19 Sluggers defective?

[The Man In Blue]

That 95% would be right. It is not grounds for ejection. The only way it would be would be if the catcher came back out with it after being instructed it was not usable until repaired.

I was being absurdist in saying it would get finally get coaches' to take responsibility and pay attention to the equipment if we ejected when we found it at the pre-game. I didn't necessarily mean ejection for screws, I was referring to the illegal bats. I see how I caused confusion by listing the other issues we commonly find. Sorry!

You bring up an interesting point on discretion though ... Do we have discretion on equipment? If I let the other team use an illegal bat because the girl wasn't a big hitter anyway, would your coach be OK with that? Should I let a batter come up to the plate with no face mask on her helmet because I don't think the pitcher throws "that hard"?

We've seen videos on here and chastised umpires for assessing proper penalties for illegal bats. Do we have discretion? No, illegal bats are a very specific penalty.

If a batter comes to the plate/catcher comes out and her mask is missing screws, and this is the FIRST time it seen by the umpire: we call time, make the player go replace or repair the equipment (likely we aren't waiting around on a repair though). The second time the player or same piece of equipment comes out, we are going to start getting more severe. If the direction is continually ignored, it could lead to ejection.

What drives me nuts is tossing the same batting helmet repeatedly on different days. Fix the darn thing or quit bringing it out!

 

[texasheat]

You bring up an interesting point on discretion though ... Do we have discretion on equipment? If I let the other team use an illegal bat because the girl wasn't a big hitter anyway, would your coach be OK with that? Should I let a batter come up to the plate with no face mask on her helmet because I don't think the pitcher throws "that hard"?

We've seen videos on here and chastised umpires for assessing proper penalties for illegal bats. Do we have discretion? No, illegal bats are a very specific penalty.

If a batter comes to the plate/catcher comes out and her mask is missing screws, and this is the FIRST time it seen by the umpire: we call time, make the player go replace or repair the equipment (likely we aren't waiting around on a repair though). The second time the player or same piece of equipment comes out, we are going to start getting more severe. If the direction is continually ignored, it could lead to ejection.

What drives me nuts is tossing the same batting helmet repeatedly on different days. Fix the darn thing or quit bringing it out!

It's a loose screw. Reason you see them appear over and over is that no one really cares about it other than the association's lawyers.
You and I both know there’s 5 or 6 of them on a face mask so one loose one isn’t going to cause catastrophic failure but good luck getting the lawyers to sign off on that so you get the pleasure of having to worry about one more thing.

 

[The Man In Blue]

I personally don't think it's fair. They let me on the field with a few loose screws every game.

Here is the flip side of that though ... if it is so easy to check and "not a big deal" why aren't coaches and parents checking the SAFETY EQUIPMENT that is protecting your child. You spend hundreds of dollars on a bat, but you can't take 30 seconds to check the equipment that is protecting them.

Who cares if a facemask on a helmet is missing a few screws? No, the facemask isn't going to explode or shatter ... but it also isn't going to perform as designed. It will enhance risk of injury.

If the "service airbag" light comes on in your car, do you just put a piece of tape over it? Do you take the batteries out of your smoke detector when it goes off? Instead of clicking your seat belt, do you just tie it together?

People forget what safety equipment is supposed to do BECAUSE it does its job and we don't realize it.

 

[texasheat]

I personally don't think it's fair. They let me on the field with a few loose screws every game.

Here is the flip side of that though ... if it is so easy to check and "not a big deal" why aren't coaches and parents checking the SAFETY EQUIPMENT that is protecting your child. You spend hundreds of dollars on a bat, but you can't take 30 seconds to check the equipment that is protecting them.

Who cares if a facemask on a helmet is missing a few screws? No, the facemask isn't going to explode or shatter ... but it also isn't going to perform as designed. It will enhance risk of injury.

If the "service airbag" light comes on in your car, do you just put a piece of tape over it? Do you take the batteries out of your smoke detector when it goes off? Instead of clicking your seat belt, do you just tie it together?

People forget what safety equipment is supposed to do BECAUSE it does its job and we don't realize it.

Because one loose screw doesn't matter. That's why. Simple as that. Comparing it to a seat belt or airbag is apples to screwdrivers. Come on man.

 

[osagedr]

DD went through NINE 2019 Slugger PXT (33 drop 10) last season. She loved the pop; bat would last anywhere from a week to a month then develop a large rattle inside. Retailer stood behind it every single time. We eventually took one apart (i.e. removed end cap) and it was the hokiest design you ever saw: there is a little plastic bracket inside the end cap, into which a small carbon fibre rod about the size of a long finger is inserted. A hole is drilled through the bracket in the end cap and through the rod, and...wait for it...a stainless steel finishing nail is inserted through the hole then bent (I'm not kidding) to stay in place. The rod is more or less secured to the inner wall of the bat barrel by what looks like strips of gauze that have been glued to the rod then the inner wall. That little rod, which weighs 7/10 of an ounce, appears to play no performance role whatsoever, other than making a cool "tink" sound on contact (maybe it helps end-weight the bat as well). So what happens is after enough swings the hole drilled through the little rod with the nail in it starts to crack, and eventually the rod breaks loose and rattles around in the bat. This is a well-known issue and the reason there is no more PXT (as we all know Slugger moved to the RXT this year). Meanwhile, back on the ranch, DD eventually went with a 2020 LXT 33 drop 9 and absolutely loves it. No performance issues so far (well I guess we are going to but a new bat grip tomorrow).

 

[MadBandit22]

We finally got a chance to get on a field yesterday for a couple of hours.
We used every bat in the bag and had some disturbing results.
It was 54’ at 5:30 when we started. In the mid 40’s at 7:30 when we finished.
We saved the new bats for last which I really didn’t want to use below 60’.
Against my better judgement I let the kids use their favorite “game bats”.
All the bats performed well which means the girls are hitting well which is always a treat for me.
Anyway, at the end of hitting session the girls were saying the 19 Xeno & LXT were making noises and the barrel was moving on the Xeno.
The LXT has a rattle in the handle and another in the barrel. Resin/glue came loose apparently.
The Xeno the internals were shifting/moving down towards the end cap during swings. Strange feeling and not moving on every swing.
Very surprised we have 17 LXT, Xeno, & 18 PXT, & Xeno. All these bats have been bullet proof.
The good news I guess is that the Ghost DS & Adv. are none the worse for wear.
Anybody else have bad experience with 19 Sluggers?

Shout-out to Slugger & Rukket. Rec’d two emails today from Slugger. They will be replacing both 2019 Xeno & LXT with 2020 versions. I wasn’t able to find receipt for Xeno but they replaced it just the same. (I think the pic of all the Slugger gear we have may have swayed their decision to do the right thing),
The Rukket socknet had one of the lower loops fray. I was expecting just a new net. Rukket sent a whole new 9X9 unit poles and all. Lifetime warranty is definitely the way to go!!!

 

[JumboJack]

I think Core pointed out the reason that bat rattles are not allowed. Bats that have been shaved are very prone to have a rattle or three.