Is it a parent’s place to report an illegal bat in a Little League baseball game
When your son’s teammate is using an illegal bat in a Little League game, do you say anything? It’s complicated.
Difference between USA Bats and USSSA Bats
Having researched and bought about 20 bats for my kids, and having been a part of club teams with my older son, where I traded notes with the other parents about baseball stuff, namely bats, I knew a thing or two about the brands and available models and what they looked like. I knew that the leagues in our area had outlawed “USSSA” bats, because they had way too much pop, and adopted the “USA” bat standard, which strove to make bats that hit like wood ones, but maintained the durability of metal bats. It was partially a safety issue. With the USSSA bats, a kid could not even hit the ball that hard and wind up launching a rocket that could take the head off a pitcher, who, on a Little League field, was standing only 46 feet away.
Yet changing over to the USA standard was highly controversial. People thought the USA models were “dead bats,” not having near the power of even wood bats. You’d be at a travel game and the number four hitter would fly out to center field.
“That would have been a home run with the old bats,” the father would grouse and kick the dirt.
There was a dad on our old club team who was constantly ranting about how horrible the USA bats were, like crazy people talk about imagined foes. It was so over-the-top that we would sometimes ask him a seemingly innocuous question—“Don’t you think some of this year’s USA bats are pretty good?”—and then laugh when he went on a 20-minute frothing tirade about the bat standard.
For the official USA bat standard, click here.
Using a USSSA Bat in a USA Game
My younger son’s 8U travel squad was undersized, like a whole team of leadoff hitters, but there was one kid on the team who was massive. Taylor was the product of a short father and an enormous mother, and the little father was so proud of his man-child that whenever another parent commented on how big Taylor was getting, the father would be overcome with pride and say that Taylor’s doctor predicted he was going to be at least 6 foot 5.
Taylor had been on my son’s travel basketball team the winter before, and his father was the loudest person at every game.
“Taylor, rebound the ball!” he would scream to his son. “Taylor, move to your left. It’s right there. It’s right there. Run, Taylor. Run! Pass it! Pass it to Taylor! He’s wide open! Taylor, catch it. Get it, Taylor. Shoot the ball! Yes! Way to go, Taylor!”
Taylor was a quiet blank-faced kid, and it was hard to say whether he was listening to his father’s commands or ignoring them, embarrassed by his father, like my sons would surely be if I had been a loud ass like that.
The Power of the Marucci CAT Bats
While the other kids on the team wore uniforms that sagged on their stumpy shoulders, had their shirts tucked out, and their pants stained with grass and dirt, Taylor’s uniforms were always immaculate, sparkling clean and starched, and he wore stirrups even though our town didn’t provide them, and his cleats were gleaming and black. And of course, he filled out every inch of the XL uniform with his impressive size.
When he walked to the plate with his stiff gait, and got into his stance to hit, you took notice. At one rec game, which was still coach pitch, he roped an opposite field home run far over the right field fence and into the surrounding woods. I had never seen a ball hit that far in a youth game, even during my older son’s club leagues.
When he slowly rounded the bases, Taylor held out both arms like he was an airplane and smiled, which was startling because the kid, up to then, had shown no emotion.
“That was a bomb, Taylor!” the little father shouted.
Is it a Parent’s Place to Let the Coaches Know a Kid is Cheating
After Taylor’s mammoth home run, I naturally looked to see which bat he was swinging. It was a Marucci—a brand famous for its lethal “CAT” USSSA series—but Taylor’s bat was a syrupy red color unlike the white CAT models. I strained to see if there was a “USA” seal on the neck of Taylor’s bat, like all USA bats are required to have, and I didn’t spot one.
I felt such indignation, even though I wasn’t sure he was cheating. Was it not enough of an advantage that Taylor was 50 pounds heavier than the other kids, and 8 inches taller? Did he also have to use a juiced bat?
