Jack MacKay Jr., a former baseball bat designer for Louisville Slugger, has petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), asking that it issue a rule requiring the wood-like performance of all nonwood baseball bats and recall all nonwood baseball bats that exceed the performance of wood baseball bats.

In a 75-page petition sent to the independent federal regulatory agency, MacKay details his perspective of the debate over metal and nonwood bats and also asks the CPSC to levy penalties against bat manufacturers that he asserts have violated federal law by failing to report information to the CPSC about serious injuries sustained by people injured by their products.

From 1987 to 1997, MacKay designed bats -- including aluminum bats -- for Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturers of Louisville Slugger bats.

"Little did I know when I designed those bats, we would end up with something that was just lethal," MacKay told the Associated Press of his years as a bat designer. "Bats now act like tennis rackets."

In the petition, MacKay alleges improprieties on the part of many different aluminum bat manufacturers. He also alleges that the aluminum bats currently in use include those that pose a significant threat to players' safety.

"The aluminum bat manufacturers have fraudulently represented to the public, and various rule-making and governing bodies, that the aluminum bats they produce perform like wood bats," MacKay wrote. "They purposely have withheld critical testing information regarding bat performance from the NCAA because they do not want to reveal the truth about the performance of aluminum bats."

MacKay does not oppose the use of aluminum bats in baseball, but he believes they should perform like wood.

"I think there's a great place for aluminum," MacKay said during the "All Things Considered" program on National Public Radio.

"I think it can be very cost-effective. I think that aluminum has to be tailored so that it performs like wood."

In the petition, MacKay asserted that wood is representative of the widely acceptable level of risk in the game of baseball.

"Although there is a certain level of risk involved in playing the sport of baseball, the level of risk associated with wood bats has generally been accepted by all associated with the game as the 'reasonable level of risk.' Therefore, any greater level of risk than that presented by traditional wood bats is unreasonable. After extensive testing and research, there is simply no question that the aluminum bats today substantially outperform traditional wood bats, and that the risk of serious injury to pitchers and infielders has become more prevalent," MacKay wrote.

The NCAA does not object to the CPSC reviewing the issue, but the Association does not agree with all of the statements MacKay makes in the petition document.

"While the NCAA would welcome input from the CPSC with regard to nonwood bats, we take exception to some of the assertions MacKay makes in his petition about the safety of the bats being used this spring and about alleged negotiations between the Association and metal bat manufacturers on the testing protocol," said Elsa Kircher Cole, NCAA general counsel.

"The NCAA made no changes to its proposed bat testing protocol to settle a lawsuit that Easton had brought against the Association. The NCAA would not compromise its concerns about bat performance in that way. Additionally, we had every confidence in our legal position and eventual success at trial."