As the New Jersey Legislature considers legislation to ban the use of aluminum bats in baseball games from Little League to high school, a group of New Jersey residents is fighting back. The nation’s first chapter of the newly-formed “Don’t Take My Bat Away” coalition has been launched in New Jersey and already it includes more than seven hundred members, and is co-chaired by three longtime New Jersey residents and coaches.


 


Scott Bradley, a former major league baseball player and currently the head coach of varsity baseball at Princeton University, along with Tony Richardson, the State Director of Little League, and Brian Giallella, the varsity coach at Steinert High School in Hamilton, will serve at the group’s three co-chairmen.


 


“Baseball is safe, aluminum bats are safe, wood bats are safe, and the Jersey Legislature shouldn’t interfere with how the game is played”, the three said in a joint statement.  “As coaches and fathers, we’re dedicated to player safety and we know that if you ban aluminum bats, kid will still on rare occasion get injured with wood.  Banning aluminum won’t promote safety; instead it will make the game a lot less fun, especially for the average athlete who prefers to hit with an aluminum bat.”


 


Bradley played in the Major Leagues from 1984 to 1992, including two years with the New York Yankees.  Born and raised in Essex Falls, he has been head coach at Princeton since 1998.  He lives in Pennington and is the father of three boys ages 10, 11, and 13.  (He can be contacted at 609 258-5059)


 


Richardson, from Neptune, is the State Director for Little League throughout the Garden State and is a former district President.  As a former coach, he managed the team from Howell which went to the Senior League World Series in 1992.  He has also served as a certified high school umpire.  He has been involved in Little League for twenty-two years, during which time he coached his son.  (He can be contacted at 732 682-0364)


 


Giallella is in his seventh year as varsity coach at the Steinert High School in Hamilton.  He was born and raised in Hamilton and has been a coach there for eleven years.  He’s the father of two sons, five-years-old and nine-months-old.    (He can be contacted at 609 902-1525)


 


Legislation to ban the use of aluminum bats has been introduced in the State Legislature by Assembly Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex).  The Legislature adjourned last week without taking action on the bill, but Assemblyman Diegnan has promised to fight for passage of his legislation when the Assembly returns.