HEAVY METAL; COLLEGE BASEBALL IS EMBROILED IN THE GREAT BAT SPAT.Byline: Chris Branam Daily News Staff Writer It was supposed to be a quick fix to save the game. Twenty-five years later, aluminum bats are a fixture in college baseball College baseball is baseball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. Compared to American football and basketball in the United States, college competition plays a less significant contribution to cultivating . That's a quarter-century of hearing ping when bat meets ball. Hundreds of home runs that would have been flyouts. Thousands of base hits instead of broken bats. Gary Adams remembers 1974, the season the NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association switched from wooden to metal bats. ``At the time, there was a recession going on,'' said Adams, UCLA's head baseball coach who was then at UC Irvine. ``It hit the colleges hard. The biggest part of your budget was the dozens and dozens of (wooden) bats you had to order. As a temporary fix, Easton came out with this aluminum bat. ``I remember thinking at the time, this is only temporary, we'll get back to baseball the way it was meant to be played.'' It never happened. Colleges stuck with aluminum while the disparity between batting and pitching reached levels more associated with Little League than the major leagues. ``I'm all in favor of going back to the wooden bat,'' Adams said. ``It would be well worth it to improve the integrity of our game.'' Reducing offense is the NCAA's goal, believing it will make the college game more credible. And to avoid incidents like the beaning of Cal State Northridge pitcher Andrew Sanchez by a line drive at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. on April 2. Sanchez suffered a fractured skull and spent four days in the hospital. In August, the NCAA plans to announce the findings of a research panel commissioned to study the effects of aluminum and wooden bats. The issue isn't going away anytime soon. Skyrocketing offense and pitchers' safety were at the forefront when the NCAA baseball rules Baseball Rules are the rules for baseball played under three major rules codes, which differ only slightly. The North American professional leagues and many amateur leagues use the Official Baseball Rules, which are published to the public by The Sporting News; U.S. committee took steps last summer to put new restrictions on aluminum bats for the first time since 1988 (see chart). There are some trickle-down effects from the NCAA's decision to make new rules about aluminum bats. The rules committee of the National Federation of State High School Associations expects to discuss the aluminum-bat issue at its meeting in July. The aluminum-bat debate exploded last year when the cumulative batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. of NCAA Division I teams was .306, an all-time high, and USC beat Arizona State 21-14 in the CWS CWS Chicago White Sox CWS College World Series CWS Church World Service CWS Child Welfare Services CWS Canadian Wildlife Service CWS Community Water System (EPA) CWS Canada-Wide Standard CWS Compressed Work Schedule championship game. The scale tipped to the purists. ``The games get too long,'' said Dennis Poppe Poppe is a surname, and may refer to:
This page or section lists people with the surname Poppe. , the NCAA director of championships, who heard an earful ear·ful n. 1. An abundant or excessive amount of something heard, such as talk or music. 2. Gossip, especially of an intimate or scandalous nature. 3. A scolding or reprimand. from CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. after last year's nine-inning final took 3 hours, 59 minutes to complete. ``It's good for the game to have more balance between offense and defense. I'm concerned about the large number of runs that are scored.'' The NCAA wants to make aluminum bats perform more like wood, but aluminum-bat contracts are big business for the nation's top baseball programs. Van Nuys-based Easton Sports has a lawsuit pending in federal court seeking $267 million in damages from the NCAA if further restrictions make aluminum bats unusable. Adams calls himself a ``traditionalist.'' So does Stanford head coach Mark Marquess Mark Marquess (born March 24, 1947) is the baseball coach at Stanford University. He is considered by many to be one of the finest coaches in the game. In his thirty years at Stanford, he has compiled an impressive 1,235-597-5 record. , but Marquess marquess or marquis European title of nobility, ranking in modern times immediately below a duke and above a count or earl. The wife of a marquess is a marchioness or marquise. The term originally denoted a count holding a march, or mark (frontier district). also likes the way aluminum bats have added excitement to the college game. ``College baseball is at its height, as far as interest and attendance,'' said Marquess, the Cardinal's head coach since 1977. ``Do we shoot ourselves in the foot? I don't want to make our (scores) 2-1. I don't think that's popular with our fans. Nobody wants 25-20 (scores), but fans like 10-9. ``Is there too much offense in this college game?'' he asked. ``That's a legitimate question. (But) the aluminum bat is going to stay.'' In what form? When the College World Series begins today, teams