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The Bison began practice on Sunday, January 17 inside the Fieldhouse at Bucknell. With only one month until their season opener at William & Mary on February 19th, the team has a limited amount of time to ready themselves for the 1999 season.
During the off-season, the Patriot League adopted new bat regulations in accordance to recommendations from the NCAA. These new regulations stipulate that the length to weight ratio can be no less than -3oz, which means that a bat which is 33 inches long can weigh no less than 30 ounces; the previous rule allowed bats to have a -5 length to weight ratio. Also, bat diameters are reduced from 2 3/4 inches to 2 5/8 inches. But the biggest change is related to the type of aluminum alloy that the bat is made of. For the last four or five years, the NCAA has allowed bats to be composed of C405 Aluminum Alloy. This alloy is extremely strong and allows the walls of the bat to be thinner than before. The thin walls compounded with the inherent resiliency of the C405 Alloy produces a dramatically greater "trampoline effect" on the ball, meaning that the ball leaves the bat at a higher velocity. With the new regulations, the NCAA hopes to reduce the exit speed of the ball off of the bat and reduce the amount of injuries from players being struck by batted balls. The Patriot League decided on the new regulations after toying with the idea of using wooden bats for this season. The Bison are still awaiting the arrival of their supply of these new bats, as quantities are limited because every college baseball team must use different bats this year.
Unfortunately for the Bucknell Baseball team, Brian Rydell, the Bison pitching coach, will be leaving the team in March to pursue his career as a golf pro at a country club in Harrisburg. Rydell is well liked and respected by all of the players and will be missed. Coming in to replace Coach Rydell will be 1996 graduate Mike Anders. During the winter, Coach Tommy Thompson, a former Detroit Tigers pitcher, Bucknell Baseball star and current golf coach, will be helping Coaches Depew, Hoyt and Rydell.
That is all to report for now. Check back in the beginning of February for the updated roster, final schedule and season preview from Bucknell's Radio and Television Coordinator, Bob Behler.
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