Bats: Wood v. Metal

You make some good points, and although I'd prefer wood, I would probably have to vote to allow metal if the following suggestion could be instituted (for the sake of simplicity) by all baseball governing bodies that don't choose to require wood:

1)Any metal bat 32 inches or longer cannot have a weight/length ratio lighter than than -3.

2)Any metal bat 31 inches or shorter (regardless of barrel diameter) cannot be lighter than -7.

This lets little guys use a bat they can handle (and afford). For bigger and older players, -3 is relatively close to how wood performs and is also much cheaper than the high tech bats, close enough so that some players (and leagues) may simply go with wood.

I think the high tech bats present real safety issues, but I know this has not been proven and won't be any time soon. However, I'm equally concerned about a situation in which the College World Series championship score is 21-14 and, at the other end, the Little League World Series championship features 13 home runs, some on what almost appeared to be checked swings.

I think the above proposal would be simple to administer and would go a long way toward solving some of the potential safety, performance, and pricing problems associated with high tech bats. My two cents.