Metal bat debate goes to Sacramento

Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D - San Rafael) and CIF to announce agreement on safety issue.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Mitch Stephens
By
Aug 11, 2010, 1:18am
SACRAMENTO – One of the most heated rules debates in high school sports – the use of metal bats in baseball and softball – will no doubt ignite again this morning when lawmakers and one of the nation’s largest prep governing bodies will conduct a press conference at the State Capitol.

According to a release from the office of Assembly Member Jared Huffman (D – San Rafael), the California Interscholastic Federation and Huffman have made an agreement “that puts California on a path to lead the nation in safety for high school baseball and softball.”

Huffman earlier in the year introduced Assembly Bill 7, the High School Baseball Safety Act in response to life-threatening injuries sustained by 16-year-old pitcher Gunnar Sandberg, who was hit in the head by a line drive hit from a metal bat on March 11.

Sandberg (Marin Catholic HS, Kentfield, Calif.) has had multiple brain surgeries since the injury and recovered slowly. He threw out the Opening Pitch during an A’s-Giants game in May. Sandberg and his father Bjorn Sandberg are scheduled to be at Wednesday’s press conference.

The injury fanned an already heated and complex national debate the involves ball velocity off metal bats, cost and ultimately safety.

Assembly Bill 7 proposes a one-year moratorium on non-wooden bats until new testing standards developed by the NCAA take effect for high schools in 2012. It also encourages baseball officials to implement other safety measures such as protective headgear for pitchers.

The bill passed the Senate Education Committee on May 5, but according to the release, Huffman has held the bill on the Senate floor for the past several months pending discussions with the CIF and other stakeholders.

Marie Ishida, Executive Director of the CIF, is also scheduled to speak at the conference. 


 

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