Batting first

The sights and sounds of a baseball game are familiar to most Americans. The smell of hotdogs and beer, the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the sight of the ball flying over the outfield wall.

Except today, fewer balls are flying over the wall.

While experts point to the crackdown of steroid use as the reason for diminishing power in the major leagues, Virginia high school games are seeing a decrease in home runs for a much different reason.

Last July, the National Federation of State High School Associations created a list of bats to be restricted from use in high school games. The NFHS found that balls hit off of these composite bats were being put into play with too much speed, causing danger for the players and coaches closest to the hitter. Later in the year, the NFHS softened its stance, allowing 43 "illegal" bats to be used for one more season. This would give high schools an extra season to sift out the bats that could no longer be used.

But the Virginia High School League decided to adopt the original list of banned bats a year early and force Virginia high school teams to play by the new rules.

The high school baseball season started in March, and the move away from the "illegal" bats has been a rocky one.

"It was difficult for some people because they read in certain publications that this bat is legal when in actuality in our state it isn't," said Tom Dolan, assistant director of the VHSL. "We've had a lot of people who don't like the rule. They feel like it's a step back as far as bat technology."

Other complaints came from a financial perspective, since baseball bats can cost hundreds of dollars.

"You start to see concern because someone has spent $400 on a bat that is now rendered non-compliant," said Elliot Hopkins, the NFHS Baseball Rules Editor, when asked how the public has responded to the new rules. "But no one argues there isn't a safety issue."

The NCAA banned ball exit speed ratio (BESR) certified composite bats in 2009, and, after a year-long investigation, the NFHS banned the bats as well. The BESR certification is a measurement of the speed of the ball off the bat, taking into consideration factors such as speed of the pitch and speed of the swing. But new technology has proven BESR faulty, most notably because some composite bats improve with age. The more the bat is used, the looser the composition inside the metal frame becomes, allowing for a harder hit ball.

Some athletes speed up the aging of a bat through a process called "rolling" which involves squeezing the bat, usually with vice grips or a machine, and rotating it. After being rolled, the bat has microscopic cracks in its composition which gives it more flexibility and power.

The NFHS approved bats are bat-ball coefficient of restitution (BBCOR) certified, and produce less of a "trampoline" effect. BBCOR tests ensure that non-wood bats will perform almost exactly like wood bats, only with more durability.

Dolan said that the VHSL adopted the new rules because of liability issues and concern over the well-being of high school athletes.

When a player is caught using an illegal bat, the bat is confiscated by the coaches, and the player is ejected from the game and is suspended for the next two games.

"We've had several players who unknowingly or knowingly, it's hard to tell which, have had games taken away from them as a result of the use of an illegal bat," said Dolan.

According to NFHS rules, the umpires check bats before the first pitch, but the opposing coach can request a bat-check at any time during the game.

"The bat thing is the biggest, most confusing complication that I have seen in sports for the last 25 years," John Porter, Mid Atlantic Collegiate Baseball Umpires Commissioner, told The Washington Post in April. He noted that it is sometimes difficult to read the certifications on the bats or to identify the composition of the bat.

But despite the complaints, some feedback has been positive.

"We've had a lot of people who have said that it was time to do something because it was starting to get dangerous, specifically for pitchers and infielders," said Dolan. "And I've had emails from several parents who thank me for our stance because they were starting to get concerned about the safety of their children who happened to be infielders and pitchers."

High-performance bats have been in the public eye for several years now, highlighted by severe injuries on the diamond. Gunnar Sandberg, a pitcher for the Marin Catholic High School in California, almost died after being struck in the head by a line drive. According to The Virginian-Pilot, Sandberg was put into a medically-induced coma and has spent months recovering from the injury. The ball, struck by a composite bat, traveled at more than 100 mph, fracturing his skull.

It is no secret that high-performance bats help inflate athletes' stats. Most composite bats are advertised in such a manner, like the DeMarini Vendetta which is now illegal in Virginia high school games. On the Dick's Sporting Goods website, the DeMarini Vendetta boasts a "direct connect power transfer system" which allows "for optimum flex and recoil with a burst of ball launching energy."

The question becomes―what is more important, statistics or safety?

"Early on [in the season] it was an issue, because it was a change, a radical change in performance," said Dolan. "But I think, as the season has gone along, people have gotten used to the bats. We're not hitting as many home runs as previously were hit with the older bats, and that was part of what we knew would happen going in."

In 2012, high schools in every state will be playing by these rules. Players who were relying on artificial means to put up numbers will be out of luck.

"It doesn't make sense to complain, because [next season] they're all hitting with the same thing," said Hopkins. "It levels the playing field. If you can hit, you can still hit home runs and you can still get good wood on the ball."

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