Bat rule change welcomed by this mom

I'm a worrywart.

I've admitted it before in this column.

When it comes to my two children, my 10-year-old son Matthew (we call him Matty) and my 8-year-old daughter Kelsey, I fret quite a bit.

I'm assuming all parents worry, but I've been told I'm on the far end of the spectrum.

I worry about big things, like my kids' futures and what kind of world they will inherit. But I also worry about little things, like if they're drinking all of their milk at school, or if they're being careful as they ride their bikes and scooters up and down our street (with helmets on, of course).

A couple of years ago, I wrote about my biggest worry of the moment, the idea of Matty playing youth football. He was begging us to play, but I was not excited about the idea at all. What if he got hurt? What if he loved football so much that he kept wanting to play, and I had to keep worrying?

I talked with other parents for my story, particularly mothers, about how they dealt with their own worries about football. It helped. A little.

Matty ended up playing football for the first time last fall, and he did well. At quarterback, no less. Thankfully, he also stayed totally healthy.

But I worried the whole darn time.

During basketball season, I get a reprieve. I don't worry as much as I watch my children run up and down the hardwood. I played basketball in high school and college. I know the chances of catastrophic injury aren't as great as in other sports.

Not worrying (as much) is nice.

But, alas, my worries have kicked up again. Matty is now playing baseball. And he's a pitcher.

My worries about what could happen to him as a pitcher — being hit directly in the face or chest with a screaming line drive — are apparently the exact same worries the NCAA, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) have had about pitchers.

And it's why something concrete has been done to alleviate some of those worries.

New bats, bats that are more pitcher and fielder friendly, will be in use next year. Current bats, which are constructed to provide enough zing to take someone's head off, will be banned.

It's a change that has baseball fans talking, asking questions.

Where does this change leave the game: for the better, for the worse, or somewhere in between?

Rules of protection

As of next year, starting on Jan. 1, the IHSA will ban the use of nearly all composite bats, a move that was initiated by the NCAA back in 2008.

This season, in what is being billed as a transition year, some composite bats that will be banned next year are still allowed. Others are already out.

When the new rule takes effect, only aluminum bats, wood bats and specially approved composite bats that meet certain standards for safety will be allowed.

All legal bats for next season will meet a minimum standard based on their Batted Coefficient of Restitution, or BBCOR. BBCOR measures the bounciness of the bat-ball collision. The new NFHS rules require that standard, based on a scientific calculation, be similar to that of a wood bat.

It's a change that will be noticeable.

“There is definitely a difference (between the legal and illegal bats),” Grayslake Central coach Troy Whalen said. “It's amazing how the ball jumps off a composite bat.

“When I throw to the kids behind the screen (in batting practice) and they're using a composite bat, I can hear the sound of them hitting the ball, but I can't see the ball. It comes off the bat that quick.”

The soon-to-be-banned composite bats (a list can be found at ihsa.org on the baseball home page) look like aluminum bats but feature a woven graphite wall on the inside, which give the bats a “trampoline effect.” Balls are sent off their surfaces with greater speed and velocity than traditional wood or aluminum bats.

Many observers believe that the safety of fielders, particularly pitchers, has been compromised with the use of composite bats. The argument is that a composite bat can send a ball of its surface far too quickly for a fielder to have enough time to react and get out of the way.

Here's where I think about former Wheeling pitcher Matt Hart.

I wrote a story about Hart and pitcher safety just last spring, and my heart went out to him.

He was hit by a line drive that was shot straight back to the mound. Before he could even get his glove up, the ball had slammed into his right eye, shattering his orbital socket and leaving him a bloody mess.

Hart's sinus cavity was also damaged and so was his retina, which has forever compromised the vision in his eye.

Whalen has his own Matt Hart story.

The son of a friend of his was pitching in a 15-year-old travel game when he was hit in the head with a line drive fired off a bat.

“The kid was in a coma for six months, and he's never really recovered,” Whalen said solemnly. “He had brain surgery right away and his skull is still not coming together correctly.

“My son pitches, too. I think about that kind of stuff all the time when he pitches. I'm all for this rule change. We'll never know if some of these horrible injuries would have happened with aluminum bats or wood bats anyway. But I think there's been enough research and data to prove that reaction time is better with non-composite bats, so if this change prevents even one injury, it's well worth it.”

Powering down?

Fewer injuries are good. No one will argue that.

But, from an offensive standpoint, will the game be as good?

Will taking the bite out of bats take a bite out of scoring and hitting … and the game's overall appeal?

“Obviously, kids' safety should be first and foremost, but I just hope these bats don't make a drastic change in other ways,” Mundelein coach Todd Parola said. “Even (with the partial ban), there are still some good bats out there this season that have some pop. The bats next year are going to be very different and I just don't want every game to be 1-0 or 2-1 and ending on a suicide squeeze every time.

“The new bats will definitely take a lot of the pop out of hitting. We'll have to see how much. I think there's definitely going to be more bunting, more hitting and running and more manufacturing of runs.”

There might be more authenticity, too.

These new bats may separate the men from the boys.

“I think we're going to see a separation between the hitters and the pretenders,” Whalen said. “Kids that are hitters, really good hitters, will always be good hitters. They could hit with wood bats if that's what you gave them. They'll still be able to hit with the new bats, too.

“I really think we'll see little change. You may have scores that are 7-6 instead of 10-9. But when you think about it, what's the difference?”

Of course, the biggest difference could be a few more seconds of reaction time for pitchers and fielders. And that could make a huge difference, a life-changing difference, for them.

I know I'm just a worried Mom, but here's one vote for the new bats being change for the better.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com