A federal court judge has upheld New York Citys ban on non-wood and non-wood composite bats in high school, meaning the ban will take effect as scheduled on September 1st. The 11th hour decision in the closely-watched case has set off a mad scramble for answers and sparked mass confusion among coaches, parents and players on how the ban will actually work.
While deferring to the Councils right to pass legislation, the Judge said there was no “empirical evidence showing that more serious injuries would occur without the ordinance”, (P. 38).
Under the ordinance, the only types of bats that can be used are those approved by Major League Baseball. However, the City has not provided schools, coaches or umpires with the approved list. For instance, a Staten Island batmaker, Bamboo Bat, makes bats from bamboo and sells its products in New York City sporting goods stores, but it is unclear whether these bats would be permissible under the new ordinance.
Wally Stampfel, the Chairman of the Catholic High School Athletics Association in New York, and coach of the varsity baseball team at Mt. St. Michaels high school, issued the following statement and raised a host of new questions just hours before the ban is to take effect:
“The court struck out on this one, but City players are the big losers because they wont get to use the bat of their choice. It is important to note that the judge did not rule on the safety of the bats, only that the council had the authority to act. But since this ban is about to go into effect, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered, and fast. Schools must obviously choose books over bats, so where will the extra money come from? Will parents have to pay? How will this be enforced? What happens if a player uses an illegal bat? Will school systems be subject to lawsuits? Will coaches and umpires be liable? How does a player know if his bat is legal?”
Paul Seiler, Executive Director of USA Baseball said, “Baseball is a safe sport with both wood and aluminum bats. Except for the rare, great ballplayer, its harder to hit with wood and we fear this ruling will take a lot of fun out of the game for most high school players.”
The citys 20 Catholic high schools, with approximately 500 players, will be the first group of high schools to come under the jurisdiction of the new metal bat ban when their season begins on September 5th. Eventually, the ban will force over 9,600 players from more than 600 teams in the five boroughs to shelve all metal and non-wood composite bats in favor of wood, at a significant cost. Virtually all amateur players use metal or non-wood composite bats.
