Illegal Bats: Why We Do It

By Dave Tilbor

The League recently added composite bats to our Illegal Bat list (www.sfsoftball.com/bats). We got several
e-mails reacting to the decision. Oddly, most were from players in other states who must have found our list
on the Web. This is one of them, and our response.

> -----Original Message-----

> From: [NAME WITHHELD] [mailto:[WITHHELD]@CHARTER.NET]
> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 9:01 AM
> To: SFSoftball.com
> Subject: Comment on Bat Policy

> WHAT IS THE NAME OF YOUR LEAGUE ,GROUP?

> San Francisco Adult Municipal Softball League.

> WHO DO YOU REPRSENT?

> Players, managers, officials of the San Francisco Adult Municipal
> Softball League.

> WHAT BATS DO YOU RECOMMEND?

> Singlewall aluminum, including Z-Core and Connexion. See our list of
> legal bats at http://www.sfsoftball.com/bats/index.htm#bat

>  WHAT DECADE DO YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO?

> The decade in which expensive, high-tech trick bats didn't pose a potential
> safety hazard to pitchers, and didn't force a move to a softer "mush ball".

> WHAT ARE YOUR REAL MOTIVES?

> The safety of our players, particularly pitchers. Also, we do not want
> to switch the softer "mush ball" as many leagues have done as
> their way of offsetting the potential hazard posed by doublewall,
> multiwall, composite and other trick bats. We feel (and we who make
> the rules have played with it) that the "mush ball" degrades the feel of
> the game. We poll our players every year and again this year they
> voted [9 to 1] to keep the live ball and restrict bats. Many do not want to
> have to get into an expensive "arms race" just to keep up with a small
> number of players who buy expensive trick bats in order to get a
> competitive advantage.

> Thanks for writing,

> Dave
> SF Softball Advisory Board

Dave Tilbor plays for the Mud Hens Wednesdays in Open CC. Last year he bought a composite bat (now known
as his "tournament bat") in order to get a competitive advantage. This he year participated in the decision to
ban them. So it goes.