There is nothing quite like a broken bat. The sound of wood splintering after the perfect pitch coupled with the sight of the hitter holding the remnants of his shattered weapon make for premium entertainment for any baseball fan. Lately, however, broken bats have been anything but amusing.
Bats are no longer just breaking; they are exploding. Today’s bats are not breaking cleanly; instead they shatter, hurling shards of wood in all directions. The sharp projectiles created by the new “style” of broken bats can be attributed to one thing: maple wood.
In recent years, players have abandoned bats made of traditional woods like ash and oak for maple. Now, nearly sixty percent of all MLB players use maple bats. Maple is strong and light, making it ideal for hitting. However, maple is also more brittle than ash or oak, making it more likely to shatter violently. It can be quite dangerous whenever a maple bat breaks.
Injuries From Broken Bats
In early April, the Pirates were playing a series against the Dodgers in LA. Pirates outfielder Nate McClouth shattered his bat on an outside pitch. A shard of wood flew into the first base dugout and struck Pirates hitting coach Don Long just below his left eye. The stray projectile created a gash on Long’s face, which required ten stitches to close.
Later that month, a second incident occurred during a Rockies- Dodgers game in Los Angeles. Rockies first basemen Todd Helton’s bat shattered during an at-bat. The barrel of the bat flew into the stands and hit a woman in the face. The woman suffered a broken jaw after being struck with the broken bat.
Umpire Brian O’Nora was injured during a June meeting between the Rockies and the Royals. O’Nora was working behind the plate when Royal’s catcher Miguel Olivo’s bat shattered. O’Nora was hit in the head by a stray piece of Olivo’s bat. O’Nora was removed from the game and was taken to a local hospital.
Addressing Safety Concerns
Major League Baseball has recently started to address this issue. League officials, Players’ Union officials, and bat manufacturers have started meeting to see what can be done to ensure the safety of players, coaches, umpires, and spectators. Some believe that a ban of all maple wood bats would be the most effective way of guaranteeing everyone’s safety, but it is unlikely that the Players’ Union would allow such a ban considering the majority of hitters use maple wood bats. Additionally, there would be several problems for bat manufacturers should a maple bat ban occur. With these issues in mind, MLB has several other viable options to ensure fan and player safety.
To protect the fans, MLB is considering extending the safety netting from behind home plate. This plan would extend the netting from home plate down the first and third baselines, similar to ballparks in Japan. Another likely option is to control the width of the bat handles. Bat handles are always thinner than the barrel of the bat, but some officials believe that bat handles are becoming too thin. These officials believe that the thin bat handles are contributing to the increase in broken bats. A combination of these two strategies is likely to occur in the near future.
To this point, everyone has been extremely lucky. There have been a few minor injuries, but nothing too serious or life-threatening. It is unlikely that this luck will last forever, so solutions for both the long run and the short run must be presented. Without a safety plan, tragedy is sure to strike.
