Maic
aesday • March 10, 1998
The Battalion
Sports
9 B-B F 3 B FLB F 3 B F 3 B F 3
ic;
I The Bat Disease
iroughout the last 20 years, aluminum bats have slowly taken control of college
iseball, transforming it into a distant descendant of its professional counterpart
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Study Abroad as a ...
Reciprocal Exchange Student
1998-99 at
Monterrey Xecnologico
Jeremy
Fur pick
twenty-four years
ago, the sound of
wood bats cracked
the silence of mid-after
noons in March on just
about every college cam
pus in America. Along
with the smells of freshly
cut grass, hot dogs and
popcorn and the sight of
the American flag flying
over the ballpark, the
sound of the old
Louisville Slug-
les v s signaled the winter awakening
ttory,fr)urMaiional Pastime to base-
ling 6-ll-hungry fans.
, play: But it you happened to
1 Lture within earshot of
l ason ir campus field over the
(whose it tw< i decades, an all-
a damiliai'“ping” has re
slot cedpne of baseball’s
|in Sd 'St sacred sounds,
has:Aluminum bats were ^
reduced to collegiate
Lnbed >eball in 1974 in or-
(ider ' to solve some prob-
is facing the Great
ing ! me. Wood bats were be-
?rei mng insanely expensive for collegiate pro-
[ma,6-' ms, while their use had been putting a large
|y Hutdt into the supply of bat-suitable wood. The
I nat-^Aj^'Lcled an alternative, and the alu-
54 num bat seemed to be the answer.
Lot Sure, this alteration to America’s most un-
(ursdd a nged sport didn’t sit well its traditionalists,
|thTe; t when the argument was completely exam-
:d, it was obviously something that had to
done. So college baseball became an alu-
|r jj num-bat game, but I doubt if anyone ever
N l‘Tected a rule change to alter the face of the
,5rt like it has.
10] The situation is relatively simple according
Texas A&M Coach Mark Johnson. He said he
itter lieves the use of aluminum bats in college is
cessary because of the phenomenal costs of
3m oRtinuously replacing wood bats. He said the
first dhlem is in the technology and development
Fredhe aluminum bats currently in use — they
| LvTe had a negative impact on the game itself.
|ver mson said college baseball is suffering from
Hi thr standpoints of safety and integrity by using
|f i fj e ] J current arsenal of bats available to it.
3n( jg Safety its an obvious issue concerning the
imipufn bat. It doesn't take a seasoned colle-
Iside d
rip it,']
[e looij
|i the
cause
giate baseball coach to realize the continued
improvement in ball reaction off these bats will
lead to more injuries to defensive players.
“It’s almost impossible for the pitcher, the
third baseman playing in or the first baseman
holding a runner on to protect themselves if a
batter hits the ball just right,” Johnson said.
“I’m standing down at third base, and I know
I’m getting a year older every season, but I
move further and further away.
“With a runner on second
I’m probably 75 feet away
from home plate, and if a guy
turns on one, I could get hurt.”
According to the NCAA In
jury Surveillance System,
baseball has remained
the safest sport in
terms of fre
quency
oil
of injuries, but Bill
Thurston, baseball coach at
Amherst College in Massa
chusetts, says the issue should
not be whether or not baseball is
as safe as other sports, but if the tradition
al game was safer than today’s.
Thurston, the NCAA Baseball Rules
editor, said he has noticed a trend in the
injuries over the past few years.
“With the high performance alu
minum bats used in the past three
years, I have heard of more injuries via
the batted ball than in my previous
nine years as the NCAA Baseball Rules
editor,” Thurston said.
In regards to another issue clouding the
current aluminum bats in use, Thurston com
pleted a study last fall compar ing players’ sta
tistics from their NCAA seasons to those from
their competition in the Cape Cod Summer
League, which requires the use of wooden bats.
Ninety Division I hitters with at least 70 at
bats in the Cape and BO pitchers with at least; 25
innings pitched were included in the study.
Thurston’s results, although by no means
hard scientific evidence, did show an astound
ing difference in the performances of batters
and pitchers from their college seasons to the
summer league. Batting averages dropped
from .339 in regular NCAA games to .232 in the
Cape, while the slugging percentage fell from
.551 to .325. During the NCAA season, 35 hit
ters batted over .350 and 70 hit over .300, but in
the Cape only five players managed to hit over
.300. Pitchers’ ERA fell from 4.89 to 2.79
and increased their strikeouts per
nine innings by more
than five.
Johnson
r^ sa *d th ese
1 findings
were no
surprise
to him.
