User Panel
Posted: 3/9/2011 5:11:33 PM EDT
HOLY CRAP!!!! I'm not that old (I turn 40 this year), but I just saw a Sports Authority commercial for baseball equipment. $200-$300 for a freakin' BAT? When the hell did that happen? Jeez...
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Quoted: HOLY CRAP!!!! I'm not that old (I turn 40 this year), but I just saw a Sports Authority commercial for baseball equipment. $200-$300 for a freakin' BAT? When the hell did that happen? Jeez... Gotta pay to play. Is it really any different than your average Arfcom 400 lb land whale buying a Colt 6920 and an Aimpoint M4, along wit the 5.11 pants just to wheeze around on the range and pretend he's Costa for one or two Saturdays a month?
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A while back. Sporting goods have become all high tech in their design and materials –– playing sports has gotten expensive.
What gets me is all the "less fortunate" kids trying to keep up with the richer kids that have all the snazziest and newest item. Either the kid pesters mom and/or dad enough to they cave in to buying the expensive crap or they get ridiculed because their equipment isn't the shit. It's fucking stupid. I remember when I played sports, if I even dare asked my parents for a major name brand item, they would whoop my ass and tell me a Wilson glove caught just as well as a Nike one. |
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Glad my son has no interest in baseball. I couldn't afford to buy the equipment for him.
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Prices went up when they shipped the manufacturing off the China where it costs much more to extrude out a hunk of aluminum and stick some tape on the handle end.
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HOLY CRAP!!!! I'm not that old (I turn 40 this year), but I just saw a Sports Authority commercial for baseball equipment. $200-$300 for a freakin' BAT? When the hell did that happen? Jeez... Gotta pay to play. Is it really any different than your average Arfcom 400 lb land whale buying a Colt 6920 and an Aimpoint M4, along wit the 5.11 pants just to wheeze around on the range and pretend he's Costa for one or two Saturdays a month? I understand your feelings about equipment whores, but looking at the objects themselves, I don't see the comparison. Guns are machines with working mechanical parts that use explosive force to propel metal accurately onto a target. a bat is a fucking bat.... |
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A while back. Sporting goods have become all high tech in their design and materials –– playing sports has gotten expensive. What gets me is all the "less fortunate" kids trying to keep up with the richer kids that have all the snazziest and newest item. Either the kid pesters mom and/or dad enough to they cave in to buying the expensive crap or they get ridiculed because their equipment isn't the shit. It's fucking stupid. I remember when I played sports, if I even dare asked my parents for a major name brand item, they would whoop my ass and tell me a Wilson glove caught just as well as a Nike one. Actually Wilson gloves are held in higher regard than Nike. Your parents were right. |
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no kidding!
bats were 7.99 at thriftys and steal cleats were 6.99 hell registration for little league was 10.00 its crazy now... |
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Bats are like golf clubs. Lighter, bigger sweet spot = more money.
Kid can do fine with cheaper bats though cheap isn't really cheap anymore. |
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HOLY CRAP!!!! I'm not that old (I turn 40 this year), but I just saw a Sports Authority commercial for baseball equipment. $200-$300 for a freakin' BAT? When the hell did that happen? Jeez... Are you serious? Bats were that much when I played Little League/Babe Ruth back in 1995-2000. |
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and those expensive extra 10 yard bats "wear out" after so many hits and you need to buy the new model
when i was a kid i played baseball with a 20 year old bat
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and those expensive extra 10 yard bats "wear out" after so many hits and you need to buy the new model when i was a kid i played baseball with a 20 year old bat a 300 dollar bat is not going to make a hank aaron or babe out of anyone. just good marketing |
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I have 2 boys playing Little League, and I help coach. One of which also plays on a travel team. Bats are now being made of composite materials. Little League initially banned all composite bats because they would actually get more powerful (beyond the original Bat Performance Factor (BPF) of 1.15) with use. Most little league bats I have seen top out at around $200. Little League is slowly testing composite bats and making a list of approved bats. I have not experience any ridicule for the kids not having the $200 bats, and not many have them anyway. Of course, this is for a 10 yr old team. I'm sure it is different for the older kids. What you will find is that if you buy bats from the previous year, you can save 50% or more. Often times, the changes are minimal - mainly to the paint scheme. |
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Quoted: and those expensive extra 10 yard bats "wear out" after so many hits and you need to buy the new model when i was a kid i played baseball with a 20 year old bat My kids have been to The Bat in L-ville and we bought bats there. $20 or so, not including the free ones at the end of the tour (which really was free for military). Of course . . . it never gets used. |
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Buy some quality gear (shop around for the best price), take care of it, don't loan it out to every retard you know, and it should last until you have kids or they have kids.
