Do aluminum bats put pitchers in peril

For Jordan High School pitcher Christian Hurtado,it was a pitcher's worst nightmare.

No, not giving up a game-winning home run. Rather, it was that line drive back up the middle that a pitcher can't escape.

Hurtado was hit in the head by a line drive and spent five days in the hospital earlier this month in a game against Wilson.

He still has headaches and will undergo more tests.

Could the injury be prevented?

Some believe it could, or at least the severity diminished, if the California State Senate approves a bill to place a two-year moratorium on using aluminum bats in high school games.

A legislative committee recently passed the motion by a 5-to-1 vote to send to the full Senate for consideration after 16-year-old Gunnar Sandberg, a Marin County pitcher, was struck in the head by a line drive and spent weeks in a coma.

Hurtado's stay at Miller Children's Hospital brought the issue home and has many area coaches and players debating what changes should be made to protect players, especially pitchers.

"I can still picture that line drive coming right at my head and as quickly as I tried to get out of its way, I couldn't," Hurtado said.

"I definitely think they need to make it safer for pitchers, because we're a target out there, but I don't think wooden bats are the answer. If they're able to get the aluminum bats modified to the same speed as wooden bats, it would not only make it safer for all of us, it would save a lot of money for each program."

Studies have shown the speed of a ball hit off an aluminum bat travels faster than one hit off a wooden bat. Even so, Long Beach-area players and coaches interviewed are almost unanimous in their belief that going to wooden bats is not the answer.

Instead, they favor modifying aluminum bats.

Bats 'advanced'

"It has gotten to the point where a less-than-average hitter can hit the ball hard when it's not even hit on the sweet spot because the bats are so advanced these days," Jordan coach Marc Prager said.

While safety is a top priority, cost is also a major factor.

Wooden bats range in price from $20 to $200, while aluminum bats cost between $100 and $400, but a wooden bat lasts an average of one month while aluminum bats last years and are used by more than one batter per team.

Being forced to use wooden bats would be costly to baseball programs that are already cash-strapped.

"I am completely against changing to wooden bats and I certainly think state legislatures have no place making decisions on things they have no expertise on," Lakewood coach Spud O'Neil said. "The costs involved with using wooden bats would get out of hand and in this economy, that's something we all have to be concerned about."

Local players at both the college and high school level believe that if a change were to be made, it would be a better fit in college ball.

"I think we in the college game would all understand if they decided to switch us to wooden bats, but high school could never afford it and it isn't necessary when there are other options to fix the problem," said Long Beach State infielder Matt Duffy. "As a hitter, it would obviously benefit me if we continue to use aluminum bats, but I saw our third baseman get hit by a line drive that was hit so hard, he didn't have time to react and that is scary."

Many say they believe safety can be increased with aluminum bats that have less of a sweet spot.

Cost prohibitive?

"It is very frustrating as a coach when you see someone get jammed and still drive the ball," Paramount coach Cameron Chinn said. "The cost （of banning aluminum bats）, however, would overwhelm many programs and players to the point where they might not be able to afford to field a team and I don't think outlawing aluminum bats is the only answer to making it a more safe game for everyone."

Others feel the move to wooden bats would help speed up the adjustment from high school to professional baseball.

"I think it could be a really good idea, because the pros use wooden bats and we're not that far off," former Wilson Dream Team catcher and current Cypress College player Tanner Perkins said. "We all play with wood bats in the summer and safety should come first."

Lakewood's Jeff Yamaguchi and Poly's Thomas Walker are two of the leading candidates for the Moore League's MVP and both feel the immediate change would have too many negative effects.

"I think it would force many to play 'small ball' which would make the game more pure and could be good, but I think it would also make so many struggle to hit the ball well at this level and could affect the game a lot," Yamaguchi said.

Said Walker: "It would personally force me to become a better hitter （if we went to wood bats）, but it would make it very hard for a lot of hitters to square up and hit the ball well. The problem with that is that a lot of bats would crack or break and would become too costly for teams to maintain enough bats to make this a good move."

All involved want to see the game become more safe, but at the same time think it would make more sense to do it in a timely manner where those without the resources are not hurt by knee-jerk reactions to unfortunate accidents on the field.

"We are all concerned about everyone's safety, but the issue is to eliminate composite bats and to do what colleges are doing next year and have aluminum bats that have the same speed as wooden ones," La Mirada coach Kim Brooks said. "It is already hard enough to provide the minor and major leagues with enough （wooden） bats to play with, so I don't know how we would all of a sudden find enough wood to get for every high school in California, let alone be able to bear the cost."

Youth leagues affected

Even in Little League, the bats are an issue.

"Our pitchers in Pony are even closer （to the batter） than high school and the kids have gotten so big and strong that we definitely need to do something to make it safer for our pitchers," said Ken Jakemer, the Long Beach Poly World Series championship coach. "（But） wooden bats are far too costly and needless when the technology is capable of making aluminum bats that have the same effect or speed of a wooden bat."

In the meantime, pitchers like Hurtado will have to take their chances.

"I will be nervous the next time I take the mound, but I know I'll get over it," Hurtado said, "especially if they make it less likely for these type of accidents to happen in the future."