Update on Banned Bats
By Wayne | August 13, 2010
The DeMarini composite bats are legal for high school play. The other brands have yet to be approved.
This is an article from July but provides good information.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – One of six new rules changes by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Baseball Rules Committee forbids the use of composite bats until they can meet the Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution (BBCOR) performance standard. The changes, which were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors, will take effect with the 2010-11 school year.
After thorough testing by the Baseball Research Center at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee voted to outlaw composite bats until they can produce consistent results through the life of the bat, be made tamper-evident and be labeled as a composite product.
Elliot Hopkins, NFHS liaison to the Baseball Rules Committee, visited with James Sherwood, director of the Baseball Research Center, and spent several hours witnessing composite bat testing. “Rolling the bat gives it a higher performance,” Hopkins said. “It can significantly increase the performance and that’s huge in our game.”
Rolling the bat isn’t the only problem. Rolling only speeds up the performance enhancement that would occur over time after normal use. Even composite bats that were not altered will eventually see this increase in performance, and the rules committee views that as a major concern.
Rule 1-3-2 through 5 was completely rewritten with the intention of creating a rule that preserves the intent and spirit of the old rule, but is better suited to products resulting from new technology.
Under the new rule, bats with composite handles and tapers would still be legal. The stricter language applies primarily to the barrel of the bat.
“While the handles and taper are important components of the bat,” Hopkins said, “the area that we recognized as more susceptible to abuse is the barrel.”
Other rules changes this year aim at increasing convenience for coaches and umpires by simplifying the substitution policy and clarifying several rules.
Rule 1-1-2 now requires coaches to list all known substitutes on the lineup card before the umpire accepts it. Coaches will still be able to add a substitute without a penalty, but this should speed up substitutions and player changes during the game.
A change to Rule 2-16-2 was also made to clarify an existing rule and ease its application for coaches and players. The rule now reads: “A foul tip is a batted ball that goes directly to the catcher’s hands and is legally caught by the catcher. It is a strike and the ball is in play.”
Similarly, a “last-time-by” rule has been instituted. The new rule states that if a runner correctly touches a base that was missed the last time he was by the base, that last touch corrects any previous base-running infraction. This last-time-by practice is commonly accepted, but is now legally Rule 8-2-6l.
The last two rules changes were approved on recommendation from the NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee. First, in a change to Rule 1-5-8, all hard and unyielding items such as braces, casts, etc., must be padded with a closed-cell, slow-recovery foam padding no less than one-half-inch thick. Knee and ankle braces that are unaltered from the manufacturer’s original design/production do not require additional padding.
Second is an update to concussion language that has been added to the rules for all high school sports. The new rule, 3-1-5, puts strict constraints on players who may have suffered a concussion. The rule states that any player who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion, including but not limited to loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, confusion of balance problems, must be removed from the contest immediately and shall not return to play before being cleared by an appropriate health-care professional.
A complete listing of all rules changes approved by the committee is available on the NFHS Web site at http://www.nfhs.org/. Click on “Athletics & Fine Arts Activities” on the home page, and select “Baseball.”
Baseball is the fourth-most popular sport for boys at the high school level, according to the 2008-09 NFHS Athletics Participation Survey, with 473,184 participants nationwide. The sport ranks third in school sponsorship with 15,699 schools sponsoring the sport.
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This press release was written by Arika Herron, a summer intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department and a senior at Butler (Indiana) University.
About the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)
The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and fine arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and fine arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS sets direction for the future by building awareness and support, improving the participation experience, establishing consistent standards and Rules for competition, and helping those who oversee high school sports and activities. The NFHS writes playing Rules for 17 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,000 high schools and 11 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than 7.5 million in high school sports. As the recognized national authority on interscholastic activity programs, the NFHS conducts national meetings; sanctions interstate events; produces publications for high school coaches, officials and athletic directors; sponsors professional organizations for high school coaches, officials, spirit coaches, speech and debate coaches and music adjudicators; serves as the national source for interscholastic coach training; and serves as a national information resource of interscholastic athletics and activities. For more information, visit the NFHS Web site at http://www.nfhs.org/.
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Wood Bat Clearance Sale
By Wayne | July 26, 2010
SiriusSportsOnline.com will have wood bat clearance sale. Starting Tuesday July 27 we will be reducing the price on all wood bats that are in stock. We will only honor the prices for in stock items only. Once they are sold out we will not order them for anyone unless they want to pay the full price. So, if you or someone you know are in the market for a wood bat take advantage of these low prices.
