Aluminum Bats vs. Wooden Bats
Is baseball America’s pastime? For the major leaguers maybe, but for college athletes it seems more like a new age video game. The introduction of high dollared aluminum bats produce football like scores, higher statistics, and a percentage of danger to each and every player on the field. The NCAA has changed the regulations of the bats so far and should look further into to making another change to wooden bats.
High tech aluminum baseball bats aren’t quite as new to the game as many people may think. Author, Patrick Hruby, wrote in Sports Illustrated, “introduced in the mid-1970’s… metal bats have become increasingly potent, forged with alloys… pressurized air chambers” (Hruby 42). Over the last few decades these aluminum ‘killer bats’ have evolved to be even more potent. “Some coaches and players claim these powerful bats are ruining the integrity of the game and placing pitchers at undue risk” (42). Every college, divisions I through III, are using these bats religiously. Each year bigger and better bats are at each team’s fingertips. A few of the more popular bats this year are the TPX C555 Platinum, TPX Omaha, and the EASTON Redline, just to name a few. These bats are so advanced that almost everything about them has changed, for instance, “…an
expanded “sweet-spot”- the area of the bat that produces maximum hitting power. While the sweet spot on a wood bat is roughly 6 to 8 inches long, aluminum sweet spots can be twice that size”(43). James Braham, a writer for Machine Design, says that the new “aluminum baseball bats have actually taken over an estimated 90 to 95% of the market, with wood bats remaining largely in the professional major and minor baseball leagues”(James 56).
Another exciting characteristic of aluminum bats is the speed at which the ball leaves the bat compared to the speed that it leaves a wooden bat. A one time representative of Louisville Slugger, J.W. MacKay, says “When a ball is traveling at 94 miles per hour as it leaves the bat, a pitcher has four milliseconds to respond…you can’t react that fast”(Palmer 2). Studies show the bats have enough power to propel balls at speeds up to 123 miles per hour, up to 30 mph faster than balls struck with wooden bats. In a memorandum written to the NCAA, Cedric W. Dempsey states that “traditional wood bats when swung at 70 miles ...
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Bibliography
Braham, Jones. “Keep Your Eye on the Bat.” Machine Design 63.13(1997). 29 Mar. 2002 http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org
Hruby, Patrick. “Hitters like high-tech bats, but critics smell foul play.” Insight on the News 15.27(1999). 29 Mar. 2002 http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org
Kennedy, Kostya. “Heavy Metal.” Sports Illustrated 86.4(1997). 29 Mar. 2002 http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org
McCallum, Jack; O’brien, Richard. “Statitudes.” Sports Illustrated 88.18(1998). 29 Mar. 2002 http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org
Mravic, Mark. “Killer Bats?” Sports Illustrated 92.13(2000). 29 Mar. 2002 http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org
NCAA Baseball Rules Committee. “Easton Sports’ Recent Letters.” National Collegiate Athletic Association. 4 Dec. 1998. 5 Apr. 2002 http://www.ncaa.org
Palmer, Bob. MacKay asks government to recall metal bats. 5 Apr. 2002 http://www.eumpire.com
Patterson, Matt. “Interview.” 5 Apr. 2002.
Seifman, David. “Pols Would Toss Metal Bats From Kid Games.” New York Post.com. 28 Jun. 2001. 5 Apr. 2002 http://www.foxnews.com
Weber, Ben. “For Success: Lots of Scoring.” Coach & Athletic Director 1.4(2000). 29 Mar. 2002 http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org
The game of baseball can be divided into three broad categories: hitting, pitching, and defense. No other facet of the game gets as much attention as hitting. For example, every year the MLB puts on a home run derby. No other part of the game draws as much attention. The traditional statistic that measure hitting ability is batting average (BA or AVG). To find a players batting averag...
Many people might think that swinging the bat straight through the ball would be enough to hit the ball a decent distance off the bat. There's many more mechanics involved in the swinging process. Muscle has only a small part to play in the swinging a bat for power. There are two types of mechanics involved while swinging a bat, Linear and Rotational. Rotational mechanics are the dominant source of power in the swing. Out of the rotational mechanics come the two forces that help generate the speed and power of the swing, torque and the other comes from the energy of rotation. Speed from the energy of rotation comes from the path that your hands follow as you swing the bat. The speed generated by the circular rotation from your hands is like a ball at the end of a string, as long as your hands are moving in a circle then the ball continues to accelerate in a circle. So the bat will also move in at an increasing speed as long as your hands are following a circular path as you swing. Any foward movement of the hands or body in a straight line won't add to the overall bat speed.
