The inherent danger of a batted ball off of an aluminum bat to a player in the field who is consciously watching for that ball is negligible.

At most levels of play, the difference between aluminum and wood bats is negligible. Even at the level of play where the participants are young men, the risk can not be seen as anything other than insignificant. It is not as if a college pitcher is killed by a batted ball every week.

Take a deep breath, John. Relax. The product is perfectly safe. It did not shatter and send shards of aluminum into the batter, catcher, and umpire, killing all of them instantly. The product performed exactly as it was intended: it hit the ball, sending the ball into the field of play. The game of baseball has inherent risks associated with it, whether the bat be made of aluminum, or of wood.

It is a risk/reward analysis. Aluminum bats are more durable, therefore they are cheaper over the long haul. The increased risk of death due to aluminum bats compared to wood bats is negligible, so the reward outweighs the risk overall.

Making bats out of steel would make the bets safer, not more dangerous. Blades on the baseballs is just a plainly stupid suggestion, as is the one about live hand grenades.

You obviously don't understand that people have been killed by baseballs batted by wood bats, long before the invention of aluminum bats. The only way that your argument would hold any water was if the number killed by aluminum bats was meaningfully higher.

I don't just suspect, I all but guarantee that is correct.

Ban all cars, for the CHILDREN!!!

Discuss the topic, not each other

__________________
“Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests.” - Lord Palmerston

No, but apparently you are since you either a. can't use simple mathematics to figure a ball going approximately 100 mph would take less than .4 seconds to get from home plate to the pitcher's mound and/or b. actually think that human reflexes can routinely realize the ball has been hit directly at one and interpose the glove perfectly given that much time

And please don't bring all up the times it has happened. Yes, no doubt it does and has happened but that in no way means it's the expected outcome. Why, in fact, do you think it means an automatic out, if it's not difficult and unlikely?

__________________
Alizee Jacotay, the reason god invented hips

[So, like I say, to save a dollar or so in maintenance every year we put our children's lives at risk. Bullshit, if you can't afford that your kid should be out working to buy proper food since you obviously can't afford it, not wasting his time with baseball.

How many people in Japan were killed by wood batted balls in a period comparable to the years before 1974, because since then, with aluminum, it's been 7.

How many pitchers have been killed by wood batted balls in the US in the same period? It's a grand total of none, I think, and we have more teams than the Japanese. There's your comparison. If 7 major leaguers had been killed by aluminum bats since 1974 the players would strike if aluminum was even brought on the field.

__________________
Alizee Jacotay, the reason god invented hips

Lets start with the stupid judge who allowed this to go to trial. It should have been dismissed as frivolous. If I were the company I would refuse to pay.

__________________
"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his father has acquired too much, in order to spare to others who (or whose fathers) have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, "to guarantee to everyone a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."

-Thomas Jefferson

But we're not talking about it being used as a weapon, we're talking about it being used as it's intended.

We're not talking about pro's either, we're talkign about kids.

Again, if it is proven that metal bats are several times more likely to kill someone, then they shouldn't be made.


And if your child died and you found out aluminum bat hit balls kill 5 times as many people as balls hit by wooden bats, you'd still feel fine with the executives decision to keep making that product even though they knew they would kill people that would not otherwise have been killed had they used a wooden bat.

You're sidestepping the issue. The question is if the company knowingly produced a product more likely to kill people.


So how many deaths are acceptable then? Does your child work into that number?

Oh no, I should have expanded, you're worth a few extra bucks to the corporations selling you things that can kill you. As for your statement, accidents happen, if the accident was fatal because the product used was known to be more deadly by the company producing it, then it probably would not have been fatal if a wooden bat was used.

I was summarizing the views of people like yourself. So what kind of decision do you think that was if you think the parents are fully responsible and should know the possiblility of killing someone?

And if your child hits a ball and kills the pitcher? What then?

In this case, it could have been the choice between life and death. Had a wooden bat been used, the child might have survived. You are not saying power to the people, you are saying power to the corporations. And yes, if a corporation knowingly produces a product that kills more people than it's competition, and you defend their right to make that decision based soley upon PROFIT, you ARE saying "fuck the people" even worse, you are saying "Fuck the people in the name of PROFIT!".

What? Are you serious? I doubt the child was intoxicated, possibly distracted but I highly doubt he was intoxicated. Again, if the aluminum bat is many times more likely to kill people, it shouldn't be used. A proper analogy would have been "It's like a skydiver demanding that research be performed on a parachute design to determine if in the past 20 years of use it has been found to be more or less deadly".

Probably not an option. The $850,000, I'm sure, was below the $1 million general liability they probably carry at the least, and it's probably $5 million or more. It's up to the insurance company to appeal, as it's their money. It would cost almost that much to appeal, so I'm sure they'll settle. I would.

__________________
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ---P. J. O'Rourke

You feel terrible, as does your kid. And if the pitcher hits your kid in the head and kills him?

Only cure I see is outlaw Baseball, and switch to soccer.

__________________
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ---P. J. O'Rourke

Daily Herald | Aluminum vs. wood bats: A difference in safety?

Since no one else was looking for numbers.......
My argument would stand if the numbers reflected "17 players killed, 14 due to metal bats and 3 due to wooden bats" however since the numbers are not available then my argument does not stand.

However, if the numbers DID reflect 17 to 3 ratio of Metal to wood, how would those arguing with me feel?

Legal defesne is 100% tax deductable for corporations.