For the third straight time since 2003, the governing body for high school sports in the State of Massachusetts today overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to ban non-wood and composite bats in high school baseball. By a vote of 12-3, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Committee opposed the ban, thus preserving player choice in the state.
“Today's vote shows that non-wood bats are just as safe as wood bats, and that the best baseball is played when batters are free to use the bat of their choice,” said Tom Cove, president and CEO of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, on behalf of the Dont Take My Bat Away coalition.
The committee listened to over an hour of testimony from witnesses on both sides of the ban. Five current high school baseball coaches and one athletic director from Massachusetts testified against the ban.
The vote against instituting a ban was not the first action taken by the Association, although it is the final action for the foreseeable future. Since October, 2006, the Sports Medicine Committee, the Baseball Committee, the Athletic Directors and Principals Committee, and the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association all considered the proposed ban and all panels rejected it.
A ban on non-wood bats is opposed by American Legion Baseball, the NFHS, NCAA, American Baseball Coaches Association, Little League, Babe Ruth League and PONY League.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2002 stated: “Available incident data are not sufficient to indicate that non-wood bats may pose an unreasonable risk of injury.”
