Teammates using my bat(s)?

[Crankmaster]

Bought a Easton SSR4 last week and told the guys on my team not to use it until I say so, I want the bat to be properly broken in first. Some guys said "Well I say we should use it, afterall, we are a team". I said "yeah, we are a team, thats why we buy team bats". Anyhow, even though I mentionned it to them, one guy took it upon himself to try it out after I had my turn. Then the next guy picks it up and throws it 20 feet into the cat litter field. Now I have some nice scratches on it and it's not even a week old.

Later I ask them if they wanted to have a BP, one guy said "I won't go because I'll have to use the old bats". This guy use to purchase bats for us until last year when I got sick and tired of what he was buying and I'd be buying bats from now on. I told him that it's not true he will have to use the old bats, That we have a Easton Reflex bought last year with less then 50 hits, we also have a Easton Cyclone that was bought last year with less then 10 hits. That we have a Worth Prodigy that was bought 3 years ago but as less then 50 hits. I also mentionned that I could go buy a Easton Hammer for 15$, that way he will be able to swing something new.

That shut him up.

These bats are tanks especially easton's so what if they get scratched its not a car its a damn bat made to hit softballs. I let anyone swing my bats who cares what happens to them.

 

[cordo22]

i overlap , so I shortened the grip on all my bats, people won't use them now since they box grip they don't fit.

I have found out that this works, take the grip off and put a different grip on that is to your liking.

I for one take my grips off, and put hockey tape on my bats since I have been using hockey tape since I was 8.

No one touches my bats with the nasty color changing hockey tape.

 

[db521]

I think this topic is brought up as much as the what is the best bat thread

 

[guzzler2209]

if they are on the fence, they are free game. otherwise, I keep it in my bag.

^^^^^ There's your answer!

I have put my bat away between at-bats sometimes but it can be hassle(and sometimes it isn't possible when I am a base coach or on-base after a hit).

Talk to the guy batting two spots behind you. Ask him to pick up your bat and put it in your bag when you reach base.

If you don't get along with your teamates well enough to do that, then you've got bigger problems.

 

[louconn]

Please do not make me out to be a d-bag. It should not be expected that my $200+ investment, along with said break-in BP time, is fair game for anyone to use. It bugs me when, like Jared said, guys "can't afford bats" and yet they smoke like a chimney in the dugout and go out and drink like fish after every game. I didn't mean to start such a hot topic here, I just thought someone might share the same opinion as me here. I don't show up and expect to use someone else's bat and I don't unless I am told by that player that it is ok to do so.

ur a d bag for asking how to go about this. be a man, and if you really dont want them using your bat, tell them "i really dont want you guys using my bat. ive got over $200 "invested"". pretty simple. u sound like a little ***** right now.

if my bats are returnable, i let my team swing them.

 

[Scott P]

In the beer league I played back in the 90's, a guy chucked my TPS PowerDome after he hit pop fly. That was the last time he swung that piece of aluminum. I don't have a good bat now, but I would hope that someone would ask before using it. I guess it comes down to manners.

 

[Blaker34]

I leave the broken in bats out, the non broken bats in my bag. While I would prefer in some cases that not everyone on the team would use all of my bats, I'm the bat *****, I break them out, there is no way in hell I'm going to tell my teammates/good friends not to use them.

There are exceptions though. If a guy rolls up with ANY of my bats and makes an out and chucks the bat against the fence or slams it against the ground, I definitely will say "Give me $300 bucks and you can beat it against a concrete pole for all I care" And I usually get "Sorry...........You paid $300 for this bat???"

Which brings up another topic, some guys don't understand how much some of these bats are worth. As long as they respect the fact that they are MY bats and treat them well, I'm ok with it.

I have to say though, my biggest pet peeve is when a guy will get 4 at bats, go 0-4 with 4 different bats as if the bat is the problem

 

[Blaker34]

Grow a set, be a man and stop pooh-say footing around. Just tell them not to swing your bats. If its that much of a concern, just handle it like a man. If they give you a dirty look or say something, just tell them you just f#cked their mom. You get the same look either way, according to what you said.

LOL!!!

 

[ThenTheresDan]

I actually wish MORE guys on my team would use my bats - instead they go and buy ****ty bats, and then insist on hitting with those bats because "they bought them".

YES! There's a kid on my team that has 4 crappy bats that he OVERPAID for anyway. He should have taken the money he blew on 4 crappy bats and bought one sweet bat.

 

[Chowder]

Lets put some math and money to this issue. Say you buy a bat for $200 and it will last for about 1500 swings. (fairly conservative numbers) If you're the only one using the bat, that's 200/1500 = $0.13 per swing. Not too bad.

