Week One Observations

007 TALK MORE ABOUT THE TRAVEL BALL ERA DID NOT HERE YOU MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT LEGION BASEBALL PLAYERS IN YOUR POST.

 

Explain your thoughts here, please.

 

They could do away with the (-3) ratio, and make the bats heavier relative to the length. Aren't most wooden bats 1/1 ?

 

Slow pitch softball is a hitters game.
I might be wrong, but in the past 8 years that I have watched HS baseball, it seems that hitters are improving and it takes more runs to win a typical HS baseball game.

Many of today's HS hitters have seen lots of really good pitching since they were 11 or 12, and are comfortable in the batters box. When you combine that with year-round training facilities, strength training, 8 man workouts and scandium you are going to get more offense.

Pitchers on the other hand are not benefiting from a total committment to baseball to the same extent as the hitters. In fact, if you consider lost time to overuse injuries, the quality of pitching may actually be going backwards.
I see fewer and fewer games where "good pitching is stopping good hitting" and more and more games where hitters are controlling the game.

 

You didn't see Lumberton last year then. Their TEAM ERA was under 1.50 for the entire year. Their three pitchers led a very pedestrian offense to the #3 final state ranking.

 

I agree 100%

and

This probably would happen.


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Dbacks20, you must have not grown up in my neighborhood in South Florida. Elmers wood glue and screws were always good for an extra few swings. Kids pitching then came in on us a lot more than you see now. And yes as a batter you sure learned to keep your hands inside the ball. Every school back then had a bat graveyard.


I still agree that pitching safety should be a concern and acted on immediately, but I think you can do that by deadening the aluminum bat.

 

thanks for your thoughts. I attribute what could be considered a poorer quality of pitching to overuse and fatigue. Many coaches ride their studs to the point that they are overused, which along with better bats, more training, etc... from the offensive standpoint that has increased offensive output. It is also greatly attributed to the bat technology. -3 is a joke in that a bat maker can keep the -3 ratio and change the center of gravity, and the bats are hotter and hotter.

 

I am more or less new to TBR , but I have enjoyed reading the comments posted. I could not help but reply to the responses about wooden bats.

I agree that the metal bat industry is not going to change. Look at it this way, they have us hooked. We are willing to pay the enormous price for their product and as long as we are, they are not going to change.

Wooden bat manufactures are now jumping on board and retailing their product at unbelievable inflated prices. What is it now, Sam Bat is asking $129.00!!!!!!!! At Jupiter this year I saw several young men swinging his stick. In my own personal opinion, there is not a single wooden bat out there that is worth more than $65.00 to $70.00, and that would be a true pro-stock (Grade –1 structural) material. Only 8 to 10 % of all Northern White Ash harvested will make this grade. The percent is even lower for Sugar Maple, oh, I am sorry, they like to call it hard-rock maple. Of course we know where these small percentages of grade-1(pro-stock) will end up.

Even the suppliers see the $ signs. You will pay twice as much for raw material maple billets compared to that of ash billets. Without starting a debate, there is really very little difference in the two materials. It is not like comparing either one of them to hickory.

I have too been warned that high grade maple is becoming very difficult to find, which means the price goes up.

One more thought. When we do change to wooden bats we will no longer allow technology to dictate the competitive edge. It will return to knowing and playing the game the way it was intended to be played.

 

Welcome aboard BatMan...it's aways nice to have new posters, but it's even better when a new poster replies in a thoughtful manner. I am looking forward to many of your posts in the future.

 

Braves, I've got to agree with you on this one. This guy makes so much sense, I'm thinking of changing my screen name to Robin to improve my credibility.