Broken shared bat protocol

[Momo'sDad]

On the long trip home last night, I learned that an otherwise terrific weekend for our girls at Big League Dreams came at a cost - a cracked bat.

One of Mo's teammates has been allowing her to use her bat in every game they've played for quite some time now, all the way back into the summer. I think she's only used her own bat maybe half the time.

I haven't spoken to the other player's dad yet, but before I do, I wanted to find out if there's a normal protocol for handling situations like these. If I understand the story correctly, this bat had been previously replaced by Demarini, but is no longer under warranty. It's a 2013 CF5. I was thinking it would be fair to offer $100 towards her next bat.

 

[JAD]

Most bat manufacturers only offer one replacement bat if it breaks. The replacement bats are usually stamped in the end cap as a warranty replacement bat. I think your offer to donate $100 towards the purchase of a new bat is very generous, but if it was my DD's bat that broke in that circumstance I would politely decline your offer. Bats wear out, and 90+% of the "hits" most bats see are during batting practice and warm ups.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

I think if ya open the conversation up with the other party and reasonably talk-thru what % of use was from yer DD you guys could land on a proper share of the replacement. I am not suggesting you guys count hits or anything that ridiculous but just round percentages to the ten's.

I remember one time when my DD let another use her bat. This other girl would love to clean her spikes after every pitch, on the metal spikes, with the softer composite bat. I didn't know this was happening since the whole team essentially used the same bat model and only found out about it after DD's bat was just ripped to shreds by the spikes.

That was a tense discussion when I asked for them to put up the dominent portion of replacement.......

 

[CoogansBluff]

I was thinking it would be fair to offer $100 towards her next bat.

That would be very gracious, IMO.

But if my DD was letting someone else use her bat and it broke, I wouldn't expect that the borrower help pay for the bat. It was my DD's choice to let someone use it. It's her (and my) responsibility.

That would be different if the borrower did something careless, like smashed it into a fence pole after striking out.

 

[moe]

Cost of true sportsmanship, team playing and sharing. I would decline your offer, but really appreciated you cared enough to make the offer. My DD might like your DD's new bat better next season....

 

[CoreSoftball20]

The bat was already a warranty return thru Demarini, so the bat was broken once before and replaced by them. Its a one time replacement for bats by most all manufacturers within a year of purchase (the time frame varies by manufacturer sometimes).
I dont like "sharing" bats only for that reason. If you allow a bat to be used by others, you take the financial risk of it breaking. I dont feel the others need to pay anything unless they agreed to give something before using. Plus, if you dont inspect the bat after every person uses it, you never know when it actually broke.
This girl even let others use it after it was replaced once before. So she knew the bat was no longer warrantied after that. It sucks, but bats break...its a cost you have to be ready to take on if you want the best equipment. If the other people using it wanna chip in, that's a nice gesture and probably would be appreciated. Feel how your daughter would feel if her bat broke because she was nice and letting others use it. If I were this person, I would like the others to give some money towards a new bat.
I have always been on the thought process that anybody playing organized ball/travel ball should have their own bat. Nothing like being comfy with your own bat and always knowing it will be with you for every game.

 

[SCDad]

My take on this is quite different.

If it were the other girls 2nd bat, which she rarely used, fine, borrow it to your hearts content.

If it were the other girls #1, her best bat, shame on you!!! Don't "borrow" another players #1 bat and use it all year. Sure, borrow a bat to see if you like it. Sure, if you are in a bind, borrow someone's #1 bat for one (1) tournament.

DON'T EVER USE SOMEONE ELSE'S #1 BAT FOR AN EXTENDED TIME!!!!!

If I were them, and you used her #1 bat for an extended time, your name is already MUD. Whether you think so, or not. Buy her a new one, and give it to her.

If you were using a players #2 bat ... chipping in $100 would be generous.

These bats are the tools players use to perform. It has emotional attachment, for if they think it makes them hit better ... guess what ... it truly does, just because they "think" it does. Some families do not know how to say NO. But, believe you me, they are steaming right now.

 

[JAD]

These bats are the tools players use to perform. It has emotional attachment, for if they think it makes them hit better ... guess what ... it truly does, just because they "think" it does. Some families do not know how to say NO. But, believe you me, they are steaming right now.

I would never recommend becoming "emotionally attached" to a bat....they are all going to break or wear out eventually. My DD pretty much goes through a bat a year with 10 months of heavy use between TB and HS ball.

 

[justanotherguy]

I teach my DD to gladly and happily share. I've only ever bought one expensive bat, an Easton XL1. I've personally handed it to kids on her team and had them give it a shot. I've never seen my DD have issues with anyone borrowing any of her equipment. We even lent her catcher's helmet to the opposing team once when the kid's helmet failed. If anything ever breaks, well, it happens. My kid has used it the majority of the time, so it was simply due. If someone liked her bat and wanted to use it in place of their own, have at it! I would never expect anyone to pay for something broken unless it was due to negligence, like throwing it and hitting something.

 

[marriard]

On the long trip home last night, I learned that an otherwise terrific weekend for our girls at Big League Dreams came at a cost - a cracked bat.

One of Mo's teammates has been allowing her to use her bat in every game they've played for quite some time now, all the way back into the summer. I think she's only used her own bat maybe half the time.

I haven't spoken to the other player's dad yet, but before I do, I wanted to find out if there's a normal protocol for handling situations like these. If I understand the story correctly, this bat had been previously replaced by Demarini, but is no longer under warranty. It's a 2013 CF5. I was thinking it would be fair to offer $100 towards her next bat.

Technically of course you don't HAVE to do anything... but what you are proposing sounds like more than fair and should be appreciated by the other party. Whether they take you up on the offer or not is up to them and if I was in the same situation I wouldn't think any more or less of them if they accept or decline.