Rolled bats

yep! and not only should anyone who does this be concerned about civil penalties but they also better be concerned about the possibility of an aggressive DA getting the "ham sandwich" syndrome and bringing criminal charges.

 

I don't understand the point though. To be any good at hitting you have to work at it, even a stud still has to put the time in. Why not break in a new bat at the batting cage in the off season and have both bat and player ready? While we're on it, what is a good break in time? My DD must have hit 300 balls a week for 5 months, took 6 months off to rehab a knee, and hit again another 100, 200, 300 balls a week for another 6 months, throw in some TB and HS tournments, lessons..... Wondering when the DeMarini Phenix is going to wear out.

 

...We all get the point that "altered bats" are illegal. The use of them is shameful for sure. But counselor, I ask you how an attorney would go about establishing who altered what?
Who authorized the altering?
What if a teammate used the bat?
I won't get into the civil penalties and how they might apply to such a case, ( you would have a much better hold on than I ), but it suffices to say, it would be a long, long, road to venture.

Let the punishment fit the crime works in theory most of the time but in practice it fails.

I've got the haymaker fix for this issue........................

......anyone or any team caught using an altered bat will result in ALL of the players on that team to lose their cell phone for a month!

Forget a year, just a month!......Trust me, that would fix this gig, FAST!!!

Now thats power by the people.

Fishman

 

I have been pitching for about 13 years now and I have been hit in the face twice, once that broke my nose and once that glazed my temple. I have also seen a pitcher get hit by one of the best NCAA hitters at the time, and she threw a drop ball very low and inside. Those hitters are taught to hit back up the middle, so a pitch doesn't have to be fat to get hit back to the pitcher.

I was very tentative the next games I threw after getting hit. The broken nose I had to go straight to the hospital, but the temple shot I stayed in to play, just with a really bad headache. Even to this day I jerk back after a batter swings at a pitch that I am not confident about, or when someone hits a soft line drive back at me. I am confident in my fielding, and I know that sometimes hitters just take the right swing. Its part of the game, but we take that risk picking a position so close to the batter

 

End caps pop off..it happens...especially with a RT bat. the only problem I would see is if tennis balls went flying across the field when it happened

The new clarity bats will "white spot" if they are rolled or hammered.

 

word of advise

I normally get on these sites to gain knowledge of what parents, coaches and players really know about bats and bat standards. For the most part, I shy away from putting my 2 cents in about most of what I read.... but for this topic I will make an exception.

I test bats for a living and I want to warn all of you that if you think we cant tell a rolled FP bat from a normal broken in bat you are wrong. This especially true for all bats passed with the new asa standards which was put into effect for all FP bats made after July 1st 2008.

Here are some signs that a bat is too hot:

* end cap comes loose.... this means the barrel is compressing too much. Its a bat companies way of telling you that the bat wont pass a compression test.

* if it just sounds different. A rolled/shaved bat makes a higher pitched sound than a stock bat.

* vertical cracks or fractures on the barrel of the bat is the bats way of telling you its the hottest it will ever be.

* most rolled bats typically have vice marks in the paint. There could also be abnormalities in the paint going around the barrel usually located in the sweet spot.

* and lets be honest there are only 3 to 4 FP bat models stock that are capable of exceeding 98mph on hits alone. In fact when they tested bats at the ASA golds these were the only bats that failed compression except a bat we all knew was incapable of failing. After further examining this bat, it was deemed altered and the PLAYER (not the parent to was responsible) was suspended for all ASA play for a set period of time and since NCAA still abides by ASAs rules it was unclear if she would be eligible to play her freshman year of college.

So my advise is as a parent PAY ATTENTION.... and before jumping on the "rolling train" remember YOUR KIDS ARE AMATEURS and if they are caught with an altered bat not only could they kill someone but they could also lose their eligibility too.

oh and gatordad you could run that clarity over with a mac truck and it still wont be dangerous....

 

Have to disagree on some of this.

* end cap comes loose.... this means the barrel is compressing too much. Its a bat companies way of telling you that the bat wont pass a compression test. I have seen new bats that haven't been rolled with this issue. Don't think anyone would want their kid labeled a cheater over a end cap popping out.

* if it just sounds different. A rolled/shaved bat makes a higher pitched sound than a stock bat.A shaved bat I am certain makes a different sound a rolled bat isn't so distinctive.

* most rolled bats typically have vice marks in the paint. There could also be abnormalities in the paint going around the barrel usually located in the sweet spot.I agree here with exception of "typical" The crowd rolling bats now aren't using a vice to do this and the results have been undetectable.

I am happy with use of these compression testers and I believe this is one of the few ways to remedy this issue. I hope they have fine tuned this process as the early testers could flunk a bat that wasn't altered depending on how the tester was set up. I hope they eliminate set up error as part of the testing. I have a daughter that pitches and pray she doesn't get hurt from an altered bat. Not long ago on this board folks doubted this would be a problem in fastpitch and it was limited to the adult game. It isn't!! You see them quite often on Ebay for sale and someone is buying them.
I am looking forward to these new tests. What I don't want to see is a witch hunt accusing people of cheating that aren't.

 

I would like to see the calibration and certification process for the compression testers. Is it published? What standards are used? What standards organization is used for certification of the tester? How is traceability measured?

 

lol well if you noticed I said things to look for in a HOT BAT not an altered bat. You are right some bats pop endcaps out as a fluke. Maybe the glue didnt dry properly but 99.9% of the time it means that the bat barrel is compressing too much causing the endcap to pop out. Like I said its our way of telling you that the BAT IS TOO HOT and will most likely fail compression. The glue that holds them in is an epoxy glue similar to the glue used to patch boats..... so im gonna have to go with most of the time if its coming out its cause the barrel is compressing way too much. Sooooooo if it isnt strong enough to withstand an immense amount of pressure I would really think twice before going joy riding on the lake next time.

And yes a rolled bat does sound different my friend... maybe not to you but to bat people it does. But I will give you credit a shaved bat sounds even more different than them all.

I have seen thousands of warranty returns that were rolled and its obvious so we then compression check them and cut the open.

and to answer your question cmmguy it isnt published what number they fail for ASA but USSSA fails at 220 psi and it seems that ASA is throwing out bats compressing lower than 240 psi. Their travelling machine is a pass/fail machine that doesnt give a reading. The one they have at their main office gives an exact reading of compression.