All Mizuno, Nokona, DeMarini, Brett Bros &Verdero will be reduced.
Most wood bats break . So here is an opportunity to have that extra bat in your bag at a great price. A lot of players only buy one bat than when theirs break in a game they want to borrow a teammates. Not cool. I wouldn’t loan mine out. If the bat is going to break I want to be the one that breaks it.
If you are training either in a facility or outdoors with your coach it is best to use a wood bat. It gives you instant feedback on where you hit the ball on the bat. Wood bats are not forgiving like composite or alloy bats. They have a smaller sweet spot which when hit properly the player will see the ball travel harder & further similar to that of a ball hit with a composite or alloy bat. If the player does not hit the sweet spot than the results will be drastically different than when hit in the same spot on the other types of bats. So when the player doesn’t hit the sweet spot – the bat sucks! When they do hit the sweet spot it is the best bat they ever had.
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Composite Bats Banned By NFHS
By Wayne | July 21, 2010
On July 7 the NFHS has banned composite baseball bats indefinitely after testing showed they exceed its performance standard. While many of the composite bats adhere to the regulations when they are manufactured, they get more productive with age.
This has been no secret over the years. Most customers purchased the bat knowing that after a break-in period the bat will perform better through regular use. Why not? The idea of the game is to win and if you have talent to hit the ball these composite bats will give you an edge by expanding the “sweet spot” which allows batters to get a better hit then they would have if they have used a wood or aluminum bat which has a smaller “sweet spot”.
Easton Sports markets their premium baseball equipment under the Stealth label. The company slogan “ Play with It. Or Against It.” It made sense. While you’re on the field you might as well use the best equipment that is available to give you an advantage.
I certainly don’t say that Easton make the best bat. In fact the DeMarini Voodoo & CF4 sold better at SiriusSportsOnline.com.
So, what’s going to happen. At this point the manufacturers are appealing the decision & asking the NFHS to rescind their decision. If the appeal is not granted then manufacturers have a plan in place to handle the exchanges with the customers that have purchased the composite bats. They have also suspended all shipments of their current composite bat inventory.
For the player that does not want to wait and be without a bat during play time I suggest buying a VooDoo or an Anderson bat. You can visit our website or call 866-333-7764.
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Sirius Sports Has Moved To South Carolina
By Wayne | July 10, 2010
I would like to let everyone know that Sirius Sports has moved to South Carolina. Up until a June 1 we were planning to move into the warehouse located behind our Route 37 store. We were waiting for the current tenant to move out but new construction & permit delays kept pushing things back for them and they still remain in the building. As you know the economy continues to have serious effects on so many which has impacted the store. I was continuing to try to cut overhead costs and keep the store local but after speaking with several business owners and bankers they all suggested that I move the business to where I live.
I want to say thank you to all of the customers that have supported Sirius Sports for our 8 years in Toms River. I have met so many nice people and made several good friends. I also met some interesting people as well. Maybe if I write a book I can tell you about them. In the meantime Diane & I share some good stories. Diane is not my wife although she yelled at me as much as my own does. While I thought Diane was my right hand, most customers thought I was Diane’s. I’m not sure you will ever go into a store and see so many customers go up to the salesperson to kiss & hug them as much as our customers did with Diane. With those kind of relationships there is no surprise why Sirius Sports always did well.
Sirius Sports will now focus solely on our website SiriusSportsOnline.com. Over the next several months we will eliminate products, add new ones, lower prices on many and create discounts for our teams and leagues. Shipping to NJ is 2 days for UPS Ground.
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Sirius Sports is Moving Sale
By Wayne | April 3, 2010
Sirius Sports has decided to make a move. In a cost cutting effort, Sirius Sports will phase out of the retail style store and focus more on its growing website.
We will maintain a warehouse locally with our customers still welcome to come in and purchase their favorite gear. Our hours will be limited during the off-season but will increase during peak spring season. This will be much like the boardwalk businesses we have at the “Jersey Shore”.
We are currently having a great liquidation sale.
- 50% off all cleats, field hockey gear, billiard supplies & select socks
- Under Armour 20-30% off
- Lacrosse balls 30% off
- 20% off deBeer & Gait products
- 20% Batting gloves
- 20% off already reduced Little League bats
All batting helmets and catchers gear* is also on sale.
* Excludes Mizuno
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