One of my favorite parts of my job is shooting photos at sporting events. When you snap that perfect shot that captures an important play, an emotional celebration or just a pretty cool image, it's really rewarding.
That being said, one aspect of shooting sports is that sometimes you put yourself in the line of fire. I've had my share of times of being run over on the sidelines as a football player gets knocked out of bounce. One basketball game while trying to adjust my camera settings an errant pass gave me a full facial. And, of course, I've had plenty of near misses when it comes to foul balls coming off a baseball bat.
That last one, however, could be the scariest — especially after watching this video.
The story brings up a good debate: Should aluminum bats be banned from high school and college sports?
Pro baseball banned metal bats years ago, citing safety reasons. However, high school and college players continue to use them. I've always thought that odd. Your thoughts?
Often when people join this topic, they're not aware of some basic facts about non-wood bats (aluminum, composite, and other alloys), a variety of regulations governing them, and injury statistics that are tracked very closely at all levels of play. 1) The governing bodies of high school and college baseball several years ago imposed a cap on the performance levels of non-wood bats. Manufacturers today must make their bats to produce a ball exit speed that is the same as the best wood bats under strict testing conditions. Some people talk about how "hot" the bats have gotten, but the fact is that they are tightly regulated to perform like wood and those regulations (and performance levels) have not changed for several years. And 2), while any injury of a player at any level is tragic, there is no statistical evidence that shows injuries are increasing, that players are at more risk in a non-wood bat league, or that wood bat leagues are any safer. As a footnote, it's a bit misleading to say that "pro baseball banned metal bats years ago, citing safety concerns." The rules of professional baseball re: bats have always read that they must be a single, solid piece of wood, so non-wood bats haven't been "banned;" they've never been part of the game at that level.
ReplyDeleteGood points. And, yes, you're right that it's always been wood at the pro level.
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