re: Baseball: New bats broken down

Cost efficiency. It's also part of the reason why NCAA scholarship allowances for the sport are so atrociously low.

Ironically, the tradition of the game as a part of American culture causes the NCAA not to want to do anything that might raise the necessary costs for running a program, because they don't want little bitty schools out in Nowhere U.S.A. to stop playing the game.

I mean, there are over 300 college programs that play Division I baseball, almost as many as basketball. Anybody who has ever taken long-distance baseball travel trips understands that it's not an easy thing to do. Baseball requires a lot of time and resources to do right.

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Why did they get away from using wooden bats?

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Aluminum bats were intruduced at the college level in 1974. Was viewed as a cost-saving alternative to wood. On average a $300 aluminum bat can last an entire season, while a $100 wooden bat can break at any time.

Plus the extra offense and scoring boost they produced was intended to add excitement and appeal to the game and bring in more fans.