Immediate Moratorium on All Composite Bats

Little League Baseball, Inc. has placed an immediate moratorium on the use of all composite bats in its Major League and Minor League Baseball Divisions and below.

This decision extends its previously announced moratorium on such bats in the Little League Junior, Senior and Big League Divisions. The rules for these three older divisions do not apply to Myers Park Trinity, as we are affiliated with the Babe Ruth League at those levels. The moratorium also does not apply to MPTLL Softball, but it does affect our Major League, National League (minors) and American League (machine pitch).

The new ban refers to any bat constructed with a composite barrel, which means it is made with a woven composite of metal fibers. This construction provides such advantages as lighter barrels, less vibration and greater energy transfer. It is my understanding that composite handles are still allowed.

Little League's recent study conducted at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell found that new composite bats meet the required Bat Performance Factor (BPF) of 1.15 or below. But once broken in, the bats can exceed these mandatory safety standards.

At this time, all composites are banned. But as they did above the Major League level, Little League will allow bat manufacturers to apply for an exemption on certain models. If any models are approved for such an exemption, Little League will post them on its website.

But for now, this means we will be using aluminum bats this spring - which isn't all bad. There are several good aluminum alloy bats on the market to be had. And if they are considered to be safer for use on our small field, then we should welcome the change.

For more information on composite bats and this recent announcement, check out the article posted by Little League and read through my previous posts regarding bats.

Happy New Year!