In Rememberance of the Late, Great Frank Finn

It would not be appropriate to start this endeavor without thanking the man who served as our team Captain, Frank Finn. Frank was, and still is on every field, track and gridiron on the cape.

     My first meeting with Frank was during a baseball game, oh about 16 years ago. He, very gently, came over to me and asked if he could position himself on the field to take some pictures of the kids. "Of course," I replied. Llater I found out that what he really wanted was for me to clear up a few confusing situations that happened several games ago, thus the beginning of a very harmonious relationship.

     Throughout the years, he contacted me regarding plays, rules and judgment calls. He definitely understood that since I did not see first hand what had happened, all answers were arbitrary.

     Frank Finn had the greatest respect for the Men in Blue, although he confronted several umpires with some rules knowledge questions that he did not understand or felt as if they weren’t necessary. He also was thrilled with the state mandated use of the wooden bat during the 2005 high school baseball season. Frankie said "Oh, Joy, that's the way the game is supposed to be played." We were definitely on the same page with this issue.

     I'd like to discuss the features and benefits of wood vs. aluminum bats. Perhaps we could make this an interactive issue. Part of an umpires pre game duties is to check the bats for dents & flat sides and check the helmets for any cracks. I spoke with a varsity coach the other day and asked just how much those fancy aluminum bats cost the schools. His reply was very surprising. He said that the school budget was so strained that the school hadn't bought new bats for two years and the kids (parents) purchased all those bats against the fence. $ 300.00 each was the estimate and he mentioned that they might "go dead" after one year's use. There were nine bats resting on the fence. You do the math!

     How many wooden bats can a team buy with $2700.00, at between $50 and $60 each, the total would be approximately 46. Forty-six wooden bats. I'll bet that if the local bat company were to fill a large order for a school team the price would be even lower.

     From my experience officiating wooden bat baseball, players would not be afraid to play third base, pitchers would be more relaxed on the mound not worrying about those come-backers to the face and the percentage of strikes thrown would increase.

     No one can deny that strikes are good, they keep the game moving, defensive players on their toes, the fans cheering and the scores reasonably close which makes for a more exciting game.

     And to conclude, the State of New York recently mandated that all high school baseball games use wooden bats due to the continued injury total.