Bamboo Bats

[Umpire in Chief]

I know at least in VA for HS is was made perfectly clear that Bamboo bats are non-wood bats and must therefore meet BBCOR specifications.

The justification is that Bamboo is a grass not a wood. (it does make sense)

Well I'm doing a number of College Summer Wooden Bat League and Adult Men's Wooden bat league games. Tuesday I noticed a batter who came up with a Bamboo bat.

Now not knowing any official rules or interpretations about this for their leagues I decided I wasn't going to go looking for boogers to pick.

So my question is for games played with "wooden" bats under MLB rules are bamboo bats legal?

I put out an email to get an official answer, but haven't heard back yet. So I thought I'd throw it out here.

[CS-Blue]

I played in a wood bat league years ago and they did not allow bamboo bats. They were under the heading of composite bats. But this was when bamboo was first coming out.

[JacksFan]

In the wooden bat leagues around me I believe they are allowed (poeple use them and nobody has ever brought up the issue). Most bamboo bats have a lable that says they are not approved for anything above low A as they are not a single piece of wood. But for lower levels than that I think they are pretty well accepted as long as composites are allowed too.

[mstaylor]

Our local wooden bat league use them for regular season but not in post season. In post season they play straight MLB, no exceptions. A bamboo bat is a laminated bat so it does fall in the nonwood category. A true wood bat is one piece and solid. If they made a bat that was all wood but laminated it still doesn't qualify.

[JaxRolo]

Do they look different?

[mstaylor]

http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:171408/sku:340113/mizuno-mzb-271-bamboo-bat-mens/tan/black/?cm=GLOBAL%20SEARCH%3A%20KEYWORD%20SEARCH

If they aren't painted then yes, they do look different. Some are painted a solid color, Mizuno being one, and those you can't tell.

[gatoremt]

My son uses one in his 13-14 yr old league. His came from Viper Bats and is BBCOR rated. Once the bat is paintes you can not tell a difference. Looks the same as his maple bat.

[noumpere]

Now not knowing any official rules or interpretations about this for their leagues I decided I wasn't going to go looking for boogers to pick.

So my question is for games played with "wooden" bats under MLB rules are bamboo bats legal?

I put out an email to get an official answer, but haven't heard back yet. So I thought I'd throw it out here.

Depends entirely on the league. I work leagues that allow it and leagues that dont. Same for the bats with a wood barrel and composite handle where some allow it and some dont.