Why you won't see wood back in college

[mstaylor]

[JHSump]

That's a funny video!  That last break seemed very unusual.

 

Of course, the point is replacing broken bats will cost money.  More money than it would cost to use metal bats.  That was the original reason for going to metal.

 

But, would going back to wood bats be prohibitively more expensive?  Especially with today's metal bat costs?  Someone should do the study.  Maybe it has been done.

 

Here's a quick guess at some of the numbers, just to see if a real study would be worth it.

 

Let's say there are 2 broken wood bats per game per team, on average.  It may be more, it may be less, but it's not much more or much less --- on average.  It's not 10 times as much!  Assume a reasonable wood bat costs $50.  There are much more expensive bats, of course, but it's not 10 times as much.  So, that's $100 per game to replace the broken bats, roughly, for one team.  How many games are there per team per college season?  40?  That's $4000 per season to replace broken wood bats.

 

What's the cost of metal bats?  To compete you need to use the near top-of-the-line technological weapons.  The cost is about $250 per bat.  Also, you probably replace all those bats each year (metal bats wear out, especially the high-tech weapons; wood bats do not wear out, unless broken).  Is there one bat per player?  If so, that's about 20 bats, or $5000 per season.  I think you need 1 bat per player otherwise the very few metal bats used on a team would wear out in less than one season.

 

Conclusion?  My choices for cost, numbers of bats, numbers of players, numbers of broken bats, may not be exactly correct.  But since they are in the right ballpark (haha), that means it's probably worth someone's effort to look into this more carefully.

 

Has someone done this study?

 

I also wonder if it's not really a question of expense.  Maybe colleges just like the greater pop of metal bats.  Or, there is some other reason besides money.  Then again, with BBCOR bats, maybe there is no greater pop anymore.  That would remove that reason or sticking with metal bats.

 

So, what are the real numbers??  Anyone know for sure what a college team pays for metal bats, each season?

[cyclonehokiece]

Dr. Ump, I believe an economics student or one of those other money related fields could do a dissertation on this topic.

[JHSump]

Dr. Ump, I believe an economics student or one of those other money related fields could do a dissertation on this topic.

Hmmm.... maybe I can walk over to the building next to mine, and get some student in Economics interested!  Good idea, cyclone.

[Jocko]

Also, talk to your school's equipment manager. I know for 100% fact that all equipment for my local schools are supplied by sponsor companies. Notably Nike, Rawlings, and Easton. That covers gloves, cleats, clothing/uniforms, and bats. All at no cost to the school. So, IMO, economics is a non issue, from an institutional standpoint.

[JHSump]

Also, talk to your school's equipment manager. I know for 100% fact that all equipment for my local schools are supplied by sponsor companies. Notably Nike, Rawlings, and Easton. That covers gloves, cleats, clothing/uniforms, and bats. All at no cost to the school. So, IMO, economics is a non issue, from an institutional standpoint.

That's actually true.  So, then why choose metal?  Is it because the bat companies will not supply wood?  HS players (and lower) will buy metal, so a bat company would supply metal to the college teams --- so HS players (and lower) will see that "advertising" in action.  It would not be in the company's interest to supply wood bats.

 

Ah!  The numbers may work out such that wood bats are not any more expensive than metal bats, and may actually be cheaper. But the bat companies want colleges to use metal.  So, that's what the company will supply, for free.  And, that's what colleges will take, because it's the cheap way to go!  So, everything is economics.  

[CentralOhioUmp30]

I've never understood why the MLB hasn't lobbied the NCAA and/or NFHS about this from a scouting standpoint.

 

I realize scouting isn't a perfect science, but it seems if you're scouting a kid you'd like to see how he hits with the weapon he'd be using in professional baseball. Obviously, not every team (i.e. big market teams) cares too much about scouting because when the time comes for a top prospect to enter free agency they can usually pluck them away with their checkbook.  But the small-market teams like a Tampa Bay rely on drafting top notch talent because they can't afford to pay free agency money for the top guys.

 

You'd think there'd be a concerted effort from those clubs to ensure they know as much as possible before drafting a kid since the consequence of drafting a bust within the first five rounds is very severe.

[Replacematt]

An increase in the market for an already-scarce product would drive prices up dramatically.

[dumbdumb]

I've never understood why the MLB hasn't lobbied the NCAA and/or NFHS about this from a scouting standpoint.

 

I realize scouting isn't a perfect science, but it seems if you're scouting a kid you'd like to see how he hits with the weapon he'd be using in professional baseball. Obviously, not every team (i.e. big market teams) cares too much about scouting because when the time comes for a top prospect to enter free agency they can usually pluck them away with their checkbook.  But the small-market teams like a Tampa Bay rely on drafting top notch talent because they can't afford to pay free agency money for the top guys.

 

You'd think there'd be a concerted effort from those clubs to ensure they know as much as possible before drafting a kid since the consequence of drafting a bust within the first five rounds is very severe.

IMHO the scouts know what they are looking for and one could hit with a broom and they would know. They just back off the batting average x amount of points to figure out what it will be with a wood bat., ie a 350 hitter with metal will be a 320 hitter with wood. They know that balls fisted for a base hit with the metal will be an out with the wood. They know a ball just 5-10 feet over the fence with metal would be warning track power with wood.

There use to be 2 sets of jugs guns. One was 5 mph faster than the other one. The slower gun was a more accurate one, so they just had to ask which gun was being used. 99 on the fast gun would be 94 on the slower gun.

