North Dakota Preps

Is it true that wood bats are now going to be a part of high school baseball starting next year. Isn't that actually going to be a hassle. After days and days of going through batting practice and games you will go through a ton of bats. Even the cheaper ones cost 40-50 dollars and you could easily go through 3-4 of those a game. 200 bucks a game doesn't sound very economical. I know safety is the biggest concern, but you have to be able to support a team first. Any thoughts?

Yeah I dont agree with this.  Pitching will dominate baseball here in North Dakota in 2007.

Yeah, I know the coaches voted for it, but there are some who feel that it will greatly hinder the chances of North Dakota players getting looks from colleges and getting drafted.

I suppose it wouldn't hurt the pitchers, but definitely the position players.

It is supposed to be a safety measure, but I still say that if you hit one on the button right back up the box, the pitcher is going to be in danger regardless of what kind of bat is being used.

How would it hurt you to get drafted?? You use wood bats in the pros, if scouts can see you can hit with a wooden bat that would be more of a plus wouldnt it?

Not too many live scouting trips out this way... A lot of clubs are so numbers-reliant...  How do they compare a North Dakota kid (hitting with wood) to a Minnesota kid (hitting with aluminum) without seeing and comparing them.

The local/regional scouts could say: "We've got this great kid out here that is hitting .300 with a wood bat," but the clubs want to know how that compares to a guy that hits .500 with aluminum. It's a lot tougher sell.

Obviously if they see a kid live, they can tell if he can play or not, but a .300 average with a wood bat doesn't pop out at you like a .500 average with an aluminum would.

Basically, aluminum is the standard in high school and college right now, so if you are hitting with wood, you are in the minority. By just looking at numbers, you will probably be buried behind a lot of kids that have big averages and power numbers with aluminum.

That was a long-winded post, but basically it is like comparing apples to oranges, when clubs would much rather compare apples to apples.

 

Yeah i hear what your saying, I just don't think it will be a terrible thing for high school baseball here in North Dakota. Good to see the coaches voted for it. Safety needs to be the #1 concern when it comes to high school athletes.

I agree 100%. Safety should be the top concern, but like I said before, I think if you hit one on the money up the middle, the pitcher will be in jeapordy, regardless of the type of bat.

If the experts say the aluminum are more dangerous, then I agree it's the right thing to do.

 

Well I will readily admit to not being the most knowledgable baseball fan, but I always felt it weird that there was such a disconnect in bat types. I would just like to see consistency.

I played baseball with both aluminum and wood bats in high school and college.  I think that wood bats in high school is one of the greatest things we could do for both the sport of baseball and the players.  The arguement that players might not get looks from scouts becuase their numbers are a little lower becuase of wood is certaintly not a good one. Also maybe 2% of players are going to play NCAA baseball and maybe another 5% NAIA baseball which would help thembe a step ahead of other kids from different states. If you know NAIA baseball switched to wood last year and the game really didnt change all that much.  The only difference was that smaller guys weren't hitting the ball out of the park.  The runs per game weren't affected too much.  I'm not a fan of kids going up to the plate swinging for home runs with big aluminum bats when they're 5'8" 150lbs, and if you like that go watch some softball.  As for the safety concern with the aluminum its pretty legit but wood bats still offer the chance of the pitcher getting one pretty hard.  Im a huge fan of teaching young adults the basics about baseball and how to play small ball.  There are way too many kids going up to the plate looking to hit one out.  Going back to the scout thing, good players are going to polish their skills: bunting, hit 'n' run, hitting behind runners, defending the bunt, and hitting the ball on the wood bat's sweet spot. 

About the money thing; wood bats can get pricey and yes, they do break but using regular wood bats in practice isn't in a poor teams best interest, there are composite bats that you can buy.  These bats hit and feel just like wood and never break.  I bought one five years ago and its still does the trick in the batting cages.  For games, buying a good maple bat and putting a little ring of tape about 18" up from the knob helps prevent bats from breaking and serve as a little marker to stop the pine tar.  When I played high school ball we recieve two or three $300 bats, for that in wood bats you can buy 15 or so.  Also they're always going to kids that buy their own bats; I dont think a team will spend anymore on wood then they did on aluminum bats.  If they do their coach needs to spend more time with hitting drills or on the internet looking for deals on wood bats they're all over.

Sorry for the long post, but baseball is something that I rank right up there with God so topics like this one Im going to have something to say.  Great Job on the decision ND high school coaches.

 

643master wrote:

Post of the week! I don't think it gets any more cut and dry than that post right there.

 great post and a very good discussion.

thanks for the responses guys, just one more thing to think about.....

Aluminum bats are to high school kids as steriods are to pro players...

I agree and love the fact that it is going to bring back the basics. Small ball is a great part of the game that isn't stressed enough. It will also bring back an emphasis on fielding. The balls won't make it through the infield as fast or the won't fly as far making fielding even that more important. It is going to bring back knowledge of the game. Plus, your third baseman won't have to fear for his life.  You are going to need smarter kids to play the game now which I think is what college scouts should be looking for instead of averages anyway. Does the kid know the game, rather than does he swing for the fence. It will interesting to see what it all effects.

Agreed very much. I believe this may infuse back into high school baseball the true feel for what was once known as "America's pastime."

Aren't the colleges gradually moving towards all using wood bats anyway?  I think the DAC is 10 has been doing that in their conference games.  I think it will eventually happen so we might as well get our kids adjusted first. 

Y-not Daily wrote:Not too many live scouting trips out this way... A lot of clubs are so numbers-reliant...  How do they compare a North Dakota kid (hitting with wood) to a Minnesota kid (hitting with aluminum) without seeing and comparing them.

