In Little League batter's box, it's safety vs. homers

In fact, Mr. Thurston, who has testified as an expert witness in lawsuits, cites many examples of youth players who have been injured by aluminum batted balls. Often, grievances brought by parents against manufacturers are resolved in out-of-court settlements, he says.

In a sport smitten with home runs, aluminum bats are regarded by some as akin to steroids, bestowing lesser players with raw hitting power.

"Aluminum bats have changed the game of baseball," says Rob Bishop, coach of the Miles City Junior College Pioneers, which has joined the growing ranks of college teams playing in wood bat conferences.

During his college playing days at South Dakota State University, coach Bishop studied the phenomenon of aluminum bats contributing to soaring numbers of home runs. The technology, he and Thurston say, has inflated batting averages, buoyed scores, reduced the importance of defense, extended the duration of games, and caused younger players to focus on homers rather than stroking base hits.

"A company cannot, on the one hand, boast that it's making bats which enable players to hit balls longer distances and, at the same time, say aluminum bats aren't boosting power," Bishop says. "How far the ball flies is in direct correlation to how fast it comes off the bat."

Hillerich & Bradsby's Redman notes that in 2002, the Consumer Products Safety Commission examined the purported dangers of aluminum bats and concluded there was not compelling proof to declare they were unsafe.

Mr. Patch believes the companies are balking because of huge profits derived from aluminum bats. Hillerich & Bradsby, however, says it would actually be more lucrative if the company sold only wooden bats, which easily break and have to be replaced.

"The bottom line is that we have great sympathy for the Patch family. What happened to their son breaks our hearts," Redman says. "Obviously, this is a very emotional issue for them. We respect that, but for us it is a scientific issue and one that we believe should be resolved with facts."

Former Major League pitcher Jeff Ballard, a Montanan who played for both the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates, says he shared the Patch's concerns but he's been persuaded otherwise by data.

Ferocious line drives, fueled by balls impacting the legendary "sweet spots" on bats, are going to occur regardless of whether the material is made of aluminum or wood, Ballard, now a Legion coach, adds. "I've been hit by balls coming off both kinds of bats and there's no way I could have avoided them. Baseball has its risks but as a game it's still very safe."

In Miles City, tears still well up in Mr. Patch's eyes as he explains the difficulty of going to a game and hearing the sounds of aluminum bats. As a tribute to the memory of his son, all youth baseball teams in Miles City, including the junior college Pioneers, now use wood and offer opponents a symbolic wood bat at the start of every game.

For Bishop's squad, the move has had a huge impact on his team's offensive output. Three years ago, Pioneer players socked 57 home runs in 50 games with aluminum bats before converting to wood. So far this season, the team has notched just five homers in 40 games. He points out, however, that last season a team from a wood conference beat a team using aluminum for the national junior college championship.

"There isn't a coach on the planet who will tell you that from the standpoint of developing sound fundamental skills in players, wood bats isn't the way to go," Bishop says. "It's baseball like it used to be played and it's a great game to watch."

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