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MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

(thelibertyline.com)
302 points cf100clunk | 4 comments | 31 Mar 25 15:27 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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jparishy ◴[31 Mar 25 16:04 UTC] No.43536564[source]▶
I think it's quite cool (disclaimer: I am indeed a dirty Yankees fan)

Hitting is really hard. If you feel up to it, and can find a public batting cage near you that has a fast pitch machine (usually maxes out 75-85mph which is 20+ mph less than your typical MLB fastball), give it a shot. When you hit the ball away from the sweet spot, especially on the parts closer to your hands, it really freaking hurts and throws off subsequent swings.

If the few players who are using this bat tend to hit that spot naturally, it makes a lot of sense to modify the bat to accommodate it, within the rules like they've done here. Hitting is super, super difficult especially today with how far we're pushing pitchers. Love seeing them try to innovate.

Plus, reminder, most of the team isn't using it. Judge clobbered the ball that day with his normal bat. Brewer's pitching is injured, and the starter that day was a Yankee last year and the team is intimately familiar with his game.

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fishpen0 ◴[31 Mar 25 16:19 UTC] No.43536733[source]▶
If every player ends up with a bat custom tailored to their swing this will get very interesting.
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jorvi ◴[31 Mar 25 19:08 UTC] No.43538586[source]▶
Every sport hits this sort of threshold where they ban optimization. Swimming did it with 'sharkskin' suits and long distance running with Nike's Alphafly and Vaporfly shoes.

Maybe that's where advanced baseball bats will end up eventually.

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next_xibalba ◴[31 Mar 25 19:13 UTC] No.43538639[source]▶
Which is so silly. I would love to watch a sport where all the athletes are on cutting edge, dangerously experimental PEDs and all the equipment is engineered to the very limits of nature. We draw oddly arbitrary lines what is and isn’t ok in sports.
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rglullis ◴[31 Mar 25 19:19 UTC] No.43538712[source]▶
> dangerously experimental PEDs

Would you be willing to be the guinea pig?

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dylan604 ◴[31 Mar 25 20:48 UTC] No.43539803[source]▶
Why would you ask someone reading HN that question? That's like asking a 'roided up athlete if they wanted to rewrite grep in Rust. Ask the athlete if they'd be willing to take PEDs if it would be allowed.
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triceratops ◴[31 Mar 25 21:11 UTC] No.43540021[source]▶
You only need one athlete that's willing to. The others will have no choice after that.

It's no different than asking if workers should be allowed to work without PPE.

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dylan604 ◴[31 Mar 25 21:23 UTC] No.43540131[source]▶
If workers want to work without PPE, then let them. Just ensure that they sign releases acknowledging that the PPE was made available to them and they chose of their own volition to not use it, and that by doing so they release everyone from any liability about what happens to them from not using the PPE.
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1. liamwire ◴[31 Mar 25 22:43 UTC] No.43540763[source]▶
Your comments go to show either a concerning lack of thought towards second-order effects, or a disturbing lack of empathy towards your fellow humans.
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2. dylan604 ◴[31 Mar 25 22:47 UTC] No.43540807[source]▶
If everyone else is using PPE, but you choose not to wear PPE, there's no empathy to be given. You may think the need for PPE is a hoax, but that's not anyone else's problem if there's a direct repercussion for your actions.

The problem was not offered as your sibling comment as a forced decision. Some people choose to juice, others do not. That same logic applied to if you want to do it, here's the waiver to acknowledge it was your decision. I can feel sorry for someone's family for being related to a dunce, but no empathy is required on my part for the dunce.

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3. triceratops ◴[31 Mar 25 22:59 UTC] No.43540919[source]▶
You're still only thinking about direct effects, not second-order effects. Keep workin' that noggin you'll get there.
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4. dylan604 ◴[31 Mar 25 23:21 UTC] No.43541075{3}[source]▶
okay, so one guy can choose to do it, and have his career burn bright but for a smaller amount of time than the ones that don't juice and extend their careers and life after playing. The ones that juice, will just get little asterisks next to their names in whatever records are kept. But you keep thinking your noggin is the end all be all.
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