Ban of metal bats....

It seems as if you jumped to a horribly funny conclusion. I have to admit, that I knew it meant baseball, but that doesn't mean you were terribly wrong. Did the article say New York city government officials or just the Yankees? If it is the Yankees officials, then yes they have every right to say what kind of bats can be used in their stadium. My guess if you look closer, it's the NY Yankee or Mets govererning bodies and not the city's government.

Funny that you thought it would matter if the crime was committed with a metal bat as opposed to a wooden bat. Anyway, no, the govt. should not get involved. But, the baseball/softball organizations should. The issue is not that it is metal, it's that the properties are purposefully such that the ball rebounds off the bats much faster than with a wooden bat. The manufacturers are all trying to outdo each other in this regard. The baseball/softball organizations must only allow metal bats that mimic the properties of wooden bats. The original intent of aluminum bats was to reduce the cost due to breakage and those original bats were not much different that bats made out of wood (other than you could hit the ball on the handle and still get a base hit). Rebound can be controlled by the manufacturers. I do believe, especially in softball, that the bats have gotten ridiculous. So much so that the balls have to be softened to reduce the danger. This makes no sense.

I think banning of metal bats would be a good thing because when hitting the ball with a metal bat travels much faster and harder at a player on the field. It is very dangerous for a pitcher when a player hits a line drive with a metal bat at him or her. You have very little reaction time to protect yourself and could prove deadly if you get hit in the head. I have gotten hit in the stomach once while pitching to a friend who used a metal bat and my stomach got severely bruised and took time to heal.