By Staff
Coaching Management, 8.6, September 2000, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/cm/cm0806/bbwood.htm
Knowing the 2000 season would be his team’s last, Stephen Decatur (Ill.) High School Head Baseball Coach Mike Mose decided the squad should go out in style. So the team had a turn-back-the-clock season, using wood bats instead of aluminum.
Because the school would become a middle school in the fall of 2000, Mose asked his players if they were interested in using wood bats for the 2000 season. They were all in favor of the idea, but had no inkling of what they were in for.
“They thought the idea was great,” Mose says. “The funny thing was they didn’t think there would be a difference using the wood bats since they had never used wood bats before. I told them, ‘There’s going to be a difference,’ and they kept saying, ‘No, there’s not.’”
Of course, there was a difference. “The biggest thing was trying to get the barrel out,” Mose says. “With the kids not being real strong, and used to swinging the 33-28 bat, when they swing a 34-32 or 34-31, you definitely saw the difference—the bat being slower coming through the strike zone. So we’d use heavier bats in the batting cages and for drills.”
The team began the season with 20 wood bats, which lasted through a 28-game season. The bats cost about $30 each, so the $600 bat expense was a little less than the $750 Mose typically spent for five non-wood bats at the beginning of each season.
“I even had a couple of kids make their own wood bats in shop class,” Mose says. “One of the kids wouldn’t let anyone else even touch his bat.”
As the season wound down, some players returned to the aluminum bats, while others stuck with the wood bats. “After they found out there really was a difference, some guys started asking if they could use an aluminum bat,” Mose says.
Many opponents were surprised to see a team using the wood bats, but most opposing coaches supported Mose’s move. One coach even agreed to have his team use wood bats when it played Stephen Decatur.
Mose feels it’s important for any coach thinking of following his lead to realize the impact it will have on the team. “If a kid can hit, he can hit no matter what he’s using,” Mose says. “But with the wood bats, you’re not going to see your 150-pound high school kid hit the ball 400 feet out of the park anymore.”
Despite the offensive sacrifices, Mose was pleased that his team made the move to wood for its final season. “I wish all the high schools would go back to wood bats,” he says. “For me, it was neat to hear the crack of the bat instead of a ping. I don’t think there’s anything better than going out to a ball game and hearing the crack of a wooden bat.”