The "ping" of aluminum bats is one of the trademarks of the annual College World Series held in Omaha, Nebraska every summer. Aluminum bats are the main difference between the college game and professional baseball, and the use of these bats has been romanticized by enthusiasts of the college game over professional ball. While there are many attractive qualities to aluminum bats, their relatively short history is pock-marked with some sobering risks concerning the equipment.
Rise to Popularity
Aluminum bats were invented in 1924, according to the United States Geological Survey. However, it was not until the 1970s that major bat manufacturers began producing aluminum bats and making them available to millions of consumers. It quickly became the most common bat used by amateur players, in large part because of the reduced cost of an aluminum bat versus a wooden bat. This made the sport more accessible to people of all levels of income.
Benefits
In addition to the reduced cost, aluminum bats are more durable than wooden bats, which eventually break -- the rate of breaking increases as players get older and the pitch and bat swing speed increases. Aluminum bats are much lighter than wooden bats, allowing batters to swing the bat at greater speeds and get more velocity traveling behind the ball. Aluminum bats also cause less reverberation from the ball impact on the hands and arms of the batter, which makes batting less painful than it would be with wooden bats.
Risks
Aluminum bats are so powerful and can send the ball traveling at such great speeds that some critics wonder whether they are the right bat for use at amateur levels. For example, a July 16, 2006 article in "The New York Times" reports a death caused from a ball traveling after being hit by an aluminum bat -- the ball struck a 16-year-old Chicago youth in the temple, killing him. Although using wooden bats would increase the difficulty of the sport, it would also slow the ball down and help to protect younger players from these injuries.
Bats Today
Aluminum bats today are found all around the world. Louisville Sluggers is just one manufacturer of these bats, but the company produces more than 1 million every year, according to SteveTheUmp.com. They are widely used among nonprofessionals, serving as the primary bat used in high school and college baseball. Although some professional baseball leagues overseas permit aluminum bats, Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada has barred them from use.
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