There is something about the crack of the bat and roar of the crowd that baseball fans hold dear.

Half of that equation changes at the Little League, high school and college levels where the ball coming off a bat resonates as a ping.

That unmistakable metallic sound occurs because the wood bats used at the professional level are replaced with aluminum bats in the lower echelon of the baseball food chain, a trend that started in the early 1970s.

But with technology improving the potency of bats and with that a perceived increase of batted-ball injuries, the wood vs. aluminum bat debate has picked up steam in recent years.

Many issues cloud the picture, from cost to safety concerns to personal preference. More individual states and federations are looking at the issue, ensuring that the question of what non-professional players should be using at the plate is not going away anytime soon.

IHSA investigates
Two seasons ago, the issue was brought to the forefront in Illinois as three high school baseball players incurred injuries from a batted ball in a two-month span. Partially as a result, the IHSA launched a study last spring that was designed to show any and all differences in the game of baseball when wood bats were used.

Five conferences (32 teams) agreed to take part in the experiment and each team was given 18 bats. The results on some levels were to be expected; hits were down when wood bats were used instead of aluminum and as a result, the length of a game was shortened.

But what was interesting was that researchers at Illinois State University found that there was no statistically significant evidence that non-wood bats resulted in an increase of injuries. The number of broken bats also was a head-scratcher.

“Some of the things weren’t really surprising,” said IHSA assistant executive director Anthony Holman. “There was an increased number of runs and hits when using aluminum bats. The most surprising thing was the breaking of the wooden bats; it was more frequent than initially anticipated.

“The increase risk (of an aluminum bat) was a big concern. But the study showed that there wasn’t an increased risk by using aluminum bats over wood bats.”

Strategy vs. stats
The differences between aluminum and wood bats are well documented. Aluminum bats are usually lighter (though high schools and colleges have a minus-3 policy in which the weight can only be three ounces less than the length in inches) and better proportioned with a bigger sweet spot. As a result, bat speed increases because a player is able to get the bat through the zone quicker while balls off the handle or the cap can still result in base hits.

On the flipside, wood bats are often top-heavy and much tougher to get accustomed to using, especially a high school kid that is not at a stage of physical maturity. One must center the ball on that smaller sweet spot to get it to go anywhere while balls off the handle or the top usually result in broken bats.

“Personally, I love wood bats,” said Lisle head coach Pete Meyer. “We use them in batting practice because the skill it takes to hit with them is more than it takes to hit with aluminum. I would love it if we went to (wood bats); I really like wood bats because it makes the game so much more strategic.

“With an aluminum bat you get a ball off the hands and you turn it into a single over the shortstop’s head. That doesn’t happen with a wooden bat.”

One team that got an up-close look at the debate was Timothy Christian. The Trojans play in the Private School League which was one of the conferences chosen by the IHSA to use wood bats during league games.

After going through the experience, head coach Jim Snoeyink liked the brand of baseball so much that he would suppport a permanent switch.

“I thought it was so much fun,” Snoeyink said. “I’d vote for it in a minute. We were in more 3-2 and 2-1 games. Every run was so important and we were able to execute four or five suicide squeezes.”

For the hitters involved, more often than not there is little debate. Aluminum bats lead to better statistics, especially in the power department, which transforms into more personal accomplishments and rewards and possibly down the road, a college scholarship.

“Aluminum is definitely a better preference for me,” said York shortstop Luke Regole. “It’s a lot easier to handle and a lot easier to hit the ball farther. I just feel a lot more comfortable at the plate (with aluminum) then I do when I use a wooden bat.”

The guys on the other end of the pitch might have something else to say about it. Pitchers must go toe-to-toe with hitters that are seemingly holding powerful weapons in their hands.

The inside part of the plate has virtually been erased at the high school and college levels as pitchers are afraid to have a mistake land 400 feet away.

On the contrary, wood bats at the high school level would sharply decrease the number of home runs and extra base hits and thus a pitcher’s ERA.

“I definitely like aluminum as a hitter — it’s got a bigger sweet spot,” said Lisle sophomore Jon Surber. “As a pitcher I don’t like it for the exact same reason. With an aluminum bat you hit it off the handle or the end and you get away with a hit.”

Fewer harder hit balls would indeed be the norm with wood bats, something infielders also would benefit from.

“With wooden bats it’s just a lot slower coming at you,” Regole added. “Your reaction time is that much better to field a ground ball and it’s a lot easier to make plays. That’s why not many kids use it, because they don’t get as much of a pop when they hit the ball and it doesn’t travel as fast.”

