken out over the widespread use of aluminum bats in college leagues. Many in baseball fear that modern technology is creating a "super bat," which will irrevocably alter the game and endanger players. They are not only concerned about the integrity of the game, the balance between offense and defense, but they are also concerned about safety.
The high speed of the ball coming off the these metal bats has put pitchers in danger, as a line drive hit at them may be traveling too fast for them to get out of the way. And, according to Manning, the energy of a hit ball increases as the square of the velocity, so a fast hit can do more damage. As a result, the NCAA has ordered recently that bat manufacturers alter their designs to make bats heavier, with a smaller barrel.
And baseball organizations from college to Little League are considering a return to a "wooden bats only" policy, though the fragility and expense of wooden bats may make such a move unfeasible. Though it's hard to imagine baseball without the ubiquitous stitched-leather glove, the baseball glove was not part of the original game. Through the mids, players still fielded the ball bare-handed, which gave a decided advantage to the hitters.
One of the first players credited with using a glove was Doug Allison, a catcher for the Cincinnati Red Stockings. In the summer of , Allison wore a pair of buckskin mittens to protect his hands, which were sore from catching fastballs. However, his innovation did not catch on immediately, as fans and other players considered wearing gloves a sign of weakness. One story tells of a St. Louis first baseman named Charlie Waitt, who, in , wore a pair of flesh-colored gloves in a failed attempt to avoid the derision of the fans.
The gloves early players used look strange to modern viewers. They were open-fingered, usually unpadded, and lacked the web or pocket between the thumb and first finger by which we recognize a modern baseball glove. Most players wore gloves on both hands, with perhaps a bit of padding for the catching hand. Not until did webbed gloves for fielders become prevalent.
New glove features were marketed, then as now, with scientific-sounding names, like the Web Controller, the Deep-Well Pocket, and the Edge-u-Cated Heel, to take advantage of the public fascination with science and technology.
Gloves became increasingly specialized. Highly padded gloves for catchers, huge "scoop" gloves for first basemen, and large webbed gloves for outfielders were the norm.
In , the Baseball Rules Committee imposed a inch limit on the size of gloves, but this was rarely enforced. Outfielders' gloves grew larger and larger, and in the s some gloves could be 13 or 14 inches long. Gloves have traditionally been made out of leather. His works have been published on eHow and Associated Content.
By: Rob Krasinski. Published: 10 July, More Articles. Home Sports Baseball.
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