Re: New OHSAA baseball bar rules
Do you know for sure when high school baseball went to the -3 drop? When I started umpiring baseball 12 years ago the bat drop was -3.
I don't know if I'd say baseball has "vaulted ahead" of softball- maybe "vaulted behind" depending on how you look at it (because their bats are less hot now).
The new BBCOR bat standard encorporates Accelerated Break In (ABI) techniques, to ensure that a bat doesn't get "hotter" with use and exceed the spec. ASA started doing that about five years ago.
The new high school bat rule is such a departure that it renders all previous high school bats obsolete/illegal. That's a pretty radical change that demonstrates how different the bat performance will be. But ASA made their last radical of this nature a decade ago.
The newest baseball rule books, in the rules covering bats, break down and define each portion of a legal bat (barrel, taper, grip, knob, etc.). In other words, they have copied the exact same format that ASA began using about four years ago.
One interesting footnote...while high school baseball has totally changed their bat standards, this year they have also eliminated the mandatory pre-game equipment check by the umpires! We no longer have to rummage through the dugouts and handle players equipment, which on more than one ocassion served to start the game off on a contentious note. Now, the coaches are responsible for making sure their equipment is legal- and the penalties are more severe if it's not.
Here's the timeline of the non-wood bat from Arcadiasports.net:
1974- Metal bats are introduced to college baseball for the first time, just four years after they were developed.
1998 -Following a 21-14 College World Series championship game and a season of record offense, the NCAA takes the first major action to control the performance of metal bats, reducing the size of bat barrels by 1/8 of an inch (to a maximum of 2 5/8 inches) and establishing a limit between the difference in the length of a bat and its weight. So-called -3 bats have been the standard since then, so a 34-inch bat must weigh at least 31 ounces. The same year, the Baseball Research Center was founded with a $400,000 grant from Major League Baseball and Rawlings Sporting Goods at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. The lab and the NCAA helped to develop the Ball Exit Speed Ratio (BESR) test in the first true scientific measure of the performance of baseball bats.
2008 – After the bat standards of the late 1990s tempered offense in high school and college, offensive numbers gradually crept up through the 2000s. The NCAA and other organizations realized the BESR standard had limitations, so they developed a new standard, the Bat-Ball Coefficient of Restitution (BBCOR), announced in September 2008. The BBCOR test was considered more accurate and was expected to be implemented in metal bats over several years.
2009 - In July, based on increasing offense and complaints from coaches and others, the NCAA issues a moratorium on composite bats. The timetable was moved up due to worries about improper tampering with bats improving their performance, usually attributed to a process known as bat rolling. The NCAA’s memo announcing the decision read in part: “Before the committee’s recent meeting, numerous concerns were voiced by the membership with a request for action. After a thorough review of compliance testing and a review of the improved performance of composite bats, often exceeding NCAA acceptable limits, these concerns have proven to be valid. Therefore, the committee has decided to put an immediate and indefinite moratorium on the use of composite bats in NCAA competition.“The research reviewed included compliance testing during the Division I Baseball Championship. During this testing, 80 percent of the composite bats tested failed the current NCAA performance level. Because all bat designs must pass this test before mass production, this research indicates that the performance of such bats changed thereafter, most likely due to repeated, normal use and/or intentional alteration. Offensive statistics at the Division I level also indicate a significant increase in batting averages and home runs the past two seasons.”Due to worries about performance improving during the life of a bat, the BBCOR standard was combined with a process known as the Accelerated Break-In procedure (ABI), which tests bats at various stages of wear to assure that they never exceed the maximum performance level allowed by the new rules.
2010 – The NCAA announces that beginning with the 2011 season, all bats must meet the BBCOR standard, including the ABI process. Other college governing bodies follow suit. California high schools will also follow the NCAA standard right away. The National Federation of High School Athletic Associations follows the NCAA by imposing a moratorium on composite bats and announces a plan to move toward the BBCOR standard.
2011 – For colleges, only BBCOR bats will be permitted. To allow its member schools to make a smoother transition, and account for the limited availability of the new BBCOR bats, the NFHS will allow some BESR bats for one more season. BESR standard aluminum bats, BESR standard composite bats that have received a waiver for meeting the ABI, all one-piece solid wood bats, and all BBCOR standard aluminum and composite bats will be permitted. All other composite bats are prohibited.
2012 – For the NFHS, effective Jan. 1, 2012, only bats (composite or aluminum alloy) meeting the BBCOR performance standard will be permitted.
Len