are using bats that are smaller and heavier than last year. Hitters have used them all season to prepare for the postseason, when they are required, and offensive statistics have decreased across the board. The cumulative Division I batting average through April 11, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report published by the NCAA, was .301, down from last year's season average of .306. Scoring had decreased from 7.12 runs in '98 to 7.03. Hitters grudgingly accepted the new rules. ``Of course, (aluminum bats) make the game more fun,'' said Danny Phillips, who led Cal State Northridge with 16 home runs this season. Phillips signed with the Colorado Rockies For the National Hockey League team (1976 – 1982), now known as the New Jersey Devils, see . The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. They are in the West Division of the National League. on Wednesday after being picked in the 15th round of the major-league draft. CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge second baseman second baseman n. Baseball The infielder who is positioned near and to the first-base side of second base. Noun 1. second baseman - (baseball) the person who plays second base second sacker Kevin Patrick, who graduated this spring, agreed. ``You want every advantage you can have as a hitter,'' said Patrick, who batted .349 in 55 games this season. Pitchers' enemy Pitchers don't have any advantages against the aluminum bat. They can make a good inside pitch and jam the hitter, only to see the ball blooped over the infield for a base hit. ``The aluminum bat allows the hitter to make a mistake on an inside pitch and still get away with it,'' said Frank Marcos, director of the Major League Baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Scouting Bureau. ``You're not seeing pitchers aggressively challenge hitters. It's most obvious at the college level. The margin of error is so much greater with that wooden bat than with the aluminum.'' Pepperdine senior right-hander Brad Tucker, who was almost hit in the head by a line drive in the West Coast Conference championship game against Loyola Marymount two weeks ago, said he's less bothered by the chance of getting hit by a line drive than watching batters get hits off good pitches. ``To me it's not the safety thing,'' Tucker said. ``It's when you jam a guy and what would not have been a hit with a wood bat, it turns into a hit with an aluminum bat. It can cost you a game.'' The NCAA baseball rules committee has tried in the past to help pitchers, but every new restriction was met with more offense. When aluminum bats debuted in 1974, there was one NCAA rule on the books: The bat couldn't be longer than 42 inches. The impact of metal was dramatic. In 1973, the year before metal bats, the cumulative Division I batting average was .266. In 1974, it was .274. By 1977, Division I baseball teams hit .289. By the 1980s, the first generation of players who used aluminum in Little League and high school arrived in college. Teams were averaging more than 6-1/2 runs per game, up from 4.96 in 1970. In 1984, the year Mark McGwire The NCAA responded in 1988 with more stringent rules for metal bats. The barrel diameter was limited to 2-3/4 inches. The weight-to-length differential could not be more than five ounces. For instance, a player couldn't use a bat the maximum length - 36 inches - and 30 ounces. A bat weighing 30 ounces had to be 35 inches. The dimensions of Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium, where the College World Series has been held since 1950, also became more conducive to offense. The fences were moved in, home plate was moved up and, predictably, more runs were scored. USC's football-like score (21-14) to win the national title last year was a product of the monster the NCAA created. USC head coach Mike Gillespie There are 3 sports coaches with the name Mike Gillespie:
``Was that the proverbial straw?'' Gillespie asked. ``I think it was. But people don't remember the day before we beat LSU LSU Louisiana State University LSU Large Subunit LSU La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) LSU La Sierra University LSU Link State Update (OSPF) LSU Learning Support Unit 6-3. It's much more complicated and complex than just the bat.'' That's not the way the rules committee saw it last summer, when it recommended major changes to aluminum bats. The day after the committee made its intentions public, Easton filed its lawsuit. Jim Easton, chairman of Easton Sports, declined to comment for this story. On Jan. 15, the committee approved new postseason standards - bats are smaller and heavier - in Divisions I, II and III. There was a problem. With the season beginning that week, virtually no team had aluminum bats that conformed to the new standards. Going batty Between August of last year and mid-January, conferences, the Pac-10 included, agreed to the new aluminum-bat standards providing they were insured by manufacturers, primarily Easton and Louisville Slugger, against liability from batted-ball injuries. By Jan. 15, Louisville Slugger, which has a bat contract with the Pac-10, hadn't come to an agreement to assume liability. Arizona State and Utah began the season that weekend by using wooden bats, marking the first time wood had been used in a