Anyone else think the NCAA has screwed up their brand of baseball?

[Razor Shines]

I know that was the goal but I think they've got a ways to go...

My brother is a freshman at a JuCo and he says he can tell a big difference. As a pitcher he loves it and as a hitter it just puts more of a premium of being able to get the bat head out.

They didn't use them in fall and he says he sees guys on his team who were "good hitters" in the fall making a lot of weak outs now.

Could be more of a placebo affect than anything though.

[IslandRed]

It doesn't help College baseball that colleges are cutting baseball programs. It's also becoming a West Coast/Southern sport.

At least in my lifetime, it's always been a West/South sport. If anything, the playing field is more level now. The NCAA put a cap on regular-season games several years ago, which keeps warm-weather schools from playing real games before the teams up north can even practice.

But in looking at history, northern/Big Ten schools tended to do better up until the mid-to-late 1960s, which is about the time MLB put in the draft. My only-sort-of-educated guess would be that the draft took a lot of bonus money out of play and therefore pushed more talent into college, which worked to the advantage of the schools located closer to more of it.

If you have any BB skills at all, why go the college route?

It's definitely a factor now, but it's only in recent years that teams are spending real money deep into the draft. Even so, late-round picks are generally offered peanuts for a signing bonus, which makes college a reasonable option assuming they can afford to go with less than a full scholarship.

[Caveat Emperor]

My brother is a freshman at a JuCo and he says he can tell a big difference. As a pitcher he loves it and as a hitter it just puts more of a premium of being able to get the bat head out.

They didn't use them in fall and he says he sees guys on his team who were "good hitters" in the fall making a lot of weak outs now.

Could be more of a placebo affect than anything though.

It's too early to tell, but I once had a scout at a Tulane game tell me that if college baseball switched to wood bats that half the D-1 programs would have to fold up shop due to lack of talent.

Any tampering with the bat in college away from the status quo is going to wreck havoc on the non-traditional, non-southern schools IMO.

[RollyInRaleigh]

Been hearing that the new BBCOR rated bats are not as lively as wood. Lot of college players really struggling with them.

[Razor Shines]

What you guys are saying seems to be true from what my brother has noticed in the very early going.

It's funny he's actually thrilled so far. He thinks it gives him better shot at a scholarship for D1. He was told to he could walk on and get a little help but juco were offering him a near full ride. Took it because of money. Murray st. Is supposed to be at his games this weekend.

[Yachtzee]

It's too early to tell, but I once had a scout at a Tulane game tell me that if college baseball switched to wood bats that half the D-1 programs would have to fold up shop due to lack of talent.

Any tampering with the bat in college away from the status quo is going to wreck havoc on the non-traditional, non-southern schools IMO.

Or it could mean better performance for non-southern schools that do well at turning out pitchers. I think a lot of the problem with the college game has been the way it has emphasized offense through the use of aluminum bats. With the new bats, maybe college pitchers will be able to have more of the plate to work with.

[Razor Shines]

Or it could mean better performance for non-southern schools that do well at turning out pitchers. I think a lot of the problem with the college game has been the way it has emphasized offense through the use of aluminum bats. With the new bats, maybe college pitchers will be able to have more of the plate to work with.

Hopefully. I'd like to see a few more pitcher dominated games in college baseball.

[Caveat Emperor]

Or it could mean better performance for non-southern schools that do well at turning out pitchers. I think a lot of the problem with the college game has been the way it has emphasized offense through the use of aluminum bats. With the new bats, maybe college pitchers will be able to have more of the plate to work with.

I think the more likely outcome is just a lot of 1-0 / 2-1 games in places like the Big 10 and Big East.

[IslandRed]

I'm sure the initial adjustment is going to be rough. In the long run, players will adjust and adapt their swings just like they have to do when making the transition to wood -- gotta square it up on the barrel to hit it hard. In the short term, it'll be painfully obvious who has that skill and who doesn't.

[reds1869]

I've watched a couple of games today; I love the change. The college version of the sport now resembles real baseball instead of something on my video game console circa 2001.

[RichRed]

I've watched a couple of games today; I love the change. The college version of the sport now resembles real baseball instead of something on my video game console circa 2001.

Tell that to my alma mater. JMU opened the season with a four-game sweep of Bucknell: 37-7, 9-2, 26-15, and 19-12.

[reds1869]

Tell that to my alma mater. JMU opened the season with a four-game sweep of Bucknell: 37-7, 9-2, 26-15, and 19-12.

Wow! Did they hop in The Way Back Machine and head to the 1870s?

[RichRed]

Wow! Did they hop in The Way Back Machine and head to the 1870s?

If you're asking if they set baseball back more than a century, I think the answer is "yes."

All kinds of school records were set: runs scored in a game, runs scored in a four-game series (91), etc. They hit 23 (!) homers in the series and in the 37-7 game, they hit back-to-back-to-back homers THREE different times. Talk about video game numbers.

In the subsequent series against LeMoyne, they played some real pitchers' duels by comparison: 7-11, 14-7, 16-8, and 4-1.

[Razor Shines]

Ok, I've been in Myrtle Beach and over the last 5 days I watched my brother's team play 9 games.

I can see a difference in the bats. Over the 9 games vs. 7 different opponents there were 4 HRs (one a 400+ft. blast by my bro ). That seems way low. I played college ball at basically the same level and we would average 1-2 HRs a game from either team.

Could have just been an odd week. The sound is different you still get a little "ping" most of the time, but everyone once in a while you'll hear a "crack". I'd have to look to make sure it wasn't a wood bat.

All the games were at the Cal Ripken Experience down in Myrtle Beach. That's a pretty cool facility. All the fields are modeled after old baseball stadiums. There was Griffith Field, The Polo Grounds and Navin.

All the fields are that synthetic turf. That stuff feels pretty nice.

[dabvu2498]

http://www.sportswriters.net/ncbwa/poll/

Just thought I'd trow that out there. Go Dores!