By all means, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family, but I think the risks are known across the board.

Basically, I am from the "old school" generation where all that was used in baseball were wood bats ... from Little League to college ball. Bat makers,I believe, in general have to produce a bat that falls into a specific range ie: for youth baseball a bpf of 1.20. I remember when the metal "titanium" was introduced into bat making and it was almost instantly outlawed because of the power/speed the ball generated off the bat. This was particulariy true in mens slow-pitch softball. It made a singles hitter instantly into a home run threat. So the banning of this type of metal in a bat was justified. Having said that. I believe that accidents, some tragic, happen in baseball. The push now is for a composit bat, that is in many ways like a wood bat, especially if a -3 rating is the norm. We all remember the death of the third base coach (in the minors) who took a line drive in the head off a wood bat. He wasn't wearing a helmut and thus did not have adequate protection. Kids are stronger and more powerful in this day and age due to a variety of conditions that were not present when I played the game. Better conditioning, weight training, instruction, etc. With bigger and stronger players the natural result is pitchers with more velocity and hitters with greater bat speed. This end-result is a well hit baseball that has alot more velocity off the bat. I think that aluminum was first introduced to combat the problem of wood bats breaking frequently and that the aluminum bat usually lasted a season. Cost was the primary factor. I personally would like to see all of baseball from youth to college go back to wood bats and play the game the way it was intended. You will still have some tragic consequences but I think not quite as many. SIDE NOTE: When I pitched in college, we all wore hardhats when playing defense. Just a thought.

My opinion is that if the sport was limited to wood bats, it would reduce the risks. I'm personally fearful of pitching batting practice to 12 year old kids based on how hot some of these bats are. And then I expect them to go out and do it. Crazy! But my opinion is also that this could also help regulate a playing field often dictated by those who "Have" and those who "Have not". I coach a small town team without a large budget for the latest equipment. We often travel to neighboring municipalities where teams have a whole line-up of state of the art bats. I have seen a lot of hot hits due to bats which a middle infielder would have gotten to had the first 100 feet of ball travel not been so blistering fast. A couple of my players do have good bats and we've benefited from this too. I've also seen many of bad swings produce good results from advanced bats and there is no reaching a kid once that has happened. Baseball seems to be rather unique compared to the other major sports of basketball and football where the equipment can have such an altering impact to the game's results.

Wood bat leagues help players work on fundamentally sound hitting faster than aluminum. But it might make weaker hitters drop out sooner, since they won't be as succesfull without a zinger aluminum bat. Not a bad thing, but likely. I think 13/14 is the age where wood should be required.

I am a proponent of wooden bats for youth baseball leagues. Even if the rebound of a ball off of the bat is the same - although this seems unlikely - for both wood, aluminum and composite bats, the reduced weight of non-wood bats enables players to generate more bat speed than they would with a wooden bat. I also think the change to the eligibility rules - i.e. changing the cut off date to April 30th - for youth baseball has exacerbated the dangers. We are now seeing many more physically mature kids playing against small children than we have under the old rules. A 135 lb. thirteen year old swinging a $300.00 composite bat with a 65 lb. ten year old on the mound or at third base is a recipe for disaster.

Regardless, the pitching position has always been a tough spot.Usually the pitcher is one of the best athletes on the field.With a beginning pitcher, this should be the first training ,he or she , should receive. At 46 feet a ball coming off a plastic bat can come back quick,let alone a wood or aluninum bat. If you want to pitch you better be prepared.

The bat companies are going to continue to make technical advances to bats just like any other sport; tennis, skiing, golf etc. It is not the fault of the bat makers, it is up to the baseball associations to say we will or will not allow aluminum bats or to limit the length, weight or other specifications on bat performance. Although we will never know, the pitcher could have suffered the same result on a hit off a wooden bat. I agree that aluminum bats probably put more pop on the ball than a wood bat will, there is still a danger of pitchers getting hit regardless of what type of bats are used.

I have umpired HS baseball, Babe Ruth, NABA, MSBL and College baseball for 36 years. The best baseball I work involves the use of wooden bats. Composite wooden bats are as cost effective as metal bats and the BESR (Ball Exit Speed Ratio) off wood is significantly less than off aluminum. our local are Men's Leagues have come to their senses that full grown adults should not be swinging aluminum bats at pitches thrown by pitchers that can no longer throw the ball by the hitters. With youth ball the growth differental for both girls and boys that have already experienced puberty and the growth spurt that goes with it makes it extremely dangerous for the pitcher in either baseball or fast pitch girls softball when the hitter has grown rapidly in respect to the other players. face masks on third baseman, helmets on pitchers and a move to move the rubber back in girl's fast pitch should tell someone that we need to think differently. Money talks all else walks! But when lives are being lost it's time to stand up to the bat companies and say "CHANGE"!!!

All levels of baseball should use wood or wood composite bats. Period! Aluminum graphite composite bats are definately more dangerous than wood bats. College has banned the graphite composite bats, good for them! Aluminum and graphite fiber composte bats with the huge sweetspots, trampoline effects, double walls, flex handles...come on, what do you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't try and tell me balls don't come off of aluminum and graphite composite bats any hotter than do off of wood. Thay sure as hell do!!!!!!! It's the dad's that are mostly to blame. They go out and buy these $300+ bats so their little Johnny ball player with his lousy swing can still hit the crap out of the ball. If little Johnny and his lousy swing had to use a wood bat little Johnny would be playing soccer, where he should be.

Frankly, I am surprised more kids aren't seriously hurt, especially on the smaller field, given the way the baseball comes off the aluminum bats. Those who say there's no difference have apparently never watched a baseball game. We have a summer independent college team in our town, and we see many players who had 15-20 homers during their college season using aluminum suddenly find their home run totals falling to the low single digits, once they have to use wood. Go back to wood across the board.

Hi, I'm a softball coach. The real problem is with composite bats. Some of those are selling for $400.00. Alot of softball players wear those masks on defense. Particulary 1st,3rd, and pitcher. They might be 30' or less when the bat makes contact with the ball. We have seen how dangerous it is. Slow pitch is even worst after the pitcher delivers the pitch, he starts backpedalling. As far as Little League is concerned you worst case scenario is a 9yr old pitcher playing up, versus a 6' 180lb 12yr old batter.