WAUPACA, Wis. — John Zeamer invested his life savings into a new baseball bat this spring. He paid $250 for a sleek DeMarini Voodoo bat, a model he hopes will help him live up to the nickname Big Country, which he earned for the long balls he hit deep into the outfield.
The investment was not entirely his own decision. Zeamer, 10, and millions of other youth baseball players were forced to dig deep into their (or their parents’) pockets for new bats this season, models stamped with the U.S.A. Baseball logo and mandated by new standards issued by the organization.