The local/regional scouts could say: "We've got this great kid out here that is hitting .300 with a wood bat," but the clubs want to know how that compares to a guy that hits .500 with aluminum. It's a lot tougher sell.

Obviously if they see a kid live, they can tell if he can play or not, but a .300 average with a wood bat doesn't pop out at you like a .500 average with an aluminum would.

Basically, aluminum is the standard in high school and college right now, so if you are hitting with wood, you are in the minority. By just looking at numbers, you will probably be buried behind a lot of kids that have big averages and power numbers with aluminum.

That was a long-winded post, but basically it is like comparing apples to oranges, when clubs would much rather compare apples to apples.

 

First off clubs are not numbers reliant when it comest to high school players and statistics. It is like comparing apples and oranges when you are talking about a kid from California that regularily sees a pitcher throwing upper 80's-low 90's every game and a position player from north dakota that regularily sees pitchers throwing upper 70's-low 80s. Those stats dont even compare. The only numbers that matter to them are the stop watch, the radar gun, ht wt, and the projectable draft scale ranking the 5 tools of a player. There is not one major league team that is going to draft a player without first having a scout go out and watch them and usually more then once.

Obviously, they're not going to compare the numbers between a North Dakota kid and a California kid. That's absurd. But they may between a North Dakota kid and a Minnesota kid or a South Dakota kid. No one is going to get drafted without getting a live look, but when the standard in high school sports and Legion is aluminum, not wood,, then the kids aren't really on the same level. I'm just saying if you have a list of kids to scout and most of them are .500 hitters (with aluminum) and a few .300 hitters (with wood), you would probably more interested in looking at the .500 hitters.

Scouts do not compare stats from different states because they know stats do not mean anything. If you have power numbers that jump off the chart then yes but a batting average tells you nothing. So a kid goes 4x4 off a pitcher that is throwing 75 and 0x4 off a pitcher that throws 82. He is a .500 hitter but it means he is a great hitter against bad pitching but not at the level to even hit a average DAC 10 college pitcher. So thats why scouts use statistics with a grain of salt. Scouts will find the talent no matter where it is or what kind of bat they use.

Scouts dont just look at homeruns or batting averages, there is more to the game then that. If a scout sees that you have the potential to be a good player and have  good speed, which i believe is the most important thing to have when it comes to baseball. Scouts know that they can teach a kid how to hit and field but they cant teach a kid how to be faster. Am i wrong?

dwenzel34 wrote:Scouts dont just look at homeruns or batting averages, there is more to the game then that. If a scout sees that you have the potential to be a good player and have  good speed, which i believe is the most important thing to have when it comes to baseball. Scouts know that they can teach a kid how to hit and field but they cant teach a kid how to be faster. Am i wrong?

yes

How can I be wrong? Its not all the batting ave. that makes a scout look at you, theres more to the game then batting. Tell me how I am wrong.

I think going to wood bats isnt going to make a huge difference like everyone thinks, I know its a safety issue but if you hit the ball right on the button at someone, its still going to be able to do damage. Distance wise between wood and aluminum is going to make a difference but like you said SCC if you hit the ball right, its still going to go.

I'd just like to say I'm not against wood bats, but it is definitely not the standard in high school baseball across the nation. It is also not the standard in college baseball.
The DAC started with wood bats last year and I think the runs per game went down fairly substantially.
Not that scoring runs is everything, but I would say in this are, people would prefer to see a 6-5 college baseball game to a 1-0 or 2-1 game. I could be wrong.

I played baseball in high school and legion.  Once every high school season and once every legion season we would participate in a wood bat tournament.  The run production did not go down terribly in those games, but there definitely was a difference.  I think that the purity of the game will be enhanced by the addition of wood bats in high school.  The DAC conference in the NAIA recently switched to wood bats as well for their regular season play in the conference.  The switch to wood bats will help high school players that want to play college baseball, because most of the high school athletes will only make it as far as the NAIA if they are looking to play in college, anyway.  From a spectator's standpoint, I like aluminum bats because the offensive numbers do increase.  A number 9 hitter is still able to knock a double off the fence every now and then with an aluminum bat, and that helps build the confidence of a young player.  At the same time, the safety issue does come into play.  I've seen a third basemen taken out of a game because of a wicked one-hopper to the sternum.  Some of the balls that come off of aluminum bats are amazingly hard hit.  That does not mean these injuries won't happen with wooden bats, though.  Aluminum bat manufacturers can not make an aluminum bat that would hit a thrown ball at a faster rate than a wooden bat.  Aluminum bats simply have a larger sweet spot, and therefore hard hit balls are more common.  As for the cost aspect of switching to wood bats, the costs will undoubtedly go up.  An aluminum bat may cost anywhere from $150-$300, but they can last for many years.  I used the same aluminum bat for three years when I was in high school.  A wood bat isn't guaranteed to make it past one at-bat.  Most good quality wood bats will run around fifty dollars as well.  Therefore, you could buy three to six wood bats for the cost of one aluminum bat, but those bats collectively probably will not last as long as the one aluminum bat. 

I see the switch as a good thing for the sport, but a bad thing for scrawny 8 or 9 hitters that are only on the team because the team is short of players, bad for fans who like to see a lot of homeruns, and bad for schools that do not have a large budget for high school baseball.

Bringing wood bats to the arctic north will set baseball back in North Dakota another 50 years, we are lucky to compete regionally, let alone nationally the way it is.  It is not warm enough in the spring for at least most of the season to see any balls "explode" off of the metal bats around here. Stupid, stupid, I wouder if the NDHSAA experts were sitting around their office one day with nothing to do and decided that something should be done, at least somewhere, so they fixed an item that was not broke in the first place. I wonder exactly what their reasoning was to make this decidion, maybe they all own stock in a wood bat company!