MacKay asks government to recall metal bats
By BOB PALMER
Tribune Editor

A man who once designed new, more powerful baseball and softball bats for
Louisville Slugger has filed a petition asking the federal government to
take hot metal bats off the market and out of the ball yard.

J.W. MacKay Jr. of Mount Pleasant said the petition was delivered to the
Consumer Product Safety Commission last week.

The agency should “issue a rule requiring the wood-like performance of all
non-wood baseball bats due to the unreasonable danger and risk of injury to
consumers and recall all non-wood baseball bats that exceed the
performance of wood baseball bats,” MacKay stated in his petition.

At least one bat manufacturer indicated that MacKay’s claims were a
non-issue.

“This issue was resolved and is over as far as Easton is concerned,” John
Olguin, an Easton spokesman said.

Easton argued that the NCAA has adopted a bat performance rule and test
protocol.

The bat manufacturer claimed there has not been an increase in player
injuries at either the college or youth level.

“We feel the NCAA handled this issue properly,” Easton Chairman Jim Easton
said in a statement read by Olguin. “They used independent, scientific
analysis to develop the current standard. The standard is workable, and we
support it.”

MacKay contends that the tests were flawed and even the person who
administered the tests, Jim Sherwood, says he was misled by bat
manufacturers, particularly Louisville Slugger.

MacKay also noted that NCAA reports show that 274 college players were hit
by batted balls in 1999, causing a variety of serious injuries. That is up
from the 173 who were hit in 1998.

“When a ball is traveling at 94 miles per hour as it leaves the bat, a
pitcher has four milliseconds to respond,” MacKay explained. “You can’t
react that fast.”

The former design and promotional consultant for Louisville Slugger
contends that balls hit by wooden bats travel slower than those hit by
metal bats that have been tweaked to improve performance.

“You probably think metal bats are a little bit better than wood bats,”
MacKay said from the office inside his home in Titus County, “but 20
percent better?”

In his petition, MacKay admits that there is risk associated with playing
the game of baseball, but the accepted “reasonable” level of risk for most
consumers is associated with wooden bats.

“Any greater level of risk above that presented by traditional wood bats is
unreasonable,” MacKay said.

“There is no question that the aluminum bats today substantially outperform
traditional wood bats, and the risk of serious injury to pitchers and
infielders has become more prevalent,” MacKay continued.

According to MacKay the public has been “sold” on the idea that metal bats
today have wood-like performance.

“This is simply not true,” MacKay declared in his petition.

Telephone calls to Louisville Slugger were not returned prior to Daily
Tribune press time Tuesday.