Bat Rattling

[4Martini]

My daughter sized has been swinging an Echo Connect (black and red) for a while. We sized up this spring and the new bat (still black and red version) got a rattle pretty quick that was barely noticeable- most thought it was just a bit or glue or something that broke off. Now there are 4 or 5 separate small something’s rattling around in there. The bat is still under warranty- but we also only have 5 weeks left in our season (at which point it will still be under warranty).

How worried would you be about the growing amount of things rattling around in the bat? Her old one never had any problems. She is on a hitting tear -so I’d rather not mess with it- but it’s much more noticeable than it was.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

The problem is you might get an umpire who does a bat check and tosses it. Most likely, that won't happen, but it is a small risk. Also, the model you have is the 2020 version, so any replacement will be the new one since those are all but gone. The new Echo Connect Diamond is a great bat too.

 

[4Martini]

Is it more likely to break because it is rattling?

Just trying to figure out with lots of tournaments in the next month and then straight into tryouts what the best strategy is.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

The answer is maybe. It depends on what came loose. Do you have a backup bat she can use? Marucci has very good customer service and turnaround, so you would get a replacement quickly.

 

[4Martini]

She went from a 33 -11 to a 33 -10 and we still have the -11 and an old aluminum 32 -10 she uses in the barn in the winter. She’s pretty powerful - so not sure I want to go back to a lighter bat.

I think she’ll be at this size for the foreseeable future so I’m not totally against getting another bat.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

My older daughter had the 33-23 Echo Connect, and she loved it. It was still going strong when she sold it. My you get daughter has the new Echo Connect Diamond in a 34-24, and she swears it has more pop than her DS Ghost.

I can save you money on any brand, and we have plenty of Marucci in stock.

 

[The Man In Blue]

The problem is you might get an umpire who does a bat check and tosses it. Most likely, that won't happen, but it is a small risk. Also, the model you have is the 2020 version, so any replacement will be the new one since those are all but gone. The new Echo Connect Diamond is a great bat too.

 

[Dabears17]

I took a coaching class from the NFCA while at the College World Series. Part of it was a discussion by the NCAA softball person in charge of "equipment safety". She showed us the guts of a few models of bats, including different amounts of wear on the inside of three different ghosts. Bottom line is if your bat is rattling it could just be a little glue from the endcap, or it could be whatever the manufacturer is using on the inside of the bat to keep it from being too hot is breaking down and if compression tested, the bat could fail.

If a player gets hurt by a ball batted off a bat that is too hot, the umpires are the first ones who are going to get sued if there was any evidence they missed that the bat could be too hot. So if they see or hear something strange with a bat, they need to toss it.

I umpired a game at the 2nd day of an 8u tournament last weekend. A tiny player had a baseball bat the coaches were told on Saturday she couldn't use, but she came up to bat with it in my game. I knew she wasn't going to hurt anyone with it, but because it was a baseball bat, I had to tell her and her coaches she couldn't use it.

 

[The Man In Blue]

A "rattle" is illegal. The book doesn't give me any leeway whether it is a piece of glue, a "sand rattle," or a whole darned rattlesnake that crawled in there.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

A "rattle" is illegal. The book doesn't give me any leeway whether it is a piece of glue, a "sand rattle," or a whole darned rattlesnake that crawled in there.

We get it!