Print and Go Back Page 2 [Print without images]  Wednesday, May
23, 2007 Time to put down the aluminum bat  By Jim Caple Page 2
OK. I hereby challenge everyone who complains about baseball
players using steroids and HGH to swear off using the biggest
performance enhancer of all: metal alloy softball bats.  Off
Base I know, I know. These lightweight bats are very appealing,
capable of adding 30-50 feet to your fly balls because of
increased bat speed and trampoline effects. I've used them, like
everyone else. Heck, when I was a kid, I was the first on my
block and the second in my league to get an aluminum bat. I had
one before I could even pronounce "aluminum."  Those were much
different bats, though. If anything, they were heavier than the
wood bats they replaced. They were designed as a budget saver --
because they wouldn't crack or break, even when you slammed them
repeatedly against the dugout wall after popping out -- again!
-- with the bases loaded.  But metal bats have gotten lighter
and lighter, with