Hurley treatment a smash hit with US Major League Baseball

EARLIER this year, after months of research, Broadford man Flan Marsh came up with a treatment for hurleys that prevents