WHAT KIND OF WOOD ARE THEY USING IN THOSE BATS?

DO YOU WATCH MLB BASEBALL?  HAVE YOU WATCHED ANY MAJOR LEAGUE GAMES LATELY?  IF SO, YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED A "STRANGE PHENOMENON - "FLYING BATS", and I don't mean the animal kind.

I've been watching the Pittsburgh Pirates a lot this season, especially as they've gotten to "the stretch" run that has qualified them for a one-game "wildcard" playoff - this one next Tuesday, at home against the Reds.
GO BUCS!  (As in "buccaneers".)

I AM ALARMED at the number of broken bats as a result of the baseballs being hit!!  It's an unusually high number, compared to earlier in the season!

SO I'M ASKING "WHY?".  HOW OFTEN HAS THIS HAPPENED THROUGHOUT THE LEAGUE?  

Here are some possibilities:

l.  Are the batmakers using "inferior woods"?  Louisville Slugger, and Hillerich and Bradley, I'm talking to you!  (Or has the league changed or experimented with other batmakers?)

2.  Is the cooler weather affecting the composition of the wooden bats?
Do they have a tendency to "snap" when the wood is colder?

3.  Is it maybe that the bats are becoming "stressed" from overuse?  Get my point here?  If a player's favorite bat or bats are seeing a number of visits to the plate, and hitting a high number of balls, both "fair" and "foul", is this taking it's toll on each bat?  Think about it.  Could be.

MY FEAR IS THAT SOMEBODY IS GOING TO GET HURT WITH THE TOP END OF A BAT FLYING INTO THE FIELD OF PLAY - AND EVEN SOMETIMES "INTO THE STANDS"!!

Granted, most of them don't go too far, and often they fly off harmlessly into "foul territory", but in the past few days I've seen them go as far as out near an infielder, and ONE EVEN MADE IT TO SHALLOW OUTFIELD!

I do remember one game a few months back when a spectator, who wasn't "spectating", received a blow from a broken bat flying at her!  I hope she is okay.

HOW LONG BEFORE A PLAYER, WHOSE LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON HIS STAYING IN THE GAME, IS SERIOUSLY INJURED BY ONE OF THESE INCIDENTS?  I pray that it never happens, but ......................?

HERE ARE MY SUGGESTIONS:

1.  Test the bats more thoroughly at the factory before they are shipped.

2.  Do an "extreme test" on random bats from each production.

3.  Assign serial numbers to each bat, and have their "times-at-bat" recorded, including foul balls hit, and "retire" each bat after a maximum number of batted balls is reached!

4.  Use the "retired" bats for batting practice, or donate to an appropriate civic program, where the youth are unlikely to exert enough force on them to create any problems.  OR AUCTION THEM OFF FOR CHARITY!

5.  CHANGE THE COMPOSITION OF THE BATS!  Is there a stronger wood or "wood composite" that would perform suitably and with more longevity - with a minimum danger of "exploding" or breaking?

6.  Your idea(s) here:

That's my take.  I TRUST THAT THE LEAGUE OFFICE HAS TAKEN NOTICE OF THE SITUATION, AND IS TAKING STEPS TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM - BEFORE IT'S "COSTLY" TO A PLAYER OR FAN!!

P.S.  I remember growing up, that we were always told to "put the printing on the back, away from the hitting surface".  Still true?  Are these players not heeding to this axiom?  Is it because they don't have to pay for them?
 

REMOVING THE PIZZAZZ FROM COLLEGE BASEBALL!

The missus and I are HUGE college sports fans.  With season tickets to the Pitt women's basketball games, catching the Panthers' mens games now and then, and spending hundreds of hours watching football, volleyball, basketball, and baseball, etc. on television, I guess you'd say we are "patrons of the arts of college sports"?

We each have our favorites for which football teams we root for.  Often it depends on what "the other half" is cheering for.  Having been a player, coach, and official for most of my live, basketball "plays" a big part of our friendly competition, even to the point of competing with our "March Madness" tournament brackets against each other.  (I lost this year.)

Being "Keystone State" residents, we enjoy following the success of the Penn State ladies' volleyball squad.  They're awesome.  With their recent win streak, numerous national titles, and competitive spirit, they are fun to watch.

Pitt's baseball team had a very successful season, too, finishing second in the Big East, with an admirable won-lost record.  We were wishing to see them picked, at least "at-large" for the college tournament, but sadly and "alas", they were not invited.  Drats!

SPEAKING OF THE COLLEGE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT, and college baseball in general - "Why do the people who govern the sport feel that they need to 'tone down' the excitement of the game?"

"The College World Series", which has been televised for over a week now, and is about to culminate in a best-of-three between UCLA and Mississippi State beginning Monday, June 24th, HAS BEEN A DISAPPOINTMENT!

Granted, the coaches and players have been "giving their all" in an effort to compete in the finals, and there have been some spectacular defensive plays performed, and the pitchers have done admirably, BUT WHERE'S THE OFFENSE?  The final scores indicate an absence of "offense".  DUH. 

Beginning with the "brains of the game's" dumbing-down of the bats to "make the game more interesting and competitive", I THINK THEY "OUT-THOUGHT THEMSELVES"!

So you place these awesome specimens of human athletic ability on the field, you "deaden" the "sweet-spot" of their offensive weapons, and you expect to LIVEN UP THE GAME?  NOT.

Couple that with the new stadium in Omaha, the "T D AmeriTrade Stadium", I believe it's called, WHICH IS "OVERSIZED" for the game as it should be played - and you have A DEBACLE, offensively speaking!!

Many of the games have been noticeably absent of HOME RUNS.  Few of the balls have been "down the lines, and into the corners".  Rarely does an outfielder have to make "a spectacular catch", or an "over the shoulder" play to excite those in attendance or those watching on ESPN.

Why the outfielders are, generally speaking, playing "right behind the infielders", more or less.  The centerfielder, in particular, is halfway between the second base and the outfield wall.  WHAT'S THAT ABOUT?

TIME TO RESTORE "THE PIZZAZZ"!!  Either restore the bats to some semblance of their original potency, or "liven" the balls, or "shrink" the fields, especially the one in Nebraska.  BORING!

FEW THINGS IN BASEBALL ARE AS EXHILARATING AS SEEING A BALL "LOFTED INTO THE BLEACHERS OR OVER THE FENCE"!!

Come on guys (and gals) who sit "in your ivory palace and dictate the rules and equipment of the college game - HAVE MERCY!  Give some sensible and sane consideration to "putting the game back into the game" - FOR THE GAME'S SAKE, FOR THE PLAYERS' SAKE, FOR THE FANS' SAKE, AND "FOR GOODNESS SAKE"!!

P.S.  I must give a "thumbs-up" to the pitchers of each team, as for the most part they have been awesome in their performances.  Just kinda wish that the homeplate umpires had a little more consistency.  OOPS!  Dreaming.