Baseball: Assemblyman withdraws bill on metal bats

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) confirmed Wednesday morning at a news conference in Sacramento that he was withdrawing his bill, AB 7, that would have imposed a one-year moratorium on non-wood bats for the 2011 season after reaching agreement with the CIF on new safety standards for metal bats.

The CIF will encourage schools to voluntarily require protective headgear for baseball and softball pitchers and infielders next season and consider making the protective headgear mandatory for 2012. The CIF is also going to adopt the BBCOR performance standards for non-wood bats for 2011 if they are commercially available by Jan. 1.

‘The purpose of AB 7 was to encourage high school baseball officials to look at these issues and take action to protect young athletes, especially pitchers, from serious injuries,’ Huffman said in a news release.

Let’s hope the CIF consults with its sections’ baseball advisory committees and schools before imposing a mandatory requirement because the early feedback I’m getting is not positive on requiring baseball infielders to wear protective gear. It does make sense to consider for pitchers.

Update: Marie Ishida, executive director of the CIF, said it will be up to the sections to vote on whether to require mandatory headgear for infielders in 2012. She said manufacturers first must develop gear that’s less cumbersome.

-- Eric Sondheimer