Baseball Bats

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E-MAIL: oddo@council.nyc.ny.us

At Bat: The Safety of Our Kids and
One Councilman's Fight to Ban Aluminum
and Bring Back Wood
New York City Councilman Introduces Legislation Banning
The Use of Non-Wood Bats by Minors

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2002 -- Fields of dreams are turning into nightmares and a bill being introduced by the Council Minority Leader James S. Oddo (R-Staten Island, Brooklyn) today to ban the use of non-wood bats by minors is up at bat.

Minority Leader Oddo says that as a result of the number of injuries and deaths that are occurring on little league, high school and collegiate fields across the country, Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer's 1908 7th Inning Stretch classic, "Take me out to the ball game"-arguably one of the most well-known songs about one of our greatest pastimes-may soon go more like, "Take me out on a stretcher."

It is a story that is remarkably familiar. It starts with an unsafe product, one that is manipulated to achieve a specific purpose. The manufacturer has full knowledge of its danger, yet safety considerations are blatantly ignored. Cosmetic and disingenuous changes are offered in hopes that overseeing entities will be satisfied. Half-truths, deception and lies abound. Kids and teenagers make up a large portion of the target audience. And, oh yes, then there is the money. Not billions this time, only hundreds of millions. There is an individual, an insider, who at first was paid an extremely lucrative salary to master the product, only to become cognizant of its destructive ways and who now leads the fight to shed light on the greed and to prevent additional tragedies.

These are tragedies Oddo has been working to prevent, and he is seeking an assist from his colleagues to ban the use of non-wood bats by minors with legislation he is introducing today.

Oddo says that if the City Council of New York were to pass this legislation it would certainly serve as a domino effect, and jurisdictions around the country would certainly follow Gotham's lead to protect minors from the injuries and deaths occurring needlessly across the country.

Said Oddo, "With Spring Training underway and more of our youths being placed in harm's way, I am hoping that my colleagues will become as concerned about the dangers of hi-tech alloy bats as I have over the past two years. Perhaps this legitimate concern stems from the fact that I am a rabid baseball fan. Perhaps, it is the result of having had a mother stand in my office depicting what it was like to watch her son die on an athletic field before her very eyes. Perhaps it is knowing that no parent should experience a similar pain that leads me to ask for my colleagues to support this legislation."

Oddo says his passion for the issue may stem from the numerous conversations he has held with Jack MacKay, a former bat engineer for Louisville Slugger, who is now the leading proponent to eliminate these lethal weapons from the game.

Oddo asserted, "The parallels between Mr. MacKay's story and that of tobacco 'insider,' Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, are uncanny. And while I do not intend to equate the carnage of Big Tobacco with the lies and the likes of Easton and Louisville Slugger-the two main manufacturers of hi-tech aluminum bats-I must admit that to allow profits to yet again flout safety, even if the issue is falsely couched in the glory of America's pastime, is wrong."

The fact remains that from T-ballers to softball players, from American Legion leagues to Division I athletes, boys, girls and young men and women are being placed in danger for no real reason other than money. The science is irrefutable. The injuries and deaths are real. The story is waiting to be told.

"Graphite and aluminum combinations? Bats with pressurized air chambers? Triple wall bats with coiled Springsteel? Bats made of scandium and other highly advanced materials? Bats developed under a cryogenic process? Electric bats? Is this baseball? Are these the tools we want in the hands of our little leaguers and high school athletes? The bats are becoming lighter, the swings quicker and the balls are travelling faster and farther-all with a blatant disregard for the pitcher, or the third baseman, for that matter. Every indication is that our youngsters literally do not have enough time to protect themselves from line drives sprung from the latest innovation from Easton or Louisville Slugger," said Oddo.

Here are some cold, hard facts:

-Studies indicate that balls travel at a maximum speed of 93 mph off a wooden bat swung by an adult;

-Studies indicate that a ball travel at speeds of 100-123 mph off a high tech aluminum bat-- Easton advertises its LS model as providing an "exit speed" of 115mph;

-An adult pitcher has 4/10ths of a second to react to get a glove up to protect himself;

- A ball travelling faster than 94 mph gets to a pitcher at 3/10ths of second.

And here is a sampling of the injuries, and even deaths, that have occurred as a result of balls being propelled off of hi-tech bats at our youths:

-Fifteen-year-old hit above the temple batted by a 5'10", 140 lb. boy, which resulted in a skull fracture, bleeding in the brain, and numbness on the left side, Seattle Times, June 26, 1998;

-Pitcher hit by ball, underwent surgery to place 11 metal plates and 22 screws in his head, Time-Picuayune, May 13, 1998;

-Seventeen-year-old hit in the temple, brain dead, dies, Los Angeles Times, August 2, 1998;

-Fourteen-year-old hit in the temple, dies, Gonzaga Bulletin, Summer, 1998;

- High school pitcher hit over the ear, brain bruise/temporary hearing loss; ended season and prospective collegiate athletic career, Spokesman-Review, April 24, 1997;

-Sixteen-year-old second baseman struck in chest, suffered sudden cardiac arrest, regained consciousness two days later, Buffalo News, June 5, 1994;

-Fourteen-year-old Anthony Ricci, took a line drive to the face resulting in his teeth being knocked out, a wired jaw and forty stitches to the face, Staten Island, June 2001.

Said Oddo, "Last week we learned of the tragic death of a 13-year-old girl who was hit in the head by a puck at an NHL game that had actually deflected off of a player and over the glass. But think about the mature 12-year-old who is at bat ready and poised to launch a line-drive at the lanky little 10-year-old pitcher or third basemen who's standing less than 30 or 40 feet away from him. That pitcher or third baseman has neither the time, speed or coordination to protect himself."

Oddo asserted, "Gone are the days of kids learning to hit a line drive or a homer off of the sweet part of a wooden bat-the same tool that the 'Splendid Splinter' and 'Teddy Baseball' utilized to become legends in the game that was made for wood, and in the game that has unfortunately become perverted by metal."

"I am committed to preventing a young person in my community from being maimed or killed, so they don't become martyrs for a cause that needs to be heard sooner, and not after another tragic 'I told you so.' For the sake of the sanctity of baseball yes, but much more importantly, for the safety of our young people across this city, there has to be a return to wood, and I hope we achieve that with this legislation," said Oddo.