Flying home runs, Rockets coming off the line and slugging doubles in the open are some of the big hits you'll see in MLB. In Major League Baseball, those hard hits are still possible with wooden bats. Why do youth level and in some cases high school level baseball players use aluminum bats? The main argument in favor of aluminum bats is that they help keep costs down, since wooden bats can break and become unusable when hit in the wrong place. However, I think the main argument in favor of aluminum is invalid, better but completely irrelevant. The bats are definitely less durable, to be sure, but the price of the shafts makes it trivial. For top of the line wooden bats, you're looking at a price range of around $100 to $140, while metal bats cost much more. For a top of the line metal bat, you'll need to spend anywhere from $350 to $500. You can buy 3 woods for a baseball bat for those prices, so how the price is going to be a moot point here? These wooden bats are also not as flimsy as pencils, for professionals they are hard to break even, 3 bats should last enough for any player.
Now that we've debunked the most prominent arguments in favor of aluminum, let's start talking about the dangers of aluminum bats. In a study by Greenwald, the average muzzle velocity of wooden bats was shown to be 98.5 mph and the average muzzle velocity of aluminum bats was shown to be 100.8–106.5 mph. Standing 60'6" away and throwing so close after the pitch, the pitcher could take a lot of damage with both bats, but at least they have a better chance of getting out of harm's way with the woods. From 1991 to 2001, 15 people died with metal bats, compared to 2 deaths with wooden bats during the same period.
This is a controversial topic.The answer is clear, whether we'd rather have the Americas game filled with stories of terror or relive the fond memories many of us associate with great baseball games.The device is the future of gaming and as a society we need to make a quick transition now.
