The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- December 21, 1998

Cabinet approves new bat proposal

The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet has adopted two recommendations from the Division I Baseball Committee regarding performance standards for bats for the 1999 Division I Baseball Championship.

The cabinet agreed to decrease the maximum allowable bat diameter from 2 3/4 inches to 2 5/8 inches and the length-to-weight unit differential from five to three (for example, a 35-inch bat will be able to weigh no less than 32 ounces).

However, the cabinet did not adopt a requirement that baseball bats meet an independent testing standard that limits performance to any predetermined maximum batted-ball velocity. The standard that is to become effective for the 1999-2000 season is for an exit velocity of 93 mph.

In declining to identify a maximum batted-ball velocity, the cabinet said it would seek indemnification from bat manufacturers. If the manufacturers do not provide the indemnification, the cabinet said it would reconsider its position on batted-ball velocities.

The standards that the cabinet considered were recommended by the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee and approved by the NCAA Executive Committee to become effective for regular season and championship play beginning August 1, 1999.

At its November 8-11 meeting, the Division I Baseball Committee recommended the use of bats that meet the new performance standards for 1999 postseason play.

"Based on a change in recommendation from the chair of the Division I Baseball Committee, the cabinet elected not to include the exit-speed specification," said Jean Lenti Ponsetto, chair of the cabinet and senior associate athletics director at DePaul University.

Ponsetto said the baseball committee had expressed concern about whether a sufficient number of bats meeting the exit-speed specification would be available for the championship. She also noted that the cabinet placed the indemnification condition by nonwood bat manufacturers as protection for the NCAA and its member schools against possible injury damages.

The Championships/Competition Cabinet action, taken in a December 15 conference call, leaves Division I and Divisions II and III in different positions on the issue.

The Division III committee approved the use of baseball bats that meet all of the new standards during its December 7 conference call, while the Division II committee approved the new standards for championship competition during its December 10 conference call.

The Division II Championship Committee decision overturned the Division II Baseball Committee's recommendation to use baseball bats that meet the standards outlined in the 1999 NCAA Baseball Rules.

The NCAA Executive Committee had indicated earlier that it would become involved in the issue if the three divisions did not emerge with a consensus.