Now lets say you and 1 teammate share the bat. That doubles to about $0.26 per swing and you only get 750 swings out of it.

Lets say you and 4 teammats share the bat. Now the cost is $0.65 per swing and you only get 300 swings out of it.

If all 10 people on your team use your bat, you're paying $1.33 per swing and you only get about 150 swings out of your bat before it breaks.

Hey, if you have enough money to "sponcer" a team for bats, more power to you. But most of us only make enough to take care of ourselves and thats about it.

 

[Blaker34]

YES! There's a kid on my team that has 4 crappy bats that he OVERPAID for anyway. He should have taken the money he blew on 4 crappy bats and bought one sweet bat.

What 4 crappy bats did he overpay for? And what Sweet bat would you have preferred?

 

[Brooks]

There is never an easy solution to this issue that will satisfy everyone. I've tried the "$15 per season per person" bat rental fee program. I have some lower grade comps and decent metals designated as free team use bats. Then I tell the team if they want to swing the top rated comps, they need to kick in a $15 per season fee to swing them because they weren't free for me. I usually have 4-6 guys that see that as fair and chip in. The rest who refuse to chip are then made to feel like d-bags if they grab the good bats without chipping in, so they usually don't. It's not an "end all" solution, but it helps keep the peace and recoop some of your costs.

 

[Blaker34]

Lets put some math and money to this issue. Say you buy a bat for $200 and it will last for about 1500 swings. (fairly conservative numbers) If you're the only one using the bat, that's 200/1500 = $0.13 per swing. Not too bad.

Now lets say you and 1 teammate share the bat. That doubles to about $0.26 per swing and you only get 750 swings out of it.

Lets say you and 4 teammats share the bat. Now the cost is $0.65 per swing and you only get 300 swings out of it.

If all 10 people on your team use your bat, you're paying $1.33 per swing and you only get about 150 swings out of your bat before it breaks.

Hey, if you have enough money to "sponcer" a team for bats, more power to you. But most of us only make enough to take care of ourselves and thats about it.

Then before you buy a bat, be creative. Send a mass email out to your teammates and say "Hey guys, thinking about buying a really nice bat and wanted to see if anyone wanted to chip in for it?" If there are 12-14 guys on the roster, you are going to get AT LEAST half to chip in, so if you can get $10-$15 bucks out of each guy, you get your bat half paid for, you then are majority owner. Therefore your only responsibility is to bring it to those games for the guys who pitched in for the bat. After that, you have the power to bring it to any other league or tourney you play in

In response to your comments about not having the money to afford other guys using your bat. If money is THAT tight where you can't spend $200 every other year for a nice bat, is it wise to be putting that much needed money into a softball bat?

 

[AutoAccessGarag]

I have no problem with my sticks being team bats, they are all returnable so if it breaks NP, besides I have 4 sticks out at every game so they all get used 2011 titan, 2011 reload, unleashed, and 2009 ri afterall its just a bat!

 

[slippuller49]

Me personally I dont give ****.. If I leave it out use it..

 

[Blaker34]

There is never an easy solution to this issue that will satisfy everyone. I've tried the "$15 per season per person" bat rental fee program. I have some lower grade comps and decent metals designated as free team use bats. Then I tell the team if they want to swing the top rated comps, they need to kick in a $15 per season fee to swing them because they weren't free for me. I usually have 4-6 guys that see that as fair and chip in. The rest who refuse to chip are then made to feel like d-bags if they grab the good bats without chipping in, so they usually don't. It's not an "end all" solution, but it helps keep the peace and recoop some of your costs.

I did that for the SRV6BH, half the team pitched in, my bro and I paid the rest. One guy on the team uses it. Everyone else uses the SSR2 and OG Eastons. LOL, it is what it is.

 

[Doughboy217]

I asked the same question before.(check link below) I ended up allowing my good buddys to use my bats and putting them in my bag if I didn't want anyone to use it. I even had to take one away from someone that I didn't want using my bat.

I showed up to a game a few weeks ago and the coach was sick so I was asked to make the line up and position everyone. I only show up when the coach needs players. I realized about 3 batters into our line up that there were no bats on the fence other than mine. Seriously, a mens team and there was no one on the team with a stick.. Not even a hammer or anything.. Of course I was pissed, so I'm only bringing my gamer for ME to swing from no on for this team...

http://forums.softballfans.com/showthread.php?t=1013186

 

[middlesopenalld]

if they are on the fence, they are free game. otherwise, I keep it in my bag.

Not trying at all to be a smartass,but how am i suppose to put my bat back in my bag when I'm always getting on base...I just tell everyone they are welcome to use my bats if they are willing to replace them.