Many believe the wood bat would promote a better brand of baseball. Three-run homers would be replaced with fundamental baseball while video-game type scores would become small-ball nailbiters.

“I prefer wood bats,” said York assistant coach Chris Raffen. “I thinks it makes it a truer game. You’d see a lot of fundamentals come back that are lost with aluminum bats; bunting, stealing, defense. Now it is more of a power game; you are seeing 140-pound kids hitting the ball off the wall.”

“I think it is more fun to be a part of a 2-1 game than be involved with one that is 14-11.”

Glenbard West head coach Brian Wojtun is on board with that line of thinking.

“I’d have no problem with (wood bats),” he said. “To me, that’s the way the game is played. Aluminum bats give some kids an unfair advantage. If everyone used a wood bat it would all be equal. But I’d hate to get started using wood one week and then use aluminum the next week.

“Pitchers would love it. They’d be on cloud nine. If I was a pitcher I would love it, but as a hitter I would hate it.”

“It certainly would be a different game,” said Montini head coach Bill Leeberg, who’s in his 30th year of coaching. “For the development of the kids, it (wood bats) might be better. Colleges are going to different wood-bat tournaments and certain schools play in a wood-bat conference.”

Count Nazareth head coach Lee Milano as another who could see the benefits of going to wood bats.

“I think wood will speed the game up and it gives you a truer sense of the game,” he said.

Another statistic supports the concept that using wood bats strengthens fundamentals. Out of the eight teams that advanced to the Class A state tournament a year ago, three came from conferences that used wood bats.

Safety on the mound
Once a pitcher finishes his delivery, he may require cat-like reflexes to either snare a line drive back up the middle or simply get out of the way.

“I haven’t been hit (by a ball coming back at me) but I know pitchers who have,” Surber said. “I’ve seen pitchers get hit in the back. I’ve had a couple balls go right past my head. It comes back at you a lot quicker (of an aluminum bat).”

But years of experience paint a different picture for coaches like Fenton head skipper Sam Gallucci.

“This is my 13th year of high school coaching and my 24th year overall,” said Fenton head coach Sam Gallucci. “Out of all the hundreds and hundreds of games, I have not seen one pitcher injured by a ball off an aluminum bat.

“I would rather stick with aluminum bats. I think there is more danger of wooden bats breaking and flying into players or fans. Kids have good reaction skills and they can react to a ball off an aluminum bat.”

York head coach Phil Bodine has been around the game at many different levels, from his playing days to working with high school players and also with USA baseball. As long as the safety of the players is not at further risk, he believes there is no choice but to stay with aluminum.

“When you are talking about safety, that is the first and foremost thing,” Bodine said. “But there is not a huge difference in exit speeds of the different bats. Studies have proved that.

“I don’t think there is a large enough difference to validate switching over and doing that. College is using aluminum bats and they are not switching.”

“I’d like to stay with aluminum,” Hinsdale South head coach Kraig Conyer said. “Studies are starting to show that there is no significant change in the number of injuries when you go to wood bats.”

Cost
A major deterrent to changing to wood bats is cost. Wood bats typically range from $15 to $100. Aluminum can cost between $40 to $400. But the shelf life for a wooden bat is considerably shorter since wood is subject to breaking more frequently.

“The biggest thing is the cost factor (with wood bats breaking),” Conyer said. “Would the kids buy them or would the school buy them? I think it would be difficult to implement a wood bat policy.”

“At the high school level, it (implementing wood bats) would be a pain in the butt,” Bodine said. “Monetarily, you can’t do it; it is hard enough to support a program as it is. And half of the high school kids can’t swing a wood bat anyway.”

“I know some people are worried about the cost of the wooden bats,” Milano said, “but some of these metal bats, the top-end ones, can cost upward of $500. They also bend, so you can’t really say that cost is an issue.”

Even coaches who support using wooden bats can’t justify the cost.

“I am probably a traditionalist but when the aluminum bats came, I kind of got sold on them,” Leeberg said. “I don’t know. In the long run, wood bats would probably be best for the game but the expense might be outstanding.”

Aluminun at last
As of now, after sifting through the results of their study last spring, there is no recommendation from the IHSA to go to wood bats.

Aluminum bats will continue to be the norm in high school for the time being — most likely along with high scoring games and lofty statistics. But that doesn’t mean the debate won’t be revisited in the near future, especially if eyebrow-raising incidents happen around Illinois ballfields this spring.