second, it is a serious question. we debated the merits of bat doctoring and painting at length here years ago. got doctored bats banned from the buy/sell board. drove many bat doctors to other boards, where the same eventually happened. my writings on trademark law may have helped inspire ASA to bring two lawsuits in federal court in Oklahoma against alleged bat doctors/painters and later against alleged makers/sellers of counterfeit decals. Yet, by all accounts, use of doctored bats is at an all-time high. It is damn near universal, to hear tell.
as I've noted in my published articles in Softball Magazine, several states have laws that arguably make use of illegal/altered bats in competitive events a crime. not a felony, generally, but still a crime. these laws generally come under the heading of "rigged sporting events" or "sports bribery," and don't get applies very often, but they do clearly apply to more than just bribing referees or participants. I found 13 states with such laws:
Alabama: Ala. Code § 13A-11-143, Tampering with sports contest; Colorado: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-5-402-03 rigging publicly exhibited contests; Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-162, 164, Rigging: Class D Felony; Haw. Rev. Stat. § 708-881, Tampering with a publicly-exhibited contest; Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 518.060, Tampering with or rigging sports contest; Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-614, Tampering with publicly exhibited contest; penalty; contest, participant, official, defined; N.H. Rev. Stat. § 638.8, Sports Bribery; N. J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:21-11. rigging publicly exhibited contest; N.Y. Penal Law § 180.50, Tampering with a sports contest in the second degree; N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-12-07, Sports bribery; Pa. Code § 4109, Rigging publicly exhibited contest; Tex. Code Ann. § 32.44. Rigging Publicly Exhibited Contest; Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-514, Bribery or threat to influence contest.
In NY, this law was used to prosecute the trainer of a boxer who stuffed his fighter's gloves.
These are all criminal statutes. While violation of a law is useful as evidence of a civil standard such as negligence, maybe we should also adopt a law that makes anyone who uses an illegal bat strictly liable for any injuries resulting from its use.
ok now i've done it, let's see if any of my former mohrboard friends chime in.