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A while back. Sporting goods have become all high tech in their design and materials –– playing sports has gotten expensive. What gets me is all the "less fortunate" kids trying to keep up with the richer kids that have all the snazziest and newest item. Either the kid pesters mom and/or dad enough to they cave in to buying the expensive crap or they get ridiculed because their equipment isn't the shit. It's fucking stupid. I remember when I played sports, if I even dare asked my parents for a major name brand item, they would whoop my ass and tell me a Wilson glove caught just as well as a Nike one. Actually Wilson gloves are held in higher regard than Nike. Your parents were right. Wilson A2000 & A3000 are top flight goods. Wouldn't use anything else myself. |
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Quoted: Costs go up when you invest your profits in giant bat statues? http://www.kentuckycrosswords.com/learn/images/slugger.jpg That place is actually pretty effing cool. For those that haven't been, take a tour there sometime. There's also a history/arms museum across the street. |
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Hell, a $300 softball bat made a HUGE difference in the distance i could hit a ball. My hundreds of dollars in hockey equipment, however......have not made me a damn bit better.
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DeMarini. Pick up last years overstock models at half price on line.
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and those expensive extra 10 yard bats "wear out" after so many hits and you need to buy the new model when i was a kid i played baseball with a 20 year old bat Its called losing the pop. We used to keep out LVS TPX's in the deep freeze. |
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With all the testing and research they put into making things these days it doesn't suprise me. Price goes all the way down to paying for someone to sit there and come up with an awesome logo and how a bat will look. Marketing is just getting crazy.
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If you have a lathe and a few other tools you can make your own bats by the dozen. |
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A bit OT but I ride with friends that have $14,000.00 bicycles.
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Quoted: If you have a lathe and a few other tools you can make your own bats by the dozen. ..... out of a tree that has been hit by lightening....... |
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no kidding! bats were 7.99 at thriftys and steal cleats were 6.99 hell registration for little league was 10.00 its crazy now... Is that you Shoeless Joe? |
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Seriously, little league should outright ban those "high performance" bats. All the kids want to copy the pros, but even the pros don;t allow those kind of bats!
Keep costs down and keep the playing field level. |
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If you have a lathe and a few other tools you can make your own bats by the dozen. I know Little League will not allow metal bats without specs and "Approved for Little League" stamped on the bat. I assume the same goes for Wooden bats to ensure they fall within the size and weight parameters. We had a kid last year who had a bat that was obviously not a high priced bat... but it lacked the correct markings and he was not allowed to use it. In other words, homemade bats wouldn't work for little league. |
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A bit OT but I ride with friends that have $14,000.00 bicycles. My first car cost less than that brand new with AC and auto transmission! You can still by cars for less than that! |
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Seriously, little league should outright ban those "high performance" bats. All the kids want to copy the pros, but even the pros don;t allow those kind of bats! Keep costs down and keep the playing field level. They are banned. Anything higher than 1.15BPF is not allowed to be used. Composite bats that start at 1.15 and get better with age are also banned. The 1.15 limit has been in place for years. |
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A while back. Sporting goods have become all high tech in their design and materials –– playing sports has gotten expensive. What gets me is all the "less fortunate" kids trying to keep up with the richer kids that have all the snazziest and newest item. Either the kid pesters mom and/or dad enough to they cave in to buying the expensive crap or they get ridiculed because their equipment isn't the shit. It's fucking stupid. I remember when I played sports, if I even dare asked my parents for a major name brand item, they would whoop my ass and tell me a Wilson glove caught just as well as a Nike one. Actually Wilson gloves are held in higher regard than Nike. Your parents were right. I know that now, I was just using those two companies as an example. My current softball glove is a Wilson. |
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Most people try to buy their way to proficiency - look at people spending +$2000 on rifles and scopes here and can't hardly keep them on target if you FORCE them to lift the rifle off of the shooting bench!
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There is a "tier one" in every hobby.
