BB: General New England Discussion

[fotoguy]

my guess is the top hitting average in the NCAA this year will be around 375.  Anyone hitting over 400 in college this year will be a 1st round draft pick.

and how about the use of rolled bats? how many "good" teams are ordering pre rolled ones now?

[BigPoppa]

my guess is the top hitting average in the NCAA this year will be around 375.  Anyone hitting over 400 in college this year will be a 1st round draft pick.

and how about the use of rolled bats? how many "good" teams are ordering pre rolled ones now?

I'll take that bet. There are always some great hitters in terrible pitching conferences that put up numbers regardless. I think we have multiple guys over .400. Guys that can hit, can hit regardless of the tool. There were days I felt like I could 4-5 with a garden spade in my hands:)

[KSCfan]

Big poppa good point.  Some guys get locked in and it doesnt matter what you throw or in what count you throw it in, the ball gets whacked.  Overall though averages will drop, should be interesting to see what happens with the bats and runs and hitting in general.

[Tarheel0550]

to Wally, My son has been a pitcher because he can pitch but has earned his respect behind the plate as a catcher and as a hitter,cost is not a factor to pitchers because they usually dont bat once they get to college,cost can be a factor to players that hit,price out some good wooden bats and you would see they are not cheap.Also have you ever seen a wooden bat break ? they splinter and fly everywhere like a spear.Ask the pro player from last year that had his lung punctured.As for warranty's they are great but that doesnt mean the bat wont break.Injuries occur in sports, thats just the way it is,its not something anyone wants to see but they are part of the game.Should they start making 3rd basemen wear masks because somebody might swing away in a bunting situation and ram a ball down his throat?How about outfielders,should we make them wear shoulder pads because they might injur their shoulder running into the wall for a fly ball?Maybe we could put the ball on a tee for the batter that way there isnt a chance the pitcher will throw at them.You can not legistate injuries out of the game.If baseball were easy and injury free everyone would play.And always remember no-one forced your son to pitch,if you are afraid for him ask him to try another position,but I have a feeling if he is a true ball player he will tell you NO-WAY ! We as parents are always afraid our "children" will get hurt playing sports,but thats their choice and one that we have to live with.

[zoneit]

Tarheel: I don`t think third baseman should wear masks. I don`t think outfielders should wear shoulder pads. I don`t think we should put the ball on a tee. But moving away from the high powered metal bats is a good thing for many reasons. Pitcher safety is just one. There are studies that show it is physically impossible for a pitcher to react in time to defend themselves from balls hit off them, and banning them will have the impact of legislating some injuries out of the game. That`s a bad thing? No one can eliminate all injuries from sports, but there are times when safety issues do need to be taken into account, e.g., elimination of the crackback block in football. From another perspective, the high powered metal bats made the game worse, and while I would prefer that they go back to wood bats, as many summer leagues and some college leagues have done, it is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, we won`t have any more backup shortstops hitting .370 and final scores that would make NFL offensive coordonators proud. I also agree that wooden bats could be made safer, I played with them many, many years ago and while I broke my share, I don`t ever remember one breaking like they sometimes do now.

[Tarheel0550]

zoneit,why shouldnt 3rd baseman wear masks?are you saying they can react better when they are closer to the batter than the pitcher on bunts?I said in previous post that i think they should go back to wood bats also, but cost is a factor for D3 schools the budgets some of these schools have isnt anymore than some high schools,This I know for a fact.No I am not against "saftey" but play the game.But please make sure the rules go both ways,when a batter gets hit in the face  with a pitch that is coming at him too fast for him to get out of the way what are we going to do?I dont want to hear "well that one just got away from the pitcher",Maybe we can legislate how hard a pitcher can throw or maybe no breaking balls.I dont have anything against the new bats cause I dont play anymore,but dont say they will also keep scores down.Have you seen some of the scores in already UT Dallas 15 PLU 14,Trinity 15 Austin 10, dont bad pitching and errors have more to do with scores than the bats sometimes?