college game since 1973. USC played two games with wood, against Cal State Dominguez Hills and the first of a three-game series at Texas. Louisville Slugger assumed liability that weekend with the Pac-10 and aluminum bats returned. Safety has been the rallying cry Noun 1. rallying cry - a slogan used to rally support for a cause; "a cry to arms"; "our watchword will be `democracy'" war cry, watchword, battle cry, cry catchword, motto, shibboleth, slogan - a favorite saying of a sect or political group 2. of the NCAA in its attempts to retard the performance of aluminum bats. However, almost every college coach interviewed for this story downplayed the fear of being hit with a line drive off an aluminum bat. ``There is an element of risk in any sport,'' Marquess said. ``I don't like the insinuation INSINUATION, civil law. The transcription of an act on the public registers, like our recording of deeds. It was not necessary in any other alienation, but that appropriated to the purpose of donation. Inst. 2, 7, 2; Poth. Traite des Donations, entre vifs, sect. 2, art. 3, Sec. that college baseball coaches don't really care about the safety of their players. If you talk to all the college coaches, the majority of them will say it's not a safety issue.'' Statistics support Marquess. According to an NCAA survey last year, 75 Division I schools reported 182 pitchers being struck by batted balls, or once every 21 games. Kent Biggerstaff, head trainer of the Pittsburgh Pirates This article is about the baseball team. For the National Hockey League team, see Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL). For the National Football League team (1933–1940), see Pittsburgh Steelers. , conducted his own study last year and found that of the 22 major-league teams that reported, pitchers were struck by a batted ball at the rate of once every 14 games. ``It's hard to get out of the way of a ball that is hit hard if it is hit with wood or aluminum,'' Adams said. ``(Cleveland Indians  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. pitcher) Herb Score Score came up as a rookie in 1955 with the Cleveland Indians. was hit in the eye with a ball hit off a wooden bat and it ruined his career.'' One local college pitcher reflects the same concern the NCAA shows. Jim DeBiase, a senior left-hander who just finished his career at CSUN, said anyone who thinks pitchers have enough reaction time to get out of the way of a line drive are fooling themselves. ``There's no way,'' he said, shaking his head. The NCAA appears to be following opinions like DeBiase's and ignoring Biggerstaff's study, deciding to go ahead with more stringent requirements for the 2000 season. ``I'm worried about what they'll do in August,'' Louisiana State head coach Skip Bertman told Baseball America  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . magazine last month. ``The testing is not complete and it probably won't be complete. We need to avoid the knee-jerk reaction we got last year.'' Adams said he would like to return to wood. He thinks bat companies would eventually keep costs down because of competition. But Bob Milano, the former Cal coach, told Collegiate Baseball magazine that some teams might need as many as 60 dozen bats for a season. Collegiate Baseball put a price tag on tag on Verb to add at the end of something: a throwaway remark, tagged on at the end of a casual conversation Verb 1. a wooden bat: $22. That means colleges could spend almost $16,000 per season on bats. UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX could absorb the cost of switching to wood. Cal State Northridge could not. Adams is also a realist. He says aluminum bats won't be leaving the college game anytime soon, a fact which leaves him a little sad. ``We say that our brand of baseball is comparable to Double-A or even Single-A,'' Adams said, referring to two levels in the minor leagues, ``but we use a bat that Little Leaguers use.'' OLD METAL BATS (Before 1999) Maximum bat diameter: 2-3/4 inches Weight-to-length differential: 5 ounces Scoring: 7.22 runs per game Home runs: 1.03 per game Batting average: .305 Earned-run average: 6.14 NEW METAL BATS (1999) Maximum bat diameter: 2-5/8 inches Weight-to-length differential: 3 ounces Scoring: 7.03 runs per game Home runs: .93 per game Batting average: .301 Earned-run average: 5.93 WOOD BATS (1998 performance in the American League American League (AL) One of the two associations of professional baseball teams in the U.S. and Canada designated as major leagues; the other is the National League (NL). ) Scoring: 5.01 runs per game Home runs: 1.10 per game Batting average: .271 Earned-run average: 4.65 NOTE: Scoring, home runs, batting average and earned run average earned run average n. Baseball Abbr. ERA A measure of a pitcher's performance obtained by dividing the total of earned runs allowed by the total of innings pitched and multiplying by nine. Noun 1. statistics provided by NCAA. The cumulative '99 statistics are through April 11. BATTING ORDER Noun 1. batting order - (baseball) a list of batters in the order in which they will bat; "the managers presented their cards to the umpire at home plate" lineup, card 1974: Aluminum bats and the designated hitter designated hitter n. Baseball Abbr. DH A player designated at the start of a game to bat instead of the pitcher in the lineup. Noun 1. are allowed for the first time in college baseball. The cumulative Division I batting average is .274, up from .266 the year before. 