2020 Easton Ghost

[MadBandit22]

1) Are you talking about Stealth Flex? The Stealth Flex was junk. That’s why it gathers dust. Anyone who knows anything about bats could see it was junk after one front toss session. One of my darling daughters, who was btw a D1 hitter, had to use them. They were not in the same room with real Stealth or Ghost or even the Xenos she used pre-college. Of the 25 players on the roster, NOT ONE used the Stealth Flex when given a choice between an older Stealth or a Ghost.

2) You may feel that the Ghost has a smaller sweet spot. Despite the fact that you post that same thing over and over and over again, it isn’t true for all or even most hitters. Ghost must not be a good fit for your hitters. That’s ok. But don’t assume that it isn’t a good fit for other hitters. There is a best bat for every player out there. If Ghost isn’t it, swing what works best for you.

3) If Ghost had a small sweet spot, and was less forgiving, you would not see as many of them in use as you do. They are literally EVERYWHERE at the highest levels of softball. Natural selection determines what bats are used at the highest levels. Players that hit every day know what works for them. That’s why Ghosts.......THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. It isn’t because the poor poor parents didn’t get a chance to read your 300 posts about how they hit duds.

4) I have avoided saying this but here goes: My kid hits frigging rockets with Ghost. Her Tb friends hit rockets with Ghost. Duds? No. Give me a break. The guy who pitches to dd who used to play on the USA Men’s team? He used to recommend LXT. Now he recommends Ghost to most hitters when they ask. He has players sprinkled all over D1 softball and works camps full of high level players all over the country. DD’s high school team mates hated it when the high school assistant coach hit infield with a Ghost because she didn’t seem to be able to *not* blast lasers at them. Most of those hs kids don’t know what end of the bat to swing but they picked up on the fact the the heat is coming when Coach swings the grey bat.

5) My dd went from swinging Xenos to swinging Ghosts. She was a very early adopter. That first summer, no one knew what it was. At P5 camps, coaches and players would pick it up and look at it. One, head coach (Demarini school) walked all the way across a practice facility to ask her about it. At another camp, one of the best college hitters in the country (LS school) picked up her -8, looked it over and swung it herself as if to check out the feel. She didn’t do that because she didn’t think it was good. She did it because she could tell it was a good bat.

Now you can keep posting your personal opinions about bats. What I will say is that the only people who believe it are uninformed parents who haven’t been around the sport. I don’t know where you live, what level of softball you are familiar with or what your experience is. People who have been around the sport know that Ghost DOES NOT have a smaller sweet spot, Ghost IS NOT less forgiving and players swinging Ghost DO NOT alternate between bombs and duds. That’s just goofy.

I apologize to all for going the “my dd” route with this post. It had to be done.

Oh and let’s not forget about the durability issues with Ghosts. Some dealers won’t carry them anymore due to so many cracking problems. Now I’m tired of the same people chiming in with nothing new to add to threads. Yada, Yada, Yada.

 

[Westwind]

Top 10 lists. Lol.

I know that’s how I always researched bats.

 

[Eric F]

Absolutely will. Check the top 10 bat lists. Slugger & Demarini pretty much dominate them. PC mixed in on some a few have Ghosts.

Top 10 lists are often directly related to marketing for a particular brand, and really don't matter to me at all. What I see out on the fields of travel softball in So Cal, is a large majority of players swinging Ghosts. It's not even a close race these days. That said, I could care less about popularity. When my DD was swinging a Miken Freak Black in 12U, I think we saw only one or two other MFBs all year. My kid liked the MFB in her hands, and hit very well with it. Now, she likes the Ghost and hits the ball very well with it.

 

[Westwind]

Oh and let’s not forget about the durability issues with Ghosts. Some dealers won’t carry them anymore due to so many cracking problems. Now I’m tired of the same people chiming in with nothing new to add to threads. Yada, Yada, Yada.

Some dealers won’t carry them? Why? They would have nothing to do with warranty replacement process. Do they not like the color of money? Or they as business owners want to do what’s right for the children, lol

So if they have durability issues and don’t hit as well as the beloved LS, perhaps market forces would cause less people to use them.

But since market forces of fastpitch bats seem to be driven by 1) Performance, 2) Performance and 3) Performance, it seems that isn’t the case.

 

[MadBandit22]

I

Top 10 lists. Lol.

I know that’s how I always researched bats.