Once again they know what they are looking for and take into account metal versus wood.

[zoops]

BBCOR metal bats aren't a whole lot better than a good wood bat as far as pop goes, plus they don't break.  Sure, there are more "cheap" hits with the metal bats still, but I don't see much of a reason from a safety or economic standpoint to go to wood at the high school level.  Some high school and college leagues have switched from wood back to metal now with BBCOR.  I wouldn't be opposed to seeing D1 college go to wood. 

[Jocko]

You're forgetting the fact that scouts don't look at players heavily in their HS games. They have showcases, all American teams, j nvitationals, official visits, camps, etc....

[CentralOhioUmp30]

I've never understood why the MLB hasn't lobbied the NCAA and/or NFHS about this from a scouting standpoint.

I realize scouting isn't a perfect science, but it seems if you're scouting a kid you'd like to see how he hits with the weapon he'd be using in professional baseball. Obviously, not every team (i.e. big market teams) cares too much about scouting because when the time comes for a top prospect to enter free agency they can usually pluck them away with their checkbook. But the small-market teams like a Tampa Bay rely on drafting top notch talent because they can't afford to pay free agency money for the top guys.

You'd think there'd be a concerted effort from those clubs to ensure they know as much as possible before drafting a kid since the consequence of drafting a bust within the first five rounds is very severe.

IMHO the scouts know what they are looking for and one could hit with a broom and they would know. They just back off the batting average x amount of points to figure out what it will be with a wood bat., ie a 350 hitter with metal will be a 320 hitter with wood. They know that balls fisted for a base hit with the metal will be an out with the wood. They know a ball just 5-10 feet over the fence with metal would be warning track power with wood.

There use to be 2 sets of jugs guns. One was 5 mph faster than the other one. The slower gun was a more accurate one, so they just had to ask which gun was being used. 99 on the fast gun would be 94 on the slower gun.

Once again they know what they are looking for and take into account metal versus wood.

Certainly not debating the ability of scouts to identify top players. I'm just saying instead of assuming a guy's average will dip 30 points when he goes from metal to wood, why not actually see the kid swing timber?

[CentralOhioUmp30]

You're forgetting the fact that scouts don't look at players heavily in their HS games. They have showcases, all American teams, j nvitationals, official visits, camps, etc....

Very valid. My brother manages a team in an organization that is known for sending kids to play D1 and professional ball. Team is filled with 14 and 15 year old kids playing against 16 and 17 year old kids. Many of their tournaments are exclusively wood bat. The amount of scouts who show up at these tournaments is very impressive.

[GoodOldGus]

The players themselves at some of the DIII colleges in my area buy their own bats at a discounted rate from the University/Team's sponsor....Easton, TPX, Rawlings etc. 

[dumbdumb]

 

You're forgetting the fact that scouts don't look at players heavily in their HS games. They have showcases, all American teams, j nvitationals, official visits, camps, etc....

Very valid. My brother manages a team in an organization that is known for sending kids to play D1 and professional ball. Team is filled with 14 and 15 year old kids playing against 16 and 17 year old kids. Many of their tournaments are exclusively wood bat. The amount of scouts who show up at these tournaments is very impressive.

 

So, can I surmise we are no longer getting the best of the best in baseball. We are only getting the best of Warren Buffett's and others in his tax bracket's children. Just asking.

[Umpire in Chief]

I had a discussion with a former co-worker who was a college and MiLB catcher. I was saying I think HS & College should all go to wooden bats. He appreciated that, but told me he liked the composite material bats best. 

 

He told me the least expensive wooden bat you will see guys swinging in the MiLB is just under $100 (and that was from his playing days). He said you should expect to go through 6-8 good bats in a season and more for the cheaper ones. So if you use wood you can expect to be spending $500 at a minimum in a year, but some will blow through $1000 easily.

 

Now he said he can get a premium non-wood bat for about the same $500 and it should last you all season and become your back up next season. He went to college at a school that was given bats by TPX, so he was fortunate, but many schools don't have that luxury and even so some players still got their own.

 

Trickle that down to HS. The school doesn't pay for the vast majority of their own equipment, the players bring their own. So mommy paying $250 -300 for a good aluminum bat is actually a good investment versus wood. If you were to to go to wood parents would be in an up roar and demand the schools which many don't have the money, to supply the bats. Then you would have a team out there with the Wal-Mart special $25 wood bats. 

 

So as umpires as much as we love wood bat games, don't expect to see then in HS or college.

[CentralOhioUmp30]

You're forgetting the fact that scouts don't look at players heavily in their HS games. They have showcases, all American teams, j nvitationals, official visits, camps, etc....

Very valid. My brother manages a team in an organization that is known for sending kids to play D1 and professional ball. Team is filled with 14 and 15 year old kids playing against 16 and 17 year old kids. Many of their tournaments are exclusively wood bat. The amount of scouts who show up at these tournaments is very impressive.

So, can I surmise we are no longer getting the best of the best in baseball. We are only getting the best of Warren Buffett's and others in his tax bracket's children. Just asking.

Capitalism is a beautiful thing. God bless this country.

[mstaylor]

It's the cost of wood bats but the supply of trees to make them. We don't have enough good growth trees to make that many. I was a carpenter for 30 yrs, trust me, new groth wood is nowhere near as good. Now if they are qualify the bamboo bats and wood laminated bats, another story.