Bats’ Safety Under Fire

Brandon Patch was pitching for the Miles City Mavericks in the summer of 2003 when the ball came off the aluminum bat and hit him in the head, ricocheting off his temple and traveling as high as 50 feet in the air before landing behind first base.  He went into convulsions on the filed in front of the horrified spectators.  Path, 18, died four hours later.  At his funeral, his fellow players in uniform carried his casket.

His family sued Hillerich & Bradsby, better known for their Louisville Slugger bats, alleging that the defendant failed to warn that aluminum bats cause baseballs to travel faster than balls hit with wooden bats.  The family argued that Patch had 378 milliseconds to respond to the batted ball.  Last October, a Montana state court returned a verdict for $850,000.  The Family and Estate of Brandon Patch v. Hillerich & Bradsby.

Thee have been a number of lawsuits over the years, including one in Chicago filed in 2002 on behalf of Daniel Hannant, a 17-year-old who was struck in the head by a ball hit off an aluminum bat while pitching in a high school game near Chicago.  According to the complaint filed in federal court in Chicago, “Doctors operated on Daniel almost immediately, performing a craniotomy [the surgical removal of a section of bone from the skull for the purpose of operating on the underlying tissues] to remove a large epidural hematoma that threatened his life.  He was hospitalized for two weeks.”  The case ultimately was resolved out of court.  Hannant v. Hillerich & Bradsby, 03 C 03089 (N.D.Ill.2002).

Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd Ward) introduced an ordinance in the City of Chicago in 2008 that would ban the use of aluminum bats at games for children between 8 and 18 years old.  The ordinance never made it to the floor of the council.  On the other hand, New York City’s ban on the sue of non-wood and non-wood composite bats in 2007 was upheld by a federal court judge.  Under the New York City ordinance, N.Y.C. Administrative Code Section 10-165, only the types of bats that are approved by Major League Baseball can be used in high schools.  The ban was expected to affect more than 600 teams.  North Dakota has moved entirely to wood bats.

Now-retired Rep. Robert Molaro (21st Dist.) introduced legislation in 2007, HB 4140, that provided that “any coach, parent, teacher or other person to knowingly allow the sue of an aluminum bat during a recreational baseball or softball game in which a person under the age of 13 is a participant” would be punished by a fine of $250 for the first offense and $500 for ta second or subsequent offense.  That proposed legislation died in committee.

How many parents have witnessed baseball games where the ball comes off the now-popular aluminum bats headed at children, who don’t have the reaction time of adults?  Molaro said he introduced the legislation because he was concerned that younger players’ pitching mounds are just 45 feet from the batter and the bases are 60 feet away, endangering infielders as well.  In Major League Baseball, where wooden bats are used, the mound is 60 feet away and the bases are 90 feet apart, allowing for more reaction time.  The Hannant complaint discussed the “exit velocity” – the speed at which the baseball leaves the bat.

According to that complaint, the bat involved in that case, the “Air Attack,” was designed by Jack MacKay, who, as a paid consultant for Hillerich & Bradsby, “ultimately left his job at H&B because H&B refused to heed his warnings that the Air Attack was too dangerous [sic].”

In another case, Sanchez v. Hillerich & Bradsby Co., 128 Cal.Rptr. 2d 529 (Cal.App., 2002), the court found, “MacKay complained to his employers at the Louisville Slugger division of H&B about the increased risks of injuries, the complaints were ignored and Marty Archer, president of the division, warned MacKay that he should not publicly discuss issues of safety.”  The public should be left in the dark about issues of safety?

As Molaro pointed out, “Some pitchers were heart protectors.  What does that tell you?  If the law saved just one child, it would be worth it.”  I agree.

Certainly, players assume the risk of playing certain sports, but manufactures have a duty not to increase those risks by manufacturing, marketing and selling a product in a $300 million industry that unreasonably exposes players to serious injury or death and keeps safety information  from them about those risks.

Although studies may differ as to what aluminum does in sports, Molaro points to professional golfers who have changed from wood to metal clubs in order to help them hit the ball farther.

Is safety really a concern here, or is it coaches trying to improve their statistics, especially for players who are trying to gain those coveted college scholarships?  Some argue that wooden bats would promote fundamental baseball and smaller game scores, The power game of grand slams and young ballplayers hitting it off the wall would be less common with a return to back-to-basics bunting, stealing and defense.  It also would be teaching children values on which they can build for the rest of their lives, instead of focusing on winning at all costs.

And safety would be first.