By Gary Dickson
A couple of weeks ago my wife sat down and watched part of a televised Giants baseball game with me. In the span of four or five batters three hitters shattered their bat and one broken shard came pretty close to hitting an infielder. I remarked to my wife that I didn”t recall bats breaking like that in the past and especially not when I was playing baseball. Of course, I didn”t play against many pitchers who were 6-plus feet tall and throwing 100 mph, nor was every hitter a weight lifter.
It wasn”t long after we watched that game that I read about a New York Mets fan, James Falzon, who is suing the Mets, Major League Baseball (MLB), the bat manufacturer and two players because the barrel of a shattered bat struck him in the face, causing multiple facial bone fractures, including a fractured palette.
I don”t know what will become of Falzon”s lawsuit, but the story I read about his case did help me understand why I have seen more bats break during MLB games in recent years. As if Barry Bonds doesn”t have enough issues to keep him up at night, such as his indictment for perjury; the trail of the broken bat caper seems to lead right back to Bonds” doorstep as well.
The story goes that Bonds used bats made out of maple wood beginning in 2001 when he broke Mark McGwire”s single season home run record and continued to use them through the breaking of Hank Aaron”s career home run record in 2007. The word spread of Bonds” success using maple bats, so lots of players made the switch and stopped using the traditional ash bats.
In 2008 a MLB committee investigating the broken bat problem discovered that maple bats are three times more likely to shatter than ash bats, and, according to their findings, don”t really provide a real hitting advantage for the user.
Even though MLB game tickets include the disclaimer that the league is not responsible for injuries caused by foul balls or broken bats, it appears that Falzon may be aided in his case by the fact that MLB looked into the situation, found out that maple bats are prone to shatter into multiple pieces and decided not to ban their use by MLB players.
In 2008, during a 10-week period, 2,000 bats were broken at the Major League level. It was reported that 700 of those broken bats splintered into multiple pieces. That would equate to between 5,000 to 6,000 total broken bats in a season and from 1,750 to 2,100 bats shattered into pieces.
During the 2008 season a number of injuries from flying pieces of broken bats occurred. A female fan at a Colorado Rockies game suffered a broken jaw. Pittsburgh Pirates hitting coach Don Long required 10 stitches to close a gash under his left eye after he was hit by a broken bat splinter while sitting in the dugout. Umpire Brian O”Nora was hit in the head by a shattered bat and received care at a hospital.
After the 2008 season, MLB did set new standards for bat manufacturers to adhere to, but didn”t ban the use of maple bats. The league has reported that the broken bat average has dropped considerably since the new standards were implemented. But the problem still exists that when a maple bat breaks, chances are good that it will be into many sharp pieces that turn into dangerous projectiles hurtling at players, coaches, umpires or fans.
Based on the danger and the research that suggests there is no advantage gained by hitting with a maple wood bat, I think the league should ban them and force players to use the safer ash bats. Falzon”s injuries were severe. If players continue to use maple bats it is a distinct possibility that someone will die from injuries sustained from being hit by a splintered bat.
Gary Dickson is the publisher of the Record-Bee. Call him at 263-5636, ext. 24. E-mail him at gdickson@record-bee.com.
