Little League World Series

[Drivin'tooFast]

I would totally be in favor of three rule changes for all leagues:

1. Go back to wood bats. Ya, good luck with that one. Easton get $400+ for the bats being swung and junior will grow out of in 12 months versus $50 for a top knotch wood bat.

2. Require face guards on batting helmets. Teeth are a terrible thing to waste and it makes teaching bunting easier

3. Require either face guards or mouth guards for all defensive players. How many crazy infield hops does it take to get to the center of a kid's mouth. A one, A two, A THREE.

My first game in baseball (we had to chase the mastadons off the field) the pitcher was struck in the face with a line drive. If the batter was using a big barrell composite bat from today the kid would have died - no question about it.

[Fitness13]

HATE the face mask ideas. Have coached high level girls select softball for the past 10 years and also coached at the college level and I can tell you for a FACT that I have seen twice as many injuries occur from batters wearing a face mask (especially on the bases) as I have seen injuries that a mask would have prevented. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a base runner slide into a base and a high tag (because of the ball arriving late) be slapped to the head area and the mask be pushed into a girls face and cut or bruise them.

Mouth guards (if teeth are the main concern) are FAR more effective. In addition, some companies (UnderArmor) are making guards with bite plates which help relax the jaw and therefore the player increasing their level of play according to some research. These are VERY popular among major league baseball players.

[joes87]

Originally Posted by Drivin'tooFast

I would totally be in favor of three rule changes for all leagues:

1. Go back to wood bats. Ya, good luck with that one. Easton get $400+ for the bats being swung and junior will grow out of in 12 months versus $50 for a top knotch wood bat.

2. Require face guards on batting helmets. Teeth are a terrible thing to waste and it makes teaching bunting easier

3. Require either face guards or mouth guards for all defensive players. How many crazy infield hops does it take to get to the center of a kid's mouth. A one, A two, A THREE.

My first game in baseball (we had to chase the mastadons off the field) the pitcher was struck in the face with a line drive. If the batter was using a big barrell composite bat from today the kid would have died - no question about it.

I would be for all wood bats. Though at the younger levels the heavier bats would cut way down on the number of hits and thus I think less kids would be interested in playing the game. I'm all for wood bats from about the age of 13U and up. Though after watching this last HS season being played with the new BBCOR restriction I'm not sure if there would be much difference in those bats vs. wood bats. Long bombs seem to have dried up some with the new bats.

Not a big fan of the face guard issue. I have only seen a couple of kids take one in the face over the years (I've been coaching my kids for about 12 years now). Most of those hits to the face involved a ball coming off the bat and into the chin. Not many face masks are going to prevent that. If a kid is taught how to properly turn to avoid being hit by a pitch this the chances of an injury like this is very small.

I am seeing more and more kids use mouth guards these last couple of years. I don't think face masks are the answer here as well. They limit the visibility of the player.

I am all for safety but I don't think we need to be mommying the kids on the field.

[Number Crunch]

On the "mommying" comment -

I'm seeing more and more nasty bad hops ending badly for infielders these days, and that's due to the increased size/power of kids at all ages, advanced bat technologies, and playing fields that are dried up and very, very hard. It's all part of the game today, but I do see more fear of the baseball than I remember when I was growing up, particularly from kids who have been hit by a bad hop or hard hit ball, and its justifiably so.

I've also seen some really nasty line drives take aim at the Coach in Coach Pitch baseball, and from only 40 feet, that ball gets there in a hurry. Even more scary for the positional kid playing Pitcher, and it's good to see more and more kids wearing fielding face masks when playing Pitcher.

To me, anything that decreases the odds of a serious injury should be implemented, after all, youth baseball should just be about having fun, and it's not too much fun for a kid to have teeth knocked out (or worse) in a game that has absolutely no bearing on anything at the end of the day.

[bizguy]

This thread has become a perfect example of the issues with kid's sports and in Frisco...