“Maybe the parents just don’t know the difference between the bats like you do,” my wife said when I brought up the Taylor situation to her. “They might not know it’s illegal.”
“No one goes into Dick’s and just picks up a $300 Marucci bat,” I told her.
A Marucci was a niche product for people in the know.
“You should just go talk to them,” my wife said about Taylor’s parents. “Be nice about it. They might be thankful, because they don’t know they’re doing anything wrong.”
I decided I’d say nothing. Let the coaches figure it out. It wasn’t my place to intervene. I also didn’t want to come off as sour grapes; up until Taylor’s emergence, my son had been considered the team’s power hitter.
How to Alert the Coaches that a Kid is Using an Illegal Bat
My younger son was in a hitting slump and during team batting practice in the cage had made weak contact and looked lost. The kid who hit after my son had truly improved over the season, and I couldn’t help but be impressed by his fluid swing and his consistent line drives. Then Taylor stepped into the cage with his Marucci.
The first blast loudly ricocheted off a metal bar of the L-screen the coach was standing behind for protection, causing the coach to startle and wrap both arms around his head.
“Great shot, Taylor!” the little father said, suddenly standing next to me.
Each hit was a rope, even though his swings didn’t look particularly special that day.
“Can I see that bat?” I asked the father when Taylor stepped out of the cage.
“Okay,” he said, confused.
I felt vindicated after completing my inspection. “This bat isn’t legal,” I told the father, trying hard not to sound like I was gloating. “It’s not a USA bat. It’s illegal to use this.”
“They said it was fine when we bought it,” the father said, appearing irritated. “I’ll look into it tonight when we go home. I just hope I can return it.”
I felt so good about getting to the bottom of that massive home run that I then told the coaches Taylor had been swinging an illegal bat.
They seemed to already know.
“You can hear it by the sound of the balls coming off of it,” one coach said. “The new ones don’t make that sound.”
“The balls don’t jump off the new bats that way,” the other coach said.
One coach then informed Taylor’s dad that he needed to get Taylor a new regulation bat.
“If another coach calls us out on it during a game,” he said, “he’s going to be automatically out and we could lose a game because of it.”
The father looked overwhelmed, like he was being attacked out of nowhere.
Expect Consequences When You Out the Kid with the Illegal Bat
Taylor slumped the rest of the season, striking out a bunch and barely getting the ball past the infield. His parents hated me. The short dad would give me death stares whenever I walked past him, and the big wife would, too.
Toward the end of the season, my son went up to Taylor in the dugout and, trying to cheer him up, recalled the colossal home run that he had hit in rec over the right field fence.
“That’s only because I was using the fake bat,” Taylor told him.
Do you have any tips for dealing with the illegal bat issue? Let us know in the comments!
For more information about the emotional side of baseball, see:
- How to Manage Your Kid’s Baseball Tantrums and Meltdowns
- Anger Management and Youth Baseball: How to Calm Down
- 4 Ways to Respond to a Coach Playing Favorites
- How to Stop Being a Crazy Baseball Dad
- 5 Ways Youth Baseball Teams Cheat, and How to Respond
- How to Be a Good Baseball Dad in the Backyard
- How to Deal with Umpires in Youth Baseball
- Is It Now Fashionable to Hate On Baseball Dads?
For information on hitting, see:
- How to Get Out of a Hitting Slump
- 4 Best Baseball Batting Aids (No. 3 is Free)
- 4 Hitting Drills You Need to Do Before Every Game
- 4 Old School Baseball Drills You Need to Be Using
For information on pitching, see:
- What You Need to Know About Little League Elbow
- 4 Ways To Increase Your Kid’s Pitching Velocity
- Why I Don’t Let My Son Pitch in Little League
- Is the Circle Change Dangerous for Youth Pitchers?
- Pitching and Head Injuries: What You Need to Know
- How to Make Sure Your Kid Isn’t Overpitched in Baseball