I know WW everybody else is wrong and you think your right. I get that impression from you. I’m talking about personal experience. If your experience is different good for you.
No better place to start looking for a bat than best of lists. Then you swing them and see what works for you personally. Now a Jedi like you must have a better way to choose a bat.

 

[MadBandit22]

Top 10 lists are often directly related to marketing for a particular brand, and really don't matter to me at all. What I see out on the fields of travel softball in So Cal, is a large majority of players swinging Ghosts. It's not even a close race these days. That said, I could care less about popularity. When my DD was swinging a Miken Freak Black in 12U, I think we saw only one or two other MFBs all year. My kid liked the MFB in her hands, and hit very well with it. Now, she likes the Ghost and hits the ball very well with it.

That’s why you go to independent lists with no ties to any manufacturers. Exactly you try out a bunch of bats and check for feedback and see what works best for you.
I liked the MFB & the Chill just had durability issues.

 

[Eric F]

That’s why you go to independent lists with no ties to any manufacturers. Exactly you try out a bunch of bats and check for feedback and see what works best for you.
I liked the MFB & the Chill just had durability issues.

I go to the field. I let my kid try bats in her own hands. As I said, I don't care what's popular, or on someone's Top 10 list. I care what works for my kid. The blue Ghost was great for her, and the 2020 Ghost is too. If the Ghost doesn't work best for your kid, I don't recommend buying her a Ghost.

Our of curiosity...What independent lists are you finding? Got some links?

As for Top 10 (in the real world), I would agree that most of the Demarini and LS bats are probably in the Top 10. Based on what I see in dugouts every weekend, the Top 1 most popular bat is the Ghost.

 

[MadBandit22]

Since the Ghost came out, I have paid for exactly two bats.

Two.

DD swung them exclusively in games and practice since day one with the exception of a two month period last spring when she experimented with an older Stealth Speed.

She hits at least 200 balls per week except the second half of November and all of December. More in season.

I haven’t had any any durability issues but teammates have. It’s a quality bat IMO as I’ve said previously. Is it the best bat on the market I don’t believe it is.
From what I am seeing the 2020 Ghost is very similar to the 2018 ASA version. My concern is if the SP is the same. I don’t have a need for another ASA Ghost with a new paint job.
What peaks my interest is something new and supposedly better that hits the market. AKA the RXT. New connection joint, new inner floating barrel. Believe me I can get a Ghost for much less than a RXT. Just gotta make sure the Ghost is a better choice.

 

[Eric F]

I haven’t had any any durability issues but teammates have. It’s a quality bat IMO as I’ve said previously. Is it the best bat on the market I don’t believe it is.
From what I am seeing the 2020 Ghost is very similar to the 2018 ASA version. My concern is if the SP is the same. I don’t have a need for another ASA Ghost with a new paint job.
What peaks my interest is something new and supposedly better that hits the market. AKA the RXT. New connection joint, new inner floating barrel. Believe me I can get a Ghost for much less than a RXT. Just gotta make sure the Ghost is a better choice.

Dude. It's clear you don't want a Ghost. Don't get a Ghost.

If you think the RXT (or whatever) is better for your DD, go get an RXT (or whatever). End of story.

 

[MadBandit22]

I go to the field. I let my kid try bats in her own hands. As I said, I don't care what's popular, or on someone's Top 10 list. I care what works for my kid. The blue Ghost was great for her, and the 2020 Ghost is too. If the Ghost doesn't work best for your kid, I don't recommend buying her a Ghost.

Our of curiosity...What independent lists are you finding? Got some links?

As for Top 10 (in the real world), I would agree that most of the Demarini and LS bats are probably in the Top 10. Based on what I see in dugouts every weekend, the Top 1 most popular bat is the Ghost.

My DD likes the Ghost and she is asking for the 2020. The Ghost is scary when you square it up. It’s really the only bat I’m leary about her using when I’m pitching to her. Actually made me start using a screen when pitching which I hate.
She would be using the Ghost but we play mostly Utrip tourney’s. She uses the Ghost for Rec unless we have a tourney coming up and then she will use LS’s.
I think the new Ghost is getting a lot of attention due to the WCWS. UCLA was crushing the ball. Great talent and would have crushed the ball with tree limbs.
You seem like somebody that likes to do their own research. I’m sure you can find impartial lists/reviews as I have.