Softball Homeruns: The Dark Side of Success

by Jaime Loucky

Last June, the San Antonio Roadrunners set a NCAA record for single-season home runs. With a total of 101 home runs in 54 games - they had averaged almost 2 homeruns per game that season. In the process, they broke the previous record of 126 homeruns in 69 games, set previously by Arizona. Elsewhere this year, other teams and players are breaking records left and right, and there seems to be no stopping the process.

In fact, the increase in homeruns has been so great that the ASA has instituted a new “hit and sit” rule, in which players who hit a homerun past the fence do not have to run around the bases anymore. They, and any players on base at the time, can simply leave the field if they so desire.

To many spectators, officials, and players alike, it seems softball is suffering from too much success. Too many homeruns, too many good batters, and teams that are too good at what they're supposed to be doing: scoring runs. So what's going on? Why are there so many homeruns these days, and more importantly, what's the problem with that?

Well, it turns out that the homerun problem is a fairly recent once, and has come about largely because of the huge advances in bat technology. In the past when all bats were made out of wood, hitting a homerun was a difficult feat and hitting one 350 feet out of the ballpark was astounding. Grounders, pop flys, and infield defense made a significant contribution to the game, and the rare homerun was an event to remember.

This all changed with the advent of aluminum bats. Lighter and faster than their wooden counterparts, these high-tech toys could launch a ball much farther and faster than the old wooden sluggers. Soon, alloys and composites were being used, as well as hollow chambers, plexiglass fibers, and a myriad of other new devices. It got so that you needed a PhD in engineering to understand the workings of your bat. And although both complicated and expensive, these new bats could certainly slug. The new bats not only make it easier to hit homeruns, but the homeruns are even bigger and faster than ever before, at 400 or even 450 feet.

Unfortunately, the increase in homeruns wasn't the sweet deal it may have seemed.

First of all, being able to hit the ball farther meant that infield players became less important to the game. Defensive strategy decreased and games became longer as teams simply began trading homeruns. For fans, the major increase in homeruns was exciting at first, but soon led to a demystification of the act, and a gradual lessening in excitement for the entire sport. What's the point in cheering for a homerun, after all, if everyone can do it?

Even more disturbingly, basic safety began to be an increasing problem, as increased ball speeds translated into more and more injuries for infielders and pitchers. Things got so bad that the American Softball Association, ASA, moved the pitcher's mound back from 46 to 50 feet from the plate, and is currently considering moving it again. In the meantime, infielders are left not only less useful, but in more danger. And with balls flying past the fence and into the parking lot, an ever-increasing number of broken windshields and broken heads is likely to result.

So in 2000, seeing things taking a turn for the worse, steps were taking to find out exactly why so many homeruns were being hit, and which bats were the main culprits. The intent was to come up with criteria for approved aluminum and alloy bats, and then compile a list of those that met or failed to met those criteria.

To do this, ASA and ISF approved laboratories began testing the performance of different types of bats under various conditions. Using research and testing methods established by the American Society of Testing and Materials, the ASTM, they subjected bats to a collision or impact test with balls of different speeds. From the results they calculated the distance and power of hits. This standardized unit became known as the Bat Performance Standard, or BPF.

According to current ASA rules, bats with a BPF above 1.2 are banned from play. Under the bat bans, new bats are tested and if found to have a BPF above 1.2, are banned from competitive play. The current list includes some 15 bats, but must be revised fairly often to include new and redesigned brands and labels. In fact, this has become the first challenge, as bat manufacturers push to improve their bats while still keeping them approved, or in some cases, recalling banned bats and 'retrofitting' them to conform to standards. In either case, there is a conflict between efforts to decrease the BPF of allowed bats versus efforts to maximize performance.

For this reason, the ASA attempted another form of control, this time on the number of homeruns allowed per game per team. According to newly-devised rules, the number of homeruns per team are limited according to skill level. Players who violate the rules and hit too many homeruns are penalized.

Not surprisingly, many players hate these new rules. The limits on homeruns, instead of being seen as a solution, are seen as a punishment for only the best players, giving a negative response to player improvement. Why improve your game if you'll just be penalized for it? The ASA continues to rewrite and revise the homerun ban, hoping to find a happy medium, but so far without much success.

Instead, in some circles another solution is being proposed. WorthSport Inc, along with several other softball equipment manufacturers, have begun to modify the production of the softballs themselves, to address the problem of ball speed, distance, and injury potential. According to Jess Heald, chairman of the company, along with the bans on various bat models, the issues surrounding the game, “can be rather easily addressed by proper ball selection.”

By varying ball COR and compression, balls can be made to travel at lower speeds and shorter distances, even when used by bats with high BPFs. This will make a difference not only in game play, where defensive infield and outfield players might actually have something to do, but will lessen the number of homeruns during the game. According to Heald, use of a low COR ball “could reduce home runs to a level where these restrictions would not be necessary.” A tempting solution for players who hate the homerun ban.

Furthermore, because these balls travel at slower speeds, and thus have less power upon impact, their use will greatly decrease the risk towards players of injury during a game.

Unfortunately, here too lie problems, as the new balls have a distinctly unpleasant feel with low COR and low compression. Many players feel that this solution may solve the home run problem at the expense of taking away even more of the fun of the sport.

With all these proposed solutions to the homerun problem, many players have decided to take matters into their own hands. They argue that what the game needs isn't different and or complicated equipment, or rules that punish high performance, but instead a return to the simpler days. Wooden bat leagues have begun to spring up across the nation, and more and more players are deciding to use wooden bats on their own, simply to make the game more challenging.

As more and more players rediscover the simple pleasures of a game without high-tech bats or complicated rules, more and more are joining the Wooden Bat Revolution. In the end, it seems that among the many proposed solutions, from banning bats to limiting homeruns, to changing ball specifications, the simplest solution may in fact be the most effective. Softball may not be suffering from success, it may just be suffering from technology.