Warming bat

[rocket4]

High School player was restricted to bench for having her bat inside her jersey to keep it warm on a sub 50 deg. night after the coach had been warned prior. What is the rule on "artificially" warming the bat?

[NumeroUno]

Their is a rule that you can't put your bat inside your jersey?

[SnocatzDad]

I've been told by our local UIC that ASA considers bat warming to be altering the bat and illegal for that reason and that applies to ASA, NFHS and NCAA. I've heard Northern schools chastized for keeping the bat rack too close to the dugout heaters.

USSSA actually endorses bat warming and bat warmers are allowed in the dugout at USSSA events.

To me there should be a difference between trying get a bat up to 70-90F with body heat to get the composite into a "safe" temperature zone and trying to elevate the bat temperature in excess of 100F to improve performance.

[MTR]

High School player was restricted to bench for having her bat inside her jersey to keep it warm on a sub 50 deg. night after the coach had been warned prior. What is the rule on "artificially" warming the bat?

Speaking ASA

Rule 3.7.Note: The characteristics of any approved equipment cannot be changed. Examples would be iscin, colling, heating equipment.

This was added a couple years ago amidst the "bat warmer" sleeves hitting the market. It also addresses the microwaving or icing softballs and anything else players can come up with that causes them to believe there is some sort of advantage. IOW, it is pretty much a catch-all to allow for the change in a piece of equipment's characteristics.

That said, during a conversation with Dr. Lloyd Smith of WashSt about the heated bats I learned that heating a bat would make it more flexible and produce a higher exit speed than allowed. He also told me that no present bat composition would sustain the increased temp once removed from the heat/heating device. He more or less said the present bats would literally have to come directly from the heated bat sleeve and contact the ball in a single motion for the heating of the bat to have any type of measurable affect. Of course, that doesn't mean that there could be a new product not come along that could sustain the temp long enough to have an affect on the batted ball, but that is why these type of rules are so general in wording.

It should be noted that the time (a couple years ago) of the conversation, Dr. Smith was not aware of any bats being tested and was speaking in generalities based upon his knowledge involving the bats and their composition. What may have transpired since then is only a good guess, but I have not heard of anything new that has hit the scene since then

[Tucson]

Just how much warmer would a bat get by putting it in your jersey? Anyway, the bat would be so cold that I wouldn't want it in my jersey.

I call BS, on this umpire.

[MTR]

Just how much warmer would a bat get by putting it in your jersey? Anyway, the bat would be so cold that I wouldn't want it in my jersey.

I call BS, on this umpire.

I don't disagree with your evaluation of the ruling. However, I wouldn't be so quick to condemn the umpire unless I knew exactly how they were directed to address the issue.

[coolstuff]

I've been told by our local UIC that ASA considers bat warming to be altering the bat and illegal for that reason and that applies to ASA, NFHS and NCAA. I've heard Northern schools chastized for keeping the bat rack too close to the dugout heaters.

USSSA actually endorses bat warming and bat warmers are allowed in the dugout at USSSA events.

To me there should be a difference between trying get a bat up to 70-90F with body heat to get the composite into a "safe" temperature zone and trying to elevate the bat temperature in excess of 100F to improve performance.

NSA apparently allows bat warmers in the dugout also. DD's been on two different teams that used homemade bat warmers. The heat source was a hair dryer. I doubt that 100 degrees were reached. The blues didn't flinch, and tournament directors were very accommodating in helping us find an AC outlet.

[SnocatzDad]

When we play dome ball in the winter it is not under ASA or NFHS rules so warmers are allowed. I filled a knee sock with a pound of rice and tied a knot at the top. If you microwave for a few minutes it will hold heat for about two hours and help keep the bat above freezing. It's sometimes barely above freezing inside the dome and warming the bats helps prevent cracking and breakage.

I will agree that the bat starts cooling almost immediately after being removed from the heat source, but I've felt the bats after a plate appearance and they are still warm to the touch (warmer than the air temp anyway) which is all we are looking for. There is enough material in a bat to hold temperature for a reasonable period of time. That works against us as well. Kids who bring equipment in that has been in the garage over night at -20F find that it doesn't warm up as fast as they would like. It was a ritual every weekend to bring all my daughters gear in the house the night before the dome games in order to get it to a decent temperature.

[wadeintothem]

Obviously you live in an uninhabitable area of earth. I dont think rules written for normal places would always apply in uninhabitable hostile areas of the planet. Some adapting would be necessary... like moving.

[Tucson]

I agree that warming the bat will prevent breakage, but I think that most people that warm bats are trying to get a hitting advantage. But, I don't see any results coming from warming the bat. Now, if you could get the opposing pitcher to use a warm ball, that might help.

But all things being equal with both teams sitting out in the cold. I haven't see an advantage to so called bat warmers.

Are balls hit further when it is 110 degrees, compared to 35 degrees?

Anyway, putting a bat inside your shirt would do absolutely nothing and I still can't understand what rule got the young lady kicked out.

I googled and found this discussion - http://www.nwgabaseball.org/snitz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3184&whichpage=1