1984: Mark McGwire slugs a school-record 32 home runs and hits .387 as a junior at USC. 1985: The NCAA Division I cumulative batting average is .306, an all-time high. Teams average 6.94 runs per game and the cumulative ERA rises to 5.51. Wichita State's Pete Incaviglia Spring 1998: The Valley's Toluca Baseball League switches to wooden bats after an incident the previous year in which a 9-year-old pitcher was struck in the head by a line drive off an aluminum bat. May 14, 1998: Little League Baseball issues a statement on non-wood bats: ``There appears to be no indication that would cause Little League Baseball to mandate a limit on the weight of bats.'' June 6, 1998: USC beats Arizona State 21-14 in the highest-scoring final in College World Series history. The eight teams in the week-long CWS combined for a .318 average and 62 home runs, both records. There hasn't been a shutout in the CWS since 1996. Aug. 7, 1998: Van Nuys-based Easton Sports, the industry's leading aluminum-bat manufacturer, files a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking $267 million in damages. Easton claims the NCAA rules committee's proposed changes to bats will make existing bats obsolete. The suit is pending in U.S. District Court. November 1998: The West Coast Conference and New Jersey Athletic Conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other at the collegiate or high school level. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller and smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. announce they will switch to wooden bats for the 1999 season. WCC WCC n abbr (= World Council of Churches) → COE m (Conseil œcuménique des Églises) WCC n abbr (= World Council of Churches) → Weltkirchenrat m commissioner Michael Gilleran cites the threat of a lawsuit as the impetus behind the switch from aluminum. Dec. 15, 1998: The NCAA Division I Championships Competition Cabinet agrees with Divisions I and II that the maximum allowable bat diameter should be 2-5/8 inches. January 15: The NCAA Executive Committee approves new standards for 1999 postseason play for Divisions I, II and III. The ``two-thirds compromise'' limits bat diameters to 2-5/8 inches and the weight-length differential to three ounces. Jan. 22: Arizona uses aluminum bats in a 19-6 win over St. Mary's, which uses wooden bats. The Wildcats sweep the three-game series and outscore Verb 1. outscore - score more points than one's opponents outpoint beat, beat out, vanquish, trounce, crush, shell - come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; "Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat the competition"; "Harvard the Gaels 35-8. Feb. 4: USC, using wooden bats, loses at Texas 5-3. The Longhorns also use wooden bats for the first time in 25 years. The Trojans receive a waiver from Louisville Slugger after the game allowing them to once again use aluminum. April 2: Andrew Sanchez, a right-handed pitcher Noun 1. right-handed pitcher - (baseball) a pitcher who throws with the right hand right-hander baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played at Cal State Northridge, is struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of USC's Dominic Correa. After laying on the field for an hour, Sanchez is taken to L.A. County USC Medical Center with an assumed ``mild concussion.'' Three days later he is diagnosed with a skull fracture skull fracture, n a rupture or break in the cranial bones. skull fracture Orthopedics A fracture of one or more cranial bones, caused by MVAs, falls, assault, sports, occupational accidents and other forms of blunt trauma . Late April: A statistical report issued by the NCAA shows offense in college baseball is down. The aggregate batting average for 274 Division I teams is .301 in games through April 11, compared to .306 in '98. Early May: The National Baseball Congress This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. World Series bans aluminum bats for its 2000 tournament. Eleven of the 16 leagues that qualify for the tournament use wooden bats. May 28: The NCAA playoffs begin with new standards for aluminum bats. In August, an NCAA panel studying bat performance decides what kinds of bats teams will use in the future. Mid-July: The National Federation of State High School Associations is expected to discuss the issue of making changes to its aluminum-bat rules at its annual meeting in Kansas City. COLLEGE WORLD SERIES Today Oklahoma State (46-19) vs. Alabama (51-14), 12:30 p.m., ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Miami (46-13) vs. Rice (58-13), 4:30 p.m., ESPN Saturday Florida State (53-12) vs. Texas A&M (52-16), 10:30 a.m., Ch. 2 Cal State Fullerton (49-12) vs. Stanford (48-13), 5 p.m., ESPN2 CAPTION(S): 3 Photos, 5 Boxes Photo: (1--Color) no caption (Metal and Wooden bats) (2) no caption (Mark McGwire) (3) no caption (USC baseball players after winning the 1998 College World Series) Box: (1) OLD METAL BATS (See text) (2) NEW METAL BATS (See text) (3) WOOD BATS (See text) (4) BATTING ORDER (See text) (5) COLLEGE WORLD SERIES (See text |
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