[zoneit]

Sometimes they do. I think the scores will generally be lower, as they are in wood bat leagues, but I guess we`ll see and there will still be some high scoring affairs.

Helmets are better than they used to be and umpires are more likely to toss a pitcher who deliberately throws at a hitter but unfortunately, there will be batters who get hit from time to time. I don`t have a solution to that problem, and I was hit in the head a couple of times myself (which probably explains a lot). But, I will say that a ball comes off a juiced up metal bat a heck of a lot faster than anyone other than possibly Steve Dalkowski can throw it; and in any event, I don`t see the logic in sending more pitchers to the hospital to....what, even things up?

[Tarheel0550]

zoneit ,ive been coaching baseball for 20 years now and in that time ive seen one pitcher hit in the face and that was in a wooden bat tourney, maybe thats one too many, i agree, but i havnt talked to one player that said there was a problem with the old bats, its the people that watch the game that have a problem with aluminum bats.Why havnt we changed the ball?There is no comparison to the balls used now to the old ones,they are wound tighter and made of materials to make them fly,why are we not looking at that?You said it was physically impossible for pitchers to "defend" themselves from a ball hit back at them ,yet i see pitchers catch balls hit at them everyday.Accidents happen is what i am saying ,I do not want a player hurt if we can fix the problem ,but i do think we have to look at the whole picture.What is going to be said when a pitcher gets hit by a ball off these new bats?Bat company's will continue to make bats better and these new ones are no exception,they will figure out how to make a ball jump off of them.why are we still wearing metal spikes?why are players allowed to slide head first,players know the risk they take and make a decision to play anyway.This is what seperates athletes from non athletes,they play it for the "love of the game".

[HBPme]

tarheel,
i agree with you that players know the risk of playing baseball and certain acts such as sliding head first and what not, but the new bat changes are good. And while maybe there are other safety precautions that could be taken, but, they cant make all the changes in one year. This could be the beginning of a reform in order to start protecting our players safety. Instead of getting all heated of the fact that they are making new bats, you should be becoming hopeful that more changes like this will happen in the years to come.

[ECSUalum]

See below article:

http://nutmeg.easternct.edu/mt-static/athletics/2011/02/little-east-littleeast-mobi-debuts-tonight.html

Little East Conference TV will now provide access to broadcasts on smartphones etc!!!

[Tarheel0550]

HBPme ,I never said I was against the new bats, this started when a parent of a pitcher said  that said that by switching to wood bats cost was not an issue and I said it was to players that hit, most pitchers in college DONT HIT,Some people on here make it seem like its a political agenda "well if your against the new bats you are against safety",I feel safety should be in the forefront to protect these young players ,but I also asked if this is all about safety then why doesnt the NCAA regulate some of the other things in baseball ie;sliding head first,wearing metal spikes ect.please read the start of my post to get everything in context.I just stated that by going to wood you are not doing the players as great a service as some think ,these new wooden bats have such thin handles to get the weight distribution right that they often splinter when hit off the end and become missles launched at the players.I feel the new aluminum bats are fine as they should be more durable than wood but still cut down on players "pitchers getting hurt".

[fotoguy]

why was the rule changed so quickly in college yet the high schools get one more year of the old bats? doesnt that bother anyone?  either change them all at the same time or dont do it!

[Tarheel0550]

fotoguy ,thankyou for getting on with something else!!!,Was told had more to do with budgets than anything else.Our schools athletic teams only get money for new equipment and unis every 3 years,Now if equipment does have to be replaced or refurbished every year ,like football helmets, that money is approved in a seperate fund. We do get new baseballs and things like that every year but we also do alot of fund raising throughout the year to pay for new bats and such if we need them.

[LEC Fan]

Who in New England plays the first Spring games? Whether it be up north or down south on their trips? Funny to think baseball started out west and down south...

[Ralph Turner]

Who in New England plays the first Spring games? Whether it be up north or down south on their trips? Funny to think baseball started out west and down south...

Ehh, not necessarily funny.

Just civilized       

(altho' the weather last week was miserable, and I cannot remember such a spell of really bad weather that DFW had during Super Bowl Week.)