PLN 17

What matters in the world today is a debate that was started after Gunner Sandbergh was hit in the head with a line drive that was traveling at approximately 130 mph. Gunner was pitching for Marrin Catholic High School at the time of the injury. He was rushed to a hospital and put into an induced coma so that doctors could remove part of his skull to allow his brain to swell. The line drive was hit with a regulation, High School level, metal baseball bat. High School bats are light weight and engineered to be light and have what players call "pop." Pop is how well the ball comes off the bat. If a bat is "dead" the ball doesn't fly as hard or fast. That is why injuries are so much more likely. The baseball travels much faster off of a metal bat than a wood one. New York and North Dakota have already banned metal bats from play and have agreed to follow major league rules and use wood bats. Gunner’s father is urging California to do the same. The debate is whether or not changing to wood bats would make a difference. I personally do not believe it would. Several years ago, Rockies minor league first base coach, Mike Coolbaugh, was killed by a foul ball to the head. That ball came off of a wood bat. So as a player, I disagree with the suggestion to change to wood bat play in High School. In all sports there are dangers. Changing to wood bats would not make a difference in the fatality of a line drive to the head. Even if wood bats have less pop, a line drive traveling 120 mph, is still going to do almost the same amount of damage as a 130 mph one. I believe that using wood bats would also make the game less exciting. Hits wouldn't go as far, and it would make the game less enjoyable for players and fans. I also think that it is more Gunner's fault then the hitter's or the bat's. In almost every game that is played, there is a hard hit back to the pitcher, and only 1 in every year causes injury. Every other time, the pitch either doges the ball or catches it, because he is ready and paying attention to the ball after he throws it. If you watch the video, Gunner finishes his throw with his head down, looking at the ground instead of the ball. If he had finished with his head up, he most likely would have been able to get his glove up and catch the ball back at him. I personally live by the rule, never, never, never, take your eye off the ball. I'm not saying that Gunner deserved to be hit in the head; it was still a horrible accident. Yet it was one that could have been avoided, and nothing to do with the type of bat that was used.