The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- October 11, 1999

Executive Committee agreement brings closure to baseball bat issue

The NCAA Executive Committee has approved a batted-ball exit speed standard of less than 97 miles per hour for bats used in all intercollegiate baseball competitions among NCAA member schools.

The committee's decision supports a recommendation from the NCAA Baseball Research Panel that solid northern ash wooden bat performance should become the standard for setting limits on all baseball bat performance.

In addition, the Executive Committee approved the panel's recommendation of January 1, 2000, as the implementation date for the standard. It also declared a three-year moratorium on changes.

The panel noted that the moratorium will allow researchers to further assess the impact of the new standard and to conduct additional tests on wood and nonwood bats, as well as collecting information related to performance standards for baseballs.

"The moratorium will give the baseball community time to adjust to the new standards and for the panel to do further research," said Executive Committee Chair Charles T. Wethington Jr., president of the University of Kentucky. "Of course, we reserve the right to make adjustments in the standards for bats and balls at any time, if necessary."

The panel, which was convened last March to review issues related to the performance of nonwood bats and baseballs, concluded that a batted-ball exit speed should be adopted for nonwood bats that equates to the highest average exit speed using Major League Baseball-quality, 34-inch, solid wood bats.

The new standard is based on testing of solid northern ash wood bats performed in an independent laboratory at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. The lab also will certify that all nonwood bats used in intercollegiate competition do not exceed the standard.

The committee reaffirmed two other standards approved in August 1998 that limit the diameter of the bat to 25Ž8 inches and reduce the difference between weight and length for bats to three units (a 34-inch bat can weigh no less than 31 ounces).

A protocol developed by the panel for testing and certification of bats also has received Executive Committee approval. The protocol is available at NCAA Online (www.ncaa.org) under "press releases."

In a related matter, the Executive Committee announced that Easton Sports, Inc., has indicated that it will drop a lawsuit filed by the company against the Association in August 1998.