 

[Rabbit23]

It's simple really. If you've "invested" 200 bones in a bat and don't want your teammates to use it, but won't say anything when they do, then you are the dumbs for simply "hoping" they won't. If they get the butthurtz when you tell em' not to use it, it's GFY time. Like others have said too, if you let em' use your sticks, it cuts down on the break-in time. Just remind them as they're walking to the plate that they're using someone else's bat and when they corn out to 2nd base and chuck it up against the fence, they're gettin shish-kabobbed with it. Either that or key their car and say "Sorry bro, thought it was a team ride".

 

[Doughboy217]

It's simple really. If you've "invested" 200 bones in a bat and don't want your teammates to use it, but won't say anything when they do, then you are the dumbs for simply "hoping" they won't. If they get the butthurtz when you tell em' not to use it, it's GFY time. Like others have said too, if you let em' use your sticks, it cuts down on the break-in time. Just remind them as they're walking to the plate that they're using someone else's bat and when they corn out to 2nd base and chuck it up against the fence, they're gettin shish-kabobbed with it. Either that or key their car and say "Sorry bro, thought it was a team ride".

Thats the sheeeet!

 

[OldManThreeNuts]

It's simple really. If you've "invested" 200 bones in a bat and don't want your teammates to use it, but won't say anything when they do, then you are the dumbs for simply "hoping" they won't. If they get the butthurtz when you tell em' not to use it, it's GFY time. Like others have said too, if you let em' use your sticks, it cuts down on the break-in time. Just remind them as they're walking to the plate that they're using someone else's bat and when they corn out to 2nd base and chuck it up against the fence, they're gettin shish-kabobbed with it. Either that or key their car and say "Sorry bro, thought it was a team ride".

LOL. Will remember that in the future and laugh my ass off all the way to jail.

 

[jhthibod]

We have a guy on our team that just shows up with a glove and cleats. All of us assumed he didn't own a bat and he always used 'team bats.' One day we go to BP and he has a NOW Miken he's swinging. We all ask him where he got it and he says he bought it for a league he plays in another night of the week without us. I feel like my team's welcome to swing anything I put on the fence, but if they're swinging mine, I should have access to their bat if they have one.

Here's a easy way I've found to keep people away though, I used a pink tennis grip on the handle of my Z1K and nobody has the 'courage' to use it during a game now except me.

 

[Matt G]

I bought a brand new Titan SBT542 Thursday, hit BP on Friday to break it in, webbed up good. Let the team swing it Saturday at a tourney (3-4 guys swung it all day) Let the team swing it last night (6-7 guys swung it, 4 ABs).

I included half the price of the bat $50 (bought it for $100) in the league fee. Instead of $40 per player it was $45.

Now I paid $50 for a great bat that is hot, my team has a 27oz bat they can all swing, and nobody is bitching.

 

[gopher wes]

Your teammates hit the ball better than you with your bats don't they?

So what if they do lol. That isn't the point. Cheese and rice, I'm sorry I brought the topic up. Never thought I would get ridiculed for it or called a d-bag/puss. Obviously I am new to the board, just thought it might be an interesting topic to see how others feel but instead I get ripped to shreds. My bad lol.

 

[gopher wes]

if u spent 200+ for either of those bats in ur sig.. you paid too much.

Not those particular bats. I have had $200+ bats break in the past from teammates swinging them.

 

[Triple7]

if they are on the fence, they are free game. otherwise, I keep it in my bag.

^^^This.^^^^

If it's leaning on the fence go ahead and swing it.

 

[steve02]

What gets me is the guys that dont own bat(s) complaining about the bats... like theyre making him hit ****ting.....

 

[eastonceramic]

Gopher,
I keep my bats in the corner seperate from the rest of the line up bats. before the game I have the Blue come by & let him know that I have "privateer bats" & to check them. Once the game starts, I use the bat I want & when come back to the dugout I put it back in my area. I also have self made stickers stating they are not team bats. If someoe comes up & ask me to use a bat I let them, at least there being polite to ask. If you need label & can make them & send them to you by mail.

 

[RalphG427]

All of my bats have my insurance policy on them as well. For the people I do let swing them when they ask I just tell them to make sure they read it first. U swing it, U break it, U buy it.

 

[Crankmaster]

So what if they do lol. That isn't the point. Cheese and rice, I'm sorry I brought the topic up. Never thought I would get ridiculed for it or called a d-bag/puss. Obviously I am new to the board, just thought it might be an interesting topic to see how others feel but instead I get ripped to shreds. My bad lol.

Your welcome