Little League Composite Ban Being Felt Everywhere

Roy Hobbs didn't need a composite to tear the cover off the ball...


When the vaunted Wall Street Journal deems it relevant to report on a sports story, you know that story has become mainstream. Today's WSJ has a column entitled "Ejected from Little League". This space reported on the ban back in January, but now that Little Leaguers everywhere are back on the field, the changes are being felt.

The WSJ article raises all sorts of safety issues and even some hysteria (pitchers wearing helmets?) around the topic, but let's break it down: this is really a response to control, testing validity and marketing. All bats that are approved in Little League must have a maximum BPF of 1.15, which approximates the performance of a wood bat. It has been an open secret for some time that composite bats are not "hot out of the wrapper", but rather have a break-in period, say 150 - 300 hits, after which they become "hot", or achieve maximum performance. Independent testing of several models of composites verified that many bats which are BPF 1.15 when new wind up exceeding the standard after break-in. The bat manufacturers know this, and now that Little League has had this verified to them, Williamsport has decided to exercise its authority and take control of the situation. Why? Because that's what Williamsport does best.

A few years back, my town LL went to wood bats for Minors (ages 9-10) and Majors (ages 11-12) during the Little League regular season. To be honest, I thought it was a bad idea at the time. I figured it would just make the pitchers even more dominant, particular in the Majors where an almost-6 footer throwing from 46' will usually set down 90% of the hitters he faces. But after 3 seasons of wood, I get it.  Balls don't rocket off the bat, which gives marginal kids a chance to play the infield or even pitch without the same risk they would be taking in a metal/composite league. Coaches really can't use the old "I was afraid he might get hurt" excuse for never allowing a kid to play the infield. And, for our travel kids who go back to metal and composite for the summer season, it is great training to use the wood.

Now a word on Pitchers Helmets: I am not a believer. Dawn Comstock, principal investigator for Ohio State University's Center for Injury Research and Policy. "The difference between ball speed coming off of different bats is not that great...You would be much more effective protecting pitchers if, instead of regulating the type of bats used, you simply required pitchers to wear a helmet, particularly a helmet with a face shield." I have no idea what the statistics are for young pitchers getting hit in the head and face with batted balls. I have coached more than 25 seasons of baseball between my sons, and while I have seen it in the MLB, honestly I don't think I've ever seen a kid take one off the face in that manner. Shins, elbows, knees, yes. But the natural reaction is to protect the face, and pitchers must be taught to be ready to field the position after their follow through. I have seen more unsuspecting fielders take a thrown ball to the face or chest because they weren't paying attention. Of course, Easton has ridden to the rescue with a new Pitchers Helmet prototype, which is no surprise given that it sees a market opportunity in all of the composite bat hue and cry. Either they need to make up for lost revenues from the composite ban, or they need to approach the ban from a different direction - let's keep composites, but we will protect the pitchers better!

Little League claims the ban is not about safety but fairness. Bat technology just keeps getting more advanced every year. I'm not sure where the fairness issue comes in when you are operating in a free market where everyone is able to purchase these bats, unless they feel that bat technology favors the affluent and kids from families and towns of lesser means aren't getting the same advantage because they can't afford a $300 bat.

Looking at what has happened since the ban was announced in January, I am beginning to wonder. First, Williamsport made a List of Approved Non-Wood/Non-Composite Bats which was last updated on March 22, 2011. But, after predictably intense lobbying from the bat companies, Williamsport has also released a list of Approved 2.25" Composite Bats; bats that received waivers from Little League HQ. And there are some old favorites on the list: Combat B3, DeMarini CF4, Easton Stealth...

All in all, I'm not sure much has changed for the kids, but good luck to the umpires in policing all of this!