And just like with guns, you'll get more bang for your buck by spending more time at practice than by spending more money on gear. |
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Seriously, little league should outright ban those "high performance" bats. All the kids want to copy the pros, but even the pros don;t allow those kind of bats! Keep costs down and keep the playing field level. They are banned. Anything higher than 1.15BPF is not allowed to be used. Composite bats that start at 1.15 and get better with age are also banned. The 1.15 limit has been in place for years. Good. How does that translate into English? Are there $400 bats in the "not-banned" category? If so, what makes them more desirable than a $20 Louisville Slugger? |
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Quoted: A bit OT but I ride with friends that have $14,000.00 bicycles. I want his wife. |
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Quoted: Quoted: If you have a lathe and a few other tools you can make your own bats by the dozen. Well then.......I'll take a dozen of these. http://www.bigbarrelbaseballbat.net/images/big-barrel-baseball-bat-3.jpg Hmmmmm ......... I don't recognize what type of wood those are. |
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Uh let's see 12 years ago I played Little League with a hand-me-down Louisville Slugger and a Rawlings glove from Sportmart.
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Sporting goods have gone down hill since Western Auto sold
Tommy guns over the counter.... |
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Seriously, little league should outright ban those "high performance" bats. All the kids want to copy the pros, but even the pros don;t allow those kind of bats! Keep costs down and keep the playing field level. They are banned. Anything higher than 1.15BPF is not allowed to be used. Composite bats that start at 1.15 and get better with age are also banned. The 1.15 limit has been in place for years. Good. How does that translate into English? Are there $400 bats in the "not-banned" category? If so, what makes them more desirable than a $20 Louisville Slugger? I believe the 1.15 BPF is based off of what a wooden bat produces as far as the 'bounce' the ball gets off of the bat. A wooden bat is around 1.00. Metal bats for use in most kid leagues must conform to that standard. . I think you'll see the $400 more on high school or softball bats. As I said, little league bats seem to top out at $200. For your adult softball leagues, it would be up to them to say if composite bats that improve over time are legal. In this case, $400 bats might get you something higher than 1.15 or that will go beyond 1.15 when broken in. The more expensive bats will be lighter (while maintaining strength) improving bat speed, handles will have some flex to them which supposedly helps, longer barrels with more 'sweet spot' material, etc. |
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Uh let's see 12 years ago I played Little League with a hand-me-down Louisville Slugger and a Rawlings glove from Sportmart. I guess your parents didn't love you either. Mine must have hated me. |
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Seriously, little league should outright ban those "high performance" bats. All the kids want to copy the pros, but even the pros don;t allow those kind of bats! Keep costs down and keep the playing field level. They are banned. Anything higher than 1.15BPF is not allowed to be used. Composite bats that start at 1.15 and get better with age are also banned. The 1.15 limit has been in place for years. Good. How does that translate into English? Are there $400 bats in the "not-banned" category? If so, what makes them more desirable than a $20 Louisville Slugger? I believe the 1.15 BPF is based off of what a wooden bat produces as far as the 'bounce' the ball gets off of the bat. Metal bats for use in most kid leagues must conform to that standard. . I think you'll see the $400 more on high school or softball bats. As I said, little league bats seem to top out at $200. For your adult softball leagues, it would be up to them to say if composite bats that improve over time are legal. In this case, $400 bats might get you something higher than 1.15 or that will go beyond 1.15 when broken in. The more expensive bats will be lighter (while maintaining strength) improving bat speed, handles will have some flex to them which supposedly helps, longer barrels with more 'sweet spot' material, etc. Thanks. Are the rule for High School leagues more wide open, with regard to BPF? It just seems the means to end a crazy "arms race" are already in place, and would be easy to implement. |
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Uh let's see 12 years ago I played Little League with a hand-me-down Louisville Slugger and a Rawlings glove from Sportmart. I guess your parents didn't love you either. Mine must have hated me. When I was 13 my old man bought me a black Kangaroo skin Nocona glove. I used that glove through 5 years of varsity baseball, two years of JC ball and still to this day it looks brand new, other than being very well broken in. I think that glove ran about $250 back in 1990. |
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Uh let's see 12 years ago I played Little League with a hand-me-down Louisville Slugger and a Rawlings glove from Sportmart. I guess your parents didn't love you either. Mine must have hated me. When I was 13 my old man bought me a black Kangaroo skin Nocona glove. I used that glove through 5 years of varsity baseball, two years of JC ball and still to this day it looks brand new, other than being very well broken in. I think that glove ran about $250 back in 1990. Something tells me that by 13, you were already showing some pretty impressive talent. I think I stopped playing ball before 13. You could say my talent was a tad less than impressive. I think your old man got his money's worth out of that glove. |
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When I was in high school 15 years ago, I had a $150+ bat, about $500 wrapped up in catcher's gear and a $100 glove....and it wasn't the worst. Friends on the team had batting cages with JUGS machines set up in their backyards. One our pitchers' dad had his own radar gun.
I think a lot of parents see sports as a way out of $100k+ for college with the potential of an easy retirement. |
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