ILS1
03-14-2007, 08:03 PM
NEW YORK -- The City Council voted 40-6 Wednesday to ban metal baseball bats for high school teams citywide, a law that supporters say would make the game slower and safer.
The measure was not certain to become law, though, because Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was not sure whether he would veto or sign it.
The bill's sponsors say non-wood bats produce faster and harder hits and that can be dangerous for young players.
Opponents, including Little League Baseball and sporting goods makers, say there is no scientific evidence proving metal bats pose more of a risk than wooden bats. They say the anti-metal movement relies on emotional anecdotes over concrete data, and some have indicated they will take the matter to court.
Similar measures have been proposed by youth leagues and lawmakers in other states, including New Jersey, where a batted ball struck a 12-year-old boy in the chest, sending him into cardiac arrest. He was revived by spectators but was in a coma for months.
Councilman Lewis Fidler, one of the bill's co-sponsors, said Wednesday that by passing this law, "we'll never know whose child was saved from a coma, or from worse."
"For those who have doubt about it -- if you're going to have doubts, you err on the side of kids," he said.
In 2005, an American Legion Baseball study found no substantial scientific proof to support the argument that wooden bats are safer than metal bats, which have been in use since the early 1970s.
Among the no voters was Councilman Tony Avella, who said he had not seen any evidence that metal bats are not as safe.
"Sometimes you do have to have the facts to back up the argument, and the statistics are simply not there," he said.
Easton Sports vice president Jim Darby said the company, which makes sporting goods including bats, was disappointed.
"We are hopeful that Mayor Bloomberg will also recognize that this ban will neither enhance safety nor improve the game of baseball and veto this bill."
With the vote, it appears the council could have enough support for the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
Professional baseball players also have been lobbying the mayor.
Former New York Mets reliever John Franco testified in support of the ban and put in a call to Bloomberg to argue its merits. Franco, who now coaches children, said he hopes the ban in New York high schools inspires similar measures elsewhere.
"I'm speaking from someone who was standing on the mound for 22 years, and I can see the difference," Franco told a council committee on Monday. "And while I'm standing in the stands watching my son play, or some of the other Little Leaguers, I can see the difference."
New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina has said metal bats are no more dangerous than wooden bats.
"I don't think it matters whether it's aluminum or wood or whatever the material is," Mussina said last fall. "I've been hit in the face. It's just part of it. I can understand they're emotional about it. But I don't see there's any more danger playing with aluminum or some other material."
Years ago, some council members tried to pass a similar but stricter measure that also applied to younger children and leagues. It was so broad that it did not have enough support, and it eventually died.
Story Link (http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/highschool/news/story?id=2798652)
The measure was not certain to become law, though, because Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was not sure whether he would veto or sign it.
The bill's sponsors say non-wood bats produce faster and harder hits and that can be dangerous for young players.
Opponents, including Little League Baseball and sporting goods makers, say there is no scientific evidence proving metal bats pose more of a risk than wooden bats. They say the anti-metal movement relies on emotional anecdotes over concrete data, and some have indicated they will take the matter to court.
Similar measures have been proposed by youth leagues and lawmakers in other states, including New Jersey, where a batted ball struck a 12-year-old boy in the chest, sending him into cardiac arrest. He was revived by spectators but was in a coma for months.
Councilman Lewis Fidler, one of the bill's co-sponsors, said Wednesday that by passing this law, "we'll never know whose child was saved from a coma, or from worse."
"For those who have doubt about it -- if you're going to have doubts, you err on the side of kids," he said.
In 2005, an American Legion Baseball study found no substantial scientific proof to support the argument that wooden bats are safer than metal bats, which have been in use since the early 1970s.
Among the no voters was Councilman Tony Avella, who said he had not seen any evidence that metal bats are not as safe.
"Sometimes you do have to have the facts to back up the argument, and the statistics are simply not there," he said.
Easton Sports vice president Jim Darby said the company, which makes sporting goods including bats, was disappointed.
"We are hopeful that Mayor Bloomberg will also recognize that this ban will neither enhance safety nor improve the game of baseball and veto this bill."
With the vote, it appears the council could have enough support for the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
Professional baseball players also have been lobbying the mayor.
Former New York Mets reliever John Franco testified in support of the ban and put in a call to Bloomberg to argue its merits. Franco, who now coaches children, said he hopes the ban in New York high schools inspires similar measures elsewhere.
"I'm speaking from someone who was standing on the mound for 22 years, and I can see the difference," Franco told a council committee on Monday. "And while I'm standing in the stands watching my son play, or some of the other Little Leaguers, I can see the difference."
New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina has said metal bats are no more dangerous than wooden bats.
"I don't think it matters whether it's aluminum or wood or whatever the material is," Mussina said last fall. "I've been hit in the face. It's just part of it. I can understand they're emotional about it. But I don't see there's any more danger playing with aluminum or some other material."
Years ago, some council members tried to pass a similar but stricter measure that also applied to younger children and leagues. It was so broad that it did not have enough support, and it eventually died.
Story Link (http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/highschool/news/story?id=2798652)