A few years back, there was a similiar story (and it might have been this one), but something like this is such a freak accident that regardless what type of bat was used, the injury would remain the same. If I remember correctly, there's like a fraction of a millisecond where your heart is vulnerable when the chest is impacted. I can't recall if this is like this for everyone, or related to age, health, etc. I'll have to do a little more research later to see if I can find some information on it.

A few years back, there was a similiar story (and it might have been this one), but something like this is such a freak accident that regardless what type of bat was used, the injury would remain the same. If I remember correctly, there's like a fraction of a millisecond where your heart is vulnerable when the chest is impacted. I can't recall if this is like this for everyone, or related to age, health, etc. I'll have to do a little more research later to see if I can find some information on it.

 

 

It is largely the result not of the force of the blow, but from an incredibly timely blow contacting the chest directly over the heart at just the wrong time: the precise millisecond between heart contractions that throws the heart into a lethal abnormal heart rhythm called "ventricular fibrillation" or VF.

 

ALUMINUM BAT: There has been some controversy over non-wood bats recently. But Little League research shows them to be far safer than wood bats, and more cost-effective. The reason: wood bats for Little Leaguers are made of inferior wood, and tend to break in any case if not used correctly, resulting many times in a two-foot splinter of wood pinwheeling into the infield.

 

Both of the above are from a 2002 story by CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/24/earlyshow/saturday/main510148.shtml

 

There was quite a bit of discussion at that time about making the "heart guard" mandatory. My boys' LL days are long over. Whatever happened to the Heart Guard discussion?

It is largely the result not of the force of the blow, but from an incredibly timely blow contacting the chest directly over the heart at just the wrong time: the precise millisecond between heart contractions that throws the heart into a lethal abnormal heart rhythm called "ventricular fibrillation" or VF.

 

ALUMINUM BAT: There has been some controversy over non-wood bats recently. But Little League research shows them to be far safer than wood bats, and more cost-effective. The reason: wood bats for Little Leaguers are made of inferior wood, and tend to break in any case if not used correctly, resulting many times in a two-foot splinter of wood pinwheeling into the infield.

 

Both of the above are from a 2002 story by CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/24/earlyshow/saturday/main510148.shtml

 

There was quite a bit of discussion at that time about making the "heart guard" mandatory. My boys' LL days are long over. Whatever happened to the Heart Guard discussion?

 

:thumb: I knew I read something like this years ago.