NYC ban on metal bats has spurred intense debate

	Many of George Washington's stars, including Jean Carlos Rodriguez (center), believe that a move to wood bats would be a positive change. Ben Kulo/RISE

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, N.Y. -- To the untrained ear, the thud meant little.

Hurling toward the plate at a speed above 80 mph, the 2-1 fastball from George Washington's Jose Taveras rode in on the hands of Joshua Polanco, who fought off the pitch with a defensive swing and hit a dribbler to third. Lost in the course of the event, though, was the deadened sound emitted from Rodriguez's aluminum bat.

"If that was a wood bat in his hands, there would be three pieces of wood splintered across the field," George Washington coach Steve Mandl said. "You want to hear the 'ping' with metal. The other sounds are not what you want."

They are New York City's pings of spring, the sound bourn out of aluminum bats colliding with baseballs that zoom towards home plate at speeds ranging from 60-95 mph. Most recently, though, they have been the sounding off point of a debate across the Big Apple as to whether or not metal bats are safe for high school players. Those in favor of banning metal bats believe metal bats increase the risk of injury of a pitcher getting hit by a line drive. However, not everyone is buying it. "I used to think the ball flew off the metal bat faster, but if you say it enough times you believe it," says Mandl, now in his 24th year as the Trojans' coach. "I've been around the game. I don't see it. It sounds like it's coming off different, but I don't see the need for a change."

With a 41-4 vote last Monday, New York's City Council overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto of a bill that would force NYC high schools to switch to wood bats from metal, which has been the bat type of choice since the mid-1970s. The "Don't Take My Bat Away" coalition, which has under its umbrella bat companies such as Easton, Louisville Slugger, Rawlings and Wilson, immediately released a statement noting that no scientific evidence has shown that there is an increased risk of injury with aluminum bats. Later in the week, David Ettinger, a lawyer for Easton called the bill "frivolous."