The end of an era? Wood vs. nonwood bats Nonwood bat debate split near the middle
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

JEFFGRANIT staff As early as t-ball, girls and boys are taught to hit with nonwood bats in the state of New Jersey. However, that may change if a bill introduced by Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan is passed by state legislators.

A few weeks ago I wrote a column discussing Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan's proposed legislation that would return New Jersey's youth and high school baseball and softball leagues to wood-bat-only status, removing from the dugout the expensive high-tech metal bats that have been blamed, by some, for serious injuries to amateur ballplayers across the nation.

In that column, I asked readers to send me their responses to the proposed legislation, while I promised to simultaneously reach out to local esteemed high school and college baseball coaches, so as to gauge whether Diegnan's views were shared by people throughout the state.

The response was swift, as within a day of the column being published in a handful of Greater Media's 12 weekly papers and on the Web (www.gmnews.com), I was receiving phone calls and e-mails from coaches, parents and several representatives of distinguished youth baseball organizations.

Given that all of the responses I received were in regard to how the switch would relate to baseball, and the fact that the majority of research done on the differences between nonwood and wood bats focuses solely on baseball, I followed suit, and narrowed the scope of my reporting to baseball.

And while opinions on the matter certainly varied, it became clear to me that this is not a issue that is being examined for the first time. There is an enormous amount of data on the safety of today's nonwood bats, based on research being performed by a number of different groups across the nation. And while the conclusions vary from study to study, many of the studies that have been brought to my attention all point to a similar determination that today's nonwood bats, when held to the standards agreed upon by the bat manufacturers and the powers that govern Little League and collegiate baseball and softball, are significantly safer than the bats that were being used prior to such standards being implemented between six and seven years ago.

That being said, the overall safety of today's nonwood bats as compared to their wooden counterparts remains unclear.

While many proponents of nonwood bats point to scientific evidence in their arguments, supporters of Diegnan's legislation argue that there is plenty of data on the other side, as well as what they consider the common-sense argument that anyone around the game knows the extent of the difference nonwood bats have on the game.

In the end, proponents on both sides of the issue make compelling arguments.

And in the following series of stories, I hope to show you, the readers, how I came to that conclusion.