Wolff, R. (2010, August 8). What The Heck Is A BBCOR Bat?. In Ask Coach Wolff. Retrieved March 19, 2014, from http://www.askcoachwolff.com/2010/08/08/what-the-heck-is-a-bbcor-bat
Marsden, Malcolm M. If You Really Want To Know: A Catcher Casebook. Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1963.
Getting back to the comparison of wood and aluminum bats, an aluminum bat with the
Renowned softball bat brands like DeMarini explore and refine the science of softball bat designs for softball players. In this article, we will review
Though the sport is based mostly in talent, or how the athlete utilizes these tools, equipment is critical for the performance of the athlete. Athletes seek bats that will increase their probability for a home run, maximize their hitting power, decrease the amount of energy loss in the collision for a greater ball velocity, and allow for a quicker swing, seeing as these factors are crucial to the success of their careers. Decades and decades of testing and experimentation have gotten the baseball bat to where it is. It first started as a simple plank, but with the growing popularity of the sport along...
Julius Caesar was a good leader for the Roman Empire. For starters, "Julius Caesar was a general, a statesman, a lawgiver, an orator, and a historian." (N.S. Gill). He was very powerful and established a popularity among the people of Rome. He reduced slavery, gave more land to people like peasants and soldiers, established roman colonies, and also established tax reforms. Leading him and his soldiers to many victories concluded with him never losing a war. He took over Germany and invaded Britain. (source: softschools Julius Caesar timeline). He made the people of Rome very happy, filled them with hope, and rose to power very quickly. (Sources/authors: mainly by N.S. Gill, softschools, and Ellis and Esler).
During the 1970s, a new change which would change the baseball game for the future began. The change came in the form of aluminum bats. The aluminum bats are technologically designed to reduce diameter, thickness and hence result in bats with higher strength, lighter weight and hollow nature as compared to the wooden bats (Science of Baseball: Aluminum vs. Wooden Bats | Exploratorium, n.d.). Initially, a majority of the people viewed the aluminum bats as nothing more than just a metal copy of the
Hitting a baseball perfectly is considered to be hitting the “sweet spot” resulting in few vibrations. This is known in terms of physics as the center of percussion. This is the point where you receive the most energy exchange when hitting the ball. Coming into contact with other ends of the bat actually wastes energy because the bat is absorbing more than it should; resulting in a hit that is not as powerful and stinging of the hands. There are times that due to the ball being poorly hit that a players bat can break. The wood material cannot take the strain of the collision. Therefore, finding the center of percussion can be very difficult. Each time you pick up a bat, the center of percussion changes due to the change in location and
Marsden, Malcolm M. If You Really Want To Know: A Catcher Casebook. Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1963.
Who doesn’t love the crack of a wooden bat? It is one of the most beautiful sound in sports but are wooden bats going to help your game? There have been many people have wondered if using a wooden bat is beneficial to their baseball skills and even more don’t know the answer. There are in fact many things that help your batting abilities but also many that could not help your batting abilities. This paper is made to help you learn whether or not to use a wooden bat early on. Even if you are just coaching a team, you could start you young athletes on wooden bats to help them improve.
Above all, Julius Caesar was the greatest military mind in history. His military power helped Rome shape into one of the greatest and most memorable civilizations in history. He had many victories, and rarely lost a battle. He had received many victories in Egypt, Pontus, Gaul, Africa, and parts in Asia Minor, there he received some of his greatest honors. He proved himself when he led his army to conquer Gaulic tribes one after another. He constantly outmaneuvered and defeat his enemies which earned him the title as one of the greatest military minds in history. Julius Caesar also earned the respect he deserved from his soldiers when he fought on foot with his army against the Roman enemies. By doing that, Julius Caesar showed that he cares enough about his people that he will not only make successful plans for them, but fight wit...
Ancient Rome was one of the most powerful empires in history, although even the most powerful empires have internal conflict at times. Such as the civil war that started in 133 BCE because there was conflict between the senate and the popular political leaders. Thus Julius Caesar saw an opportunity to become the dictator. So he forced the senate to make him the dictator of Rome. He made many contributions to help further Rome. Julius Caesar was one of the most influential Roman leaders ever because he had lasting ideas in what he wrote and was a strong leader.
In conclusion, there are a various numbers of reasons why a ball go farther when hit with an aluminum bat; such as, aluminum bat can be swung faster, aluminum bats have the trampoline effect, aluminum bats have winder sweet spots, and aluminum bats don’t break. A ball goes farther when hit with aluminum bat because of the fact that the bat is very lightweight and have a large 'sweet spot' in which to hit the ball. In order to have a ball with a high speed, in other words, lots of kinetic energy, the collision has to an elastic collision. Aluminum bats can be swung faster because the barrel of an aluminum bat is empty; the distribution of mass along the length of a metal bat.