smusportspage wrote:I have a question. Can someone tell me why college baseball still uses aluminum bats? Seems so little league.
If you do not follow baseball there is a huge shortage of ash which is the ideal wood for baseball bats. There are few reserves of ash in the US or Canada and most of those are secured for professional baseball. Hence, the cost and availability are prohibitive for non-pro teams particularly when you figure the number of broken bats in a season. Major League Baseball allows most woods; however, most have considerable negatives such as knots, hardness, weight, durability, density and compaction. There are some maple varieties being used in the Majors based on Canadian reserves and you can identify most as they are normally fully painted mostly black. These are the bats you normally see being totally splinter shattered in a game with chunks littered through out the infield. Maple shatters and splinters unlike ash which will normally crack/split and stay intact. Hence, wood is not a viable option based on wood availability and cost.
It should be noted that most bats today are no longer aluminum as various certification standards have been instituted that limits and reduces velocity of the speed of the ball off the bat for obvious safety concerns. Metallurgical issues with aluminum became a concern to meet standards. Today most non-professional leagues use a velocity restricted standard of bat constructed of various high tech compositions. These bats somewhat simulate the properties of ash and meet the velocity standards and have a wood impact sound. Yes, they are terribly expensive ranging form $450 to $600 per bat, but they will last an entire season or more and most are warrantied for life with full unquestioned replacement. They are also light weight and can be scientifically balanced for optimum swing control unlike wood in which every bat is slightly different based on density distribution. As a result, five or six bats different sized bats will accommodate and last a team an entire season. As a result, the composition bat is the most used bat today for all levels of non-professional baseball although there are several college Div. III leagues that mandate wood for safety issues.