“Asa
coach
out on
^ the
field, I
can see
IcSnX H the dif
ference
each year
when players
pick up a new,
more powerful bat.
There’s no ques
tion about the dif
ference they are
making,” Johnson
said. “Players
laugh because the
ball comes off so easy
and so much further
and quicker. We have
.250 hitters hitting
.310 only because
BRAD GRAEBER/The Battalion ., ,
they are using an alu
minum bat. They wouldn’t be able to
do that with a wood bat.”
Another issue aluminum bats
have given rise to is college baseball’s
role as a learning ground for players
on their way to the professional level.
College players who spend three or four years
honing their skills in preparation for a shot at
the majors have to completely relearn to play
the wooden-bat version of baseball.
Please see Furtick qn Page 10.
INFORMATIONAL MEETING:
Thursday, March 5 10-11 am
Wednesday, March 11 1-2 pm
Rrn 358 Bizzell Hall West
Ketiuirments
3.0 GPR, U.S. citizen. Junior status at time of exchange,
proficiency of the Spanish language
STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS 161 BIZZELL WEST 845-0544 I I
ETcD r* I I "n H" I I ■n r-1 r- I I
TOOLS FOR CHANGE
Share your
ideas and
concerns
about
TAMU
NO APPLICATIONS!
NO INTERVIEWS!
Informational meetings
Wednesday, March 11 @ 7pm Rudder 401
Thursday, f^Aarch 12 @ 7pm Rudder 401
^ Questions? Call Sally Berrisford,
Student Action Committee Vice-Chair,
@ 847-0750 or e-mail
sally99@tamu.edu
rew
' ■ " ■
ImSSE., .
haul
IlllE I
at 51
BILL
VANNATTA
for
JUSTICE
10th Court of Appeals
Virtually all civil and criminal cases tried in the following counties that
are appealed are decided by this Court:
BRAZOS, Madison, Leon, Robertson, Falls, Limestone, Freestone,
McLennan, FHill, Coryell, Hamilton, Bosque, Navarro, Somerville,
Johnson, and Ellis.
Experience and Qualifications of the Republican Candidates
BILL VANNATTA
HIS OPPONENT
★ 25 years active trial and appellate
experience in virtually all fields of
law in the above central Texas coun
ties, off icing at Waco.
★ Has handled many cases in our
Court of Appeals at Waco.
★ Veteran U.S. Air Force and Texas
National Guard.
★ For the past 9 years, until after he
filed for our Court of Appeals, his
only office has been in Dallas as an
employee of a large Dallas-Houston
firm.
★ In the past 9 years, he has never
handled a single case before the 1 Oth
Court of Appeals and has participated
with other lawyers in only one case
in that court in his lifetime.
(Source: Westlaw®)
★ Non-Veteran
Lr
KEEP EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS ON
YOUR COURT OF APPEALS BY NOMINATING
BILL VANNATTA IN ORDER THAT A
REPUBLICAN NOMINEE CAN BE ELECTED
TO THIS IMPORTANT OFFICE
IN NOVEMBER
Pol. Ad pd. for by the Elect Bill Vannatta Campaign in compliance with the voluntary limits of the Judicial Campaign Fairness Act.
Bill Vannatta, Treasurer, 812 Lake Air Dr., P.O. Box 8385, Waco, TX. 76714-8385
Elect Bill Youngkin Judge
85th District Court
A professor once slated that
"Good judgement comes from
experience. Experience comes from
the decisions you make in life."
I have made those decisions for
the last twenty-two years of my trial
career. That Experience provides
me with the Good Judgement
required to be the Judge of this
Court.
About Bill Youngkin
★ TAMU, Class of '69
• Head Yell Leader
• Ross Volunteer/Carp of Cadets
★ Vietnam Veteran
★ Graduate Baylor Law School
★ Partner in the Law Firm of Youngkin, Catlin, Bryan,
Stacy & Dillard
★ Past President Brazos County Bar Association 1 985-86
★ Past President of the Association of Former Students - 1 991
★ Current Member of the Executive Committee of the
1 2th Man Foundation
★ Daughter Libby, Class of '00 - Chi Omega Sorority
Next to my relationship with the Good Lord and my family, nothing has had a greater
influence in my life than my university. That was what drew me back to this community to begin
my family and my legal career. I have tried to serve my university over the years by remain
ing involved. Now I want to serve my community by being your judge of the 85th District Court.
It can only happen with your help, your vote, this Tuesday.
Gig'em and God Bless!
Help Elect
PoL/Adv. paid for by Bill Youngkin Campaign
Dick Haddox Treasurer, P.O, Box 6514, Bryan, TX 77805
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