Heating Bat

NCAA

Big Time NO NO with big blue.......
Not sure about ASA......

I am of the opinion that instead of heating the bat, get a better swing.

 

I thought "alteration" of the natural characteristics of any bat was now a no no.. this includes the gel pack thingies we at one time used.

 

The Pyroflite Bat Warmer Sleeve has been approved for ASA, NSA and USSSA play. Still can't find any rules on heating bats.

 

ASA 2010

Rule 3, Section 7: Characteristics of approved equipment cannot be changed.
Examples include icing or cooling of any equipment. In addition, approved bats shall not
be rolled, shaved or modified to change their characteristics from that produced by the
manufacturer. Warming sleeves on bats are now approved.
Comments: Changes the rules to allow warming sleeves used on bats

 

So warming sleeves are okay in ASA, but lining bats up in front of a space heater is still a big NO-NO in either NSA or ASA, right? What is the penalty for a team who is found to be heating their bats in this way?

 

ump judgement

Normally a ump will just tell you to remove the heater from the dugout as a 1st warning. From then on?????? Up to the ump.
Have never done this, but seen it done...... Then a parent will take the heater down the fence line "to stay warm" and a player will come stand by the heater to "stay warm" also..... you are free to read into this all you want.

 

I believe the reason this discussion has been brought up on TBR is because at least 2 teams this past weekend in a NSA tournament was seen using a propane heating unit to heat their players' bats. One team actually rotated their bats routinely to keep the bats heated equally around while the other team was bringing the bats outside to a parent's heater. The team bringing the bats outside to heat was seen by a NSA director and warned immediately. The team using the heater inside was approached by a parent of their opposition. Parent probably should have just notified NSA but this parent had a great respect for this team and had all intentions of disproving the rumor.

Bottom line -- In my opinion (no physics degree), I believe a team that heats their bats in this manner is putting the results of the game ahead of the safety of the softball players. If I were a coach and allowed this kind of behavior, I would have a difficult time forgiving myself if a player was seriously injured by my actions. Heating anything to the level of heat that is given off by a propane heater has to "alter" the object. If it didn't give a team an advantage - why would they be doing it? Oh yeah, the argument is to protect the bat - coaches keep telling yourself that as the likelyhood of another player being carried off in an ambulance increases.

 

I wasn't involved with the tournament mentioned but I have been with teams with a heater in the dugout when it was very cold. Some of the players did warm their bats but it was not with the intention of altering the bat. The thought was to keep their bats from breaking or in one case a player thought it would keep her hands warm so they wouldn't sting.

When you put a little thought into it, by the time you stand on deck in 50º or lower weather and then see pitches in the batters box the bat is not going to be effectively altered any way.

Now, if this happens in July I would be a little suspicious.

 

Not trying to start anything here, but I can't say anything about 1 of the teams that was at the tournament, because I didn't see this, but heard about it. The second team I can comment on. Yes, the parent came to the dugout and asked about the heating of bats, and Im glad that she did because I have great respect for her and her dd as well as the team she plays for. She was told that yes there was a heater in the dugout for the players and not for the bats and the coach of her team was also told that the heater was in the dugout and at anytime they where welcome to check at during the game to make sure no bats where close to the heater if they wanted to. We (the coach of the other team and myself) actually got a laugh out of it, when he said we could share. It was a great tournament with alot of great teams playing there this weekend. With both of these teams playing 2 great ballgames. You can learn more in a great ballgame than you can a month of practice. Im sure that both teams will have these types of ballgames(nail biters) in the future, I believe they will make each other better every time they play.

 

Way back in the day........8ish years ago, we played in Kinston at a cool park with I think 4 fields or atleast 3 for sure. Anyway folks could pull their cars/trucks up very close to the fields so I took advantage of that and left my truck running with the heat on a few times and the bats were fine.
Another time or two, the sun did all of the warming needed. Is one legal and one not? Can a bat leave a dugout? If so as we see when kids hit on the stick etc. then how does the ump know that what he approved before the game is the same bats during the game?

Last, off the subject just a hair but still pertaining to altering bats, I've seen parents spray like hairspray on a bat. I'm with Charlie, the birthday boy, don't alter your bat, spend your time developing a good fundamental swing.
Fish