A California legislative committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would place a two-year moratorium on the use of metal bats in high school baseball in the state, according to a report in the Associated Press.
The bill is in response to the injury of Marin Catholic High School
player Gunnar Sandberg who was hit in the head on March 11 with a
baseball hit with a metal bat. Sandberg, 16, was put in a medically-induced coma at Marin General
Hospital and a portion of his skull was removed as his brain swelled.
The incident revived the debate about using metal bats which critics
claim make the ball travel faster than those hit with wood bats. The
issue has been studied since the 1970s and high school teams in the
Marin County Athletic League agreed not to use non-wood bats for the
remainder of this season. The Marin County Athletic League had already suspended the use of metal bats.
The two-year moratorium would allow time for the bodies that govern baseball at the high school and collegiate level to review the safety of aluminum and metal bats.
The California bill, introduced by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, passed the Senate Education Committee on a 5-1 vote Wednesday, and now moves to the full Senate for consideration. Huffman said metal bats already are banned in New York City and South Dakota, Huffman
said.
