What do you guys think of this? Hopefully it picks up steam, and we can get rid of the "ping" in college ball! New Bat
Scott, I have never liked the aluminum bats and that darn ping sound. Also I think they are dangerous. Don
its all about cost at that price tag, its too much for youth baseball but still very doable for college and high school. since the gender equity nutballs have deemed that boobyball errr softball is the same as baseball, cost is everything in baseball. its a bottom line sport. those aluminum bat companies kept college baseball alive for decades while others turned their back on the sport.. those ties will be hard to break.
Agreed Corey. Don't you think some of those bat companies will at least explore this in case it catches on? If so, production costs should drop as they figure out better methods... I hope they can at least get it going for college. Certainly if the pros go for it, there's a chance of success. If not, I'm sure the aluminum companies will try very hard to kill it...
I think its possible. It will all depend on how easily they can get around the patent I would imagine. I'm betting that Louisville, Easton et all can spend a lot more than the MIT guy. If they can make that bat and keep the cost down, they will gut him in production cost in the long run, forcing the price of the bat down.. They key really is.. getting that used at the little league/youth level. That's where the big money is for those bat companies.
Corey, you make a valid point re: the aluminum bat companies doing everything possible to protect their "turf". Re: production. I'm guessing that the guy would not be talking about it publicly unless he already had the patent. Plus, he would be in a good position to have one or more of the big guys do the manufacturing and pay him a per-bat royalty or licensing fee. That type of arrangement likely would diminish the possibility of a future patent infringement fight and certainly would make him a rich man.
Sid, I'm betting that Mizuno or someone overseas find a way to make a knockoff of it. If so, then the bat becomes affordable and it will become widespread. If it doesn't, or they don't, then embrace the ping
The state that gave you the light bulb and Charlie Weis now comes up with an unbreakable bat! We'll see. I hate the aluminum bats. More than the "ping" it is the incredible torgue an average hitter can put on a baseball. They are like weapons. I was coaching a 15 year old team one year when one of my hitters swung at a pitch on the outside half of the plate. You heard two sounds at contact, the "ping" and then, almost simultaneously, the traditional "crack". The first basemen was down on his back, making "snow angels" before the batter made it out of the box. We ran out of the dugout and found him with his nose literally gone, shoved inward into the cavity of his skull. He was conscious so we covered him and comforted him until the ambulance arrived. He looked like a cartoon character with absolutely no nose, only two little holes in his face. On the way to the hospital his nose started popping back out. The next day I visited him at home... his nose was back... unbroken.... and he had two black eyes. Other than that he was fine. I have never thought aluminum bats were safe after that.
I have never thought they were safe. Not at all. At the same time, the cheap cost of the aluminum bat is what has kept youth baseball alive in large parts of America.. Sad as it is to say.