![]() ![]() Brownlee says the NCAA recommends a particular type of sticker which he described as a “thin-vinyl type that is destructible so that it cannot be easily transferred to a different bat.” Ben Brownlee, the NCAA’s assistant director of championships and alliances, playing rules and officiating, says he doesn't know the chemical composition of the stickers, nor does the league require a particular type of adhesive. Once a bat’s been ruled game-legal by both teams, it’s certified with a sticker. Passing bats must pass visual inspection, a ring test and a barrel compression test. Teams commonly fail their own bats, at which point they’re thrown out of competition for that game or that weekend. Whether it’s for a single game or a weekend series, representatives from both teams examine the bats together to make sure all bats from each team meet standards. And the NCAA has a process that is designed to prevent some of this. Those things are important because they help determine how balls travel off the bat.Ĭompression levels and other features of the bats for which the NCAA tests can change through both perfectly normal and legal means, but also illicit means. The compression level and other performance measures of a bat can change. But the same bat won’t stay the same forever. ( This article is a little dated, but explains the issue well.)īecause of this, the NCAA has strict regulations about what bats may be used. With exit speeds of 115 miles an hour off the bat reported in college baseball this year, that presents a potential danger. Baseball-related deaths are rare, but they do happen. The process of bat inspection and certification and how bats failĬompetitive integrity aside, bat regulations are there for safety. Here are the facts of what happened last weekend, a look at a similar case at Texas A&M the week before, explanations from all sides to try to lend some clarity on what happened, and why the integrity and safety of the game appears to be at risk. That season, Aaron Fitt reported that “… 80 percent of the composite bats exceeded the current NCAA acceptable performance level.” Those who’d remembered the tumultuous 2009 college baseball season had some doubts. Based on that alone, the penalty seemed random and capricious. After a short discussion, Beck was ruled out and his bat confiscated for the remainder of the three-game series.īeck and Tennessee coach Tony Vitello later stated that the sticker that certified Beck’s bat as game-legal had fallen off. Vandy catcher Dominic Keegan picked up Beck’s bat and showed it to home plate umpire Damien Beal. ![]() Last Friday, Tennessee’s Jordan Beck hit a home run in the Vols’ 6-2 victory over Vanderbilt. Recent events shine light on some major flaws with the NCAA's bat inspection process, as well as the issues it's causing with safety and the game's integrity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |