Wood bats

#51
#51
G
@1RBFjr said:
Those guys play summer ball, which is only wood bats. They aren’t strangers to wood, but there’s a transition from college season to summer ball.
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Good point. I had forgotten that. Are all of the summer leagues wooden bats? Does MLB help fund any of them?
 
#52
#52
2EastTnVols said:
Agree. I watched him take BP at Dodger stadium in the 90s once. Didn't hit bombs but hit lasers off the wall over and over.
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I got up to fenway when he was with the Yankees and he no **** hit a ball so hard with so much spin it hit the monster and rolled a good 15 ft to the right and over the center field wall. Big Papi, A-Rod, Trot, and Youkilis all went yard and Schilling came in for his first appearance post ankle surgery. Great time and my Sox won... bicycle police took down a Yankees fan too lol
 
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#54
#54
H
Sam I Am said:
Not an expense issue, although it would add $100k to the budget. It's a "quality of good wood" issue. Long story, but the best wood is reserved for the pros starting with the Majors, then trickles down to to A ball. I can tell ya first hand, I did not get my first great bat until AA ball. Some of the stuff I had in A ball was more pulp than wood.

What's a good wood bat you say? You count the pulp lines on the bat. Anything under 15 is pretty good. I've seen some in the majors that had zero. Some with just 4-5. Less pulp, more wood, more solid, etc..
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Would you compare top 10 college baseball teams to low A or is the comparison not really valid bc of the consistent top talent in A ball?
 
#56
#56
A lot of these guys play in wood bat leagues in the off season.
Many played in wood bat tournaments in Travel ball as well. No biggie.
They'll be back to bp with the Aluminum on Wednesday.
 
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#58
#58
taylorvol said:
G

Good point. I had forgotten that. Are all of the summer leagues wooden bats? Does MLB help fund any of them?
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I believe all summer leagues use wood bats, but there may be some outliers. The players are (at least hopefully) getting scouted by MLB, so that's what scouts are expecting. We (the teams in the Coastal Plain League) buy all of our bats. Our team spends thousands a year on bats alone. However not all leagues provide bats. One of our Long Beach State players last summer asked how many bats he needed to bring with him- we told him zero, we supplied them. The next question was how much he had to pay us for the bats- same answer- zero. He was very happy because the previous summer he had to supply his own bats, and I think he had been in a 'pay to play' league. We also tell the guys (literally) we don't have the same budget as Tennessee, Clemson, UNC, etc., so please do not destroy a bat out of frustration.

As part of MLB cutting affiliations (grrr. . . don't get me started) with low level minor league teams, those leagues that were picked to continue as summer leagues are given some money and some gear for a few years by MLB as support.
 
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#62
#62
@1RBFjr said:
I believe all summer leagues use wood bats, but there may be some outliers. The players are (at least hopefully) getting scouted by MLB, so that's what scouts are expecting. We (the teams in the Coastal Plain League) buy all of our bats. Our team spends thousands a year on bats alone. However not all leagues provide bats. One of our Long Beach State players last summer asked how many bats he needed to bring with him- we told him zero, we supplied them. The next question was how much he had to pay us for the bats- same answer- zero. He was very happy because the previous summer he had to supply his own bats, and I think he had been in a 'pay to play' league. We also tell the guys (literally) we don't have the same budget as Tennessee, Clemson, UNC, etc., so please do not destroy a bat out of frustration.

As part of MLB cutting affiliations (grrr. . . don't get me started) with low level minor league teams, those leagues that were picked to continue as summer leagues are given some money and some gear for a few years by MLB as support.
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Thank you. That’s very interesting. I have fond memories of the Appalachian League.
 
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#66
#66
preacherman20 said:
Have never done it since Kirby has been there. Using wood bats and wearing throw back jerseys. I don't know what those might be but knowing TV it could be anything. Astros? Black pinstripes? If it was me I would have a special jersey made and give to the players so that they could sell them or keep them. But I'm just that way. Pretty costly game when you are having to buy wood bats but maybe Smokies are providing since they are getting gate money. It should definitely help us with our pitching and I don't think it will hurt us as much as them hitting.
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Love black pinstripes! Would be an incredible look with Volunteers in script across the front.

Or something like this.

5BDED322-28DC-4DED-AF59-8D5EBAB4522F.jpeg
 
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#69
#69
Although I must admit, I love the sound of the wooden bat, I have come to terms that the Aluminum bat is just better for the game. More offense=More fun. I love high scoring games, in general, and a 9-7 game, or more runs adds excitement. Again, not all the time, I can get into a 3-2 pitchers duel. But in general, I want to see more runs. That's the problem with the Majors (the only other "real" competitive North American baseball IMO), too little offense, too dominate pitching. The only way to score is to hit homers. Same with elite college softball, too often, too many 3-1, 2-0 games, because nobody can hit the pitches. Same with defense in the majors, too good, they make everything look so easy. The college baseball game is full or errors and gems, it what makes the game unpredictable and fun and part of that is the aluminum bat, so keep it. I'll take the ding over the crack.
 
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#70
#70
From my experience, I'd say Tennessee talent wise would be around a low A, certainly not AA. I think they'd have an advantage in that they play as a team and know how to win, rather than play inning to inning, like almost all minor league teams and players.
 
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#71
#71
I am not quite sure how it will affect the game/runs. I’m hoping the weight of the bats isn’t going to be much of a variable but I wouldn’t know. I don’t know how often our guys actually hit with them in practice, if at all. Excited to see how it turns out. Hoping for good weather.
 
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