Many parents and volunteer coaches are confused about the economics of wood and metal baseball bats.
There is a perception that wood bats break regularly.
This is only true with cheap products or bats that are not taken care of (young players must be taught to always point the trademark at themselves or up in the air to ensure they are using the strongest part of the bat to hit with).
Metal usually doesn't break, but it does wear down over time, especially if used in the cold.
Good metal bats tend to run in the price range of $150-$250 for Little League level, to $300-$400 for high school players on up.
And they need to be replaced every year -- especially with growing young players.
A quality wood bat -- i.
e.
, one made of superior maple, ash or what have you (birch, bamboo, hickory -- there are even oak bats out there if you look), with guaranteed weights -- will cost anywhere from $50 - $100, depending upon how you want the bat customized.
The math is simple enough.
You can get a top-flight wood bat company to tailor your bat to exact specifications for around $60 - $100.
That means you can buy three perfect wood bats designed by you the hitter, plus go out and get yourself a cheaper bat for batting practice (BP) that's maybe a bit heavier and tougher so that you can keep beefing up your hitting muscles all for the price of an assembly line metal Exo, Stealth or Rush.
Is an amateur player going to break all three bats in a season? Who knows? Most hitting instructors will tell you that if you're getting the barrel on the ball it's pretty hard to break a quality bat.
And certainly, younger players facing slower pitching are a lot less likely to have problems with breakage.
As you move up the ladder to the elite levels where batters face elite pitchers, breakage can become an issue.
But using a separate BP bat can help out with that problem.
"It's very true that we don't sell cheap bats," says Fred Leiberman, president of Zinger Bats.
"I don't see how anyone can stay in business if they don't take pride in the wood they use.
We only select 20-inch, straight grain for our pro-stock.
" Indeed, while a standard, non-customized wood bat can be purchased for around $30- $45 through re-sellers, a fully customized, maple bat with engraving, and perfected length and weight, using guaranteed "pro-stock" wood can top out at a bit more than $100.
It's usually possible as well to get bulk discounts from many wood bat makers.
Half a dozen off-the-shelf standard models are often less than $400 including shipping.
Should you pay for this kind of quality? "What's a home run worth?" quips Leiberman.