Assemblymen Diegnan, Egan, Scalera & Stack

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE RELEASES LANDMARK
WOODEN-BAT-ONLY YOUTH BASEBALL BILL
Measure Spurred by Injuries to Pitchers Hit by Line Drives Off Metal Bats;
Would Return 'Crack of the Bat' to New Jersey Ball Fields

(TRENTON) -- An Assembly committee today released legislation Assemblymen Patrick Diegnan, Joseph Egan, Fred Scalera, and Brian Stack sponsored to return youth and high school baseball leagues to wooden-bat-only status, removing from the dugout the expensive high-tech metal bats that have been blamed for serious injuries to amateur ballplayers across the nation.The measure (A-3388) was drafted following a near-fatal injury sustained in June by Steven Domalewski, a 12-year-old pitcher from Wayne, whose heart momentarily stopped after he was struck in the chest by a line drive off a metal bat.

"Balls hit off an aluminum bat can generate enough speed that pitchers and fielders are left with little or no time to react," said Diegnan (D-Middlesex). "We must correct a balance of power that has swung disproportionately in favor of hitters using increasingly lethal bats. Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, and other baseball greats never used non-wooden bats; it’s time to put the wooden bats of our kids’ idols back in the hands of our kids."

The legislation would mandate the use of wooden bats in all leagues where minors under age 18 participate. An exemption would be granted only for a game in which a visiting team hails from out-of-state.

A 2002 study conducted by researchers at Brown University in Rhode Island showed the difference in the speed of baseballs from metal versus wooden bats. The research measured the average speed of a ball hit off the fastest bat, which was metal, at 93.3 mph; the average speed achieved by the slowest bat, a wooden model, was 86.1 mph.

Overall, only 2 percent of balls hit with a wooden bat exceeded 100 mph as opposed to 37 percent of the hits off metal bats.

Physicists attribute the increase in ball speeds to the "trampoline effect" -- the fact that a metal bat warps slightly when contact is made with a baseball. As the ball leaves the bat, the rebounding metal pushes the ball as it moves outward, increasing its velocity. When a baseball hits a rigid wooden bat, it is the ball that warps slightly, forcing a loss in kinetic energy and lowering the velocity of the hit.

Diegnan admitted that balls hit off the "sweet spot" on a wooden bat can travel at the same speed as those hit off aluminum bats. But, he noted that the trampoline effect compensates for balls hit away from the sweet spot of an aluminum bat, allowing the hit to retain more energy and travel at potentially higher speeds. Balls off wooden bats are incapable of attaining such non-sweet-spot speeds.

Egan (D-Middlesex) said that a slight difference in hit speed could mean the difference between a pitcher being hit flush or being able to react enough to deflect -- or catch -- a line drive.

"It is impossible to eliminate the threat of injury in youth baseball, but we can ensure that the equipment in the bat rack is not adding to the risk," said Egan. "Wooden bats can ensure that all pitchers, on all teams, are on level ground with the batters they face."

Fields laid out at Little League standards place pitchers 12-years-old and younger 46 feet away from a batter; a line drive hit at 60 miles per hour will reach the pitcher's mound in only .52 seconds. For a high school pitcher facing a batter 60 feet, six inches away, a ball hit at 80 miles an hour also will reach the mound in only .52 seconds. Since a pitcher generally finishes his delivery several feet closer to home plate, reaction time is further reduced.

"Any parent who has been a spectator in a Little League or high school ballpark can speak to the fear of watching a line drive careening past the head of a young pitcher," said Scalera (D-Essex). "Anything that can even fractionally slow a hit and lengthen reaction time can go a long way to preventing a traumatic injury."

If enacted, the measure would be the broadest prohibition on the use of metal baseball bats in the country.

Several individual leagues across the nation already have begun to remove metal bats from the dugout. Several school districts in the Illinois High School Association initiated a pilot program to test wooden bats at the interscholastic level after a 16-year-old pitcher from that state was left comatose for 10 days after a line drive off of an aluminum bat smashed into his head.

All North Dakota high school teams will switch to wooden bats in 2007. Massachusetts' Catholic Conference high school league has used wooden bats since 2003, and the Milford Little League in that state switched from metal bats this year after several coaches voiced concerns over the increasing speed of batted balls.

Stack noted that advances in wooden bat production have created equipment that is less prone to breakage and cost a fraction of some high-end aluminum bats.

"Wooden bats today are less prone to breaking and splintering and can be more economically viable for families," said Stack. "With young pitchers standing to close to home plate, singles hitters become intimidating and power hitters become menacing when they hold an aluminum bat. What price are we willing to put on our kids' safety?"

Diegnan noted that aluminum bat advocates point to a statistic that only eight on-field deaths attributed directly to aluminum-bat-propelled hits have been documented by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. However, he said he has been contacted by numerous parents who told of injuries their children sustained from line drives off of aluminum bats.

"For every tragic accident that makes headlines, there are other injuries that go unreported," said Diegnan. "It is the height of naivete to think that every parent is going to call-in every broken or fractured bone, cut, or bruise to the federal government."

The bill was released 4 - 2 by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. It now heads to the Assembly Speaker, who decides if and when to post it for a floor vote.

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FOR RELEASE:
October 19, 2006

CONTACT:
Assemblyman Diegnan
(908) 757-1677
Assemblyman Egan
(732) 249-4550
Assemblyman Scalera
(973) 667-4431
Assemblyman Stack
(201) 330-3233
Derek Roseman
(609) 292-7065