6 Responses to My Hypothesis—ilovecoffee

1. davidbdale says:

   January 30, 2022 at 8:51 PM

   You’ll have to educate me about composite bats, ilovecoffee. The hour I spent trying to understand which bats are legal, which are illegal, and why, was mostly frustrating and unproductive. I presume the advantages are simple. Composites appear to make bats lighter and springier than heavier and deader aluminum bats, making it possible for all batters to hit the ball further. Apparently, the ball comes off the bat faster, too, creating a safety concern that has gotten them banned. Or not. Depending on the league. Et cetera.

   Your mention of the timeframe (throughout their entire careers) leads me to believe that different bats are permissible for players at different ages. I don’t know what to conclude about that. Do they become more permissible or less as players age?

   Regardless of the details, the fundamental question for you is: What does successful mean? And why is it important?

   The answers may not be as obvious as you think. If I invent a bat tomorrow that enables every kid to hit the ball out of the park by simply making contact, THAT would NOT make a better game. Fielders would be irrelevant. Nobody would be thrown out at any base. In fact, bases would be unnecessary. It would be a game, but not softball. It would be a home run derby.

   Presumably, the ball could be tweaked also to make it livelier. If you claim that composite bats are better because they make their owners more “successful,” you’d have to agree that making the balls “better” would accomplish the same thing, AND it would do so more fairly by improving EVERYBODY’s game, not just the players who owned the RIGHT bats.

   So, whether you like it or not, you’ll have to make a qualitative argument about the sport, and ethical arguments too, about how some players can “afford” to be more “successful.”

   Like all feedback, this is meant to begin a conversation, Coffee.
   I am eager to hear your reply.

   Reply
   • ilovecoffee says:

     January 31, 2022 at 9:03 AM

     As a child, I used aluminum bats. They were very painful to use, especially when it was cold. Composite bats feel as if you are not hitting a thing when you hit them with the barrel. It is a feeling that makes you never want to use aluminum bats again. They have become increasingly popular because of this.

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     • davidbdale says:

       January 31, 2022 at 7:55 PM

       I know that deeply satisfying feeling, Coffee. So, let’s talk about this. I didn’t become an expert in the time I spent reading about composite bats, but I did pick up some attitudes that might be pertinent or could be somebody’s BS. First, I saw prices at about $300 for the name-brand models. So there might be an affordability/inequality issue at play if bats were to be legal at all levels but not available to all. And second, I read that the safety worries (you’ll have to tell me if they’re legitimate) have to do with the speed at which the ball comes off a composite bat. Pitchers, for example, because they’re so close to the batter’s box, don’t react as fast as they would to a hot line drive because it comes at them so much faster, and therefore, they get hit. Hard. And injured.

       Now. Could both of those problems be solved? I think so, and with a very simple remedy. When I played Little League ball (in the pleistocene era, when dinosaurs roamed southern New Jersey), we didn’t all have our own bats. We picked up the wood that suited us best from a rack at the end of the dugout and took it to the plate. Why couldn’t teams all provide a range of bat sizes to their players so that, all given the same advantage, there wouldn’t BE a variation in line-drive speed, and there wouldn’t be an inequality objection?

       Your reactions, please.

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       • davidbdale says:

         February 1, 2022 at 1:08 PM

         Sent reminder text.

         Reply
       • ilovecoffee says:

         February 1, 2022 at 5:33 PM

         I agree with your point about the different levels of bats being potentially dangerous to different ages. So, instead, what if people implemented age groups with certain bats. This is more common in baseball. It is typically what bat you can not use, at a certain age. So, what if they only allowed the use of composite bats at a certain age and the use of aluminum bats at a younger age. I am going to be honest, i have not looked specifically at the numbers to back up my evidence, but if the ball comes off of composite bats harder, it is smarter to only allow older children to use them.

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         • davidbdale says:

           February 1, 2022 at 7:01 PM

           Yes, we’re undoubtedly getting out ahead of your research with our theories, but that’s OK. The more questions you know need answering, the more eager you’ll be to find out the facts! Keep in touch as you learn. I want to be one of the consultants you, um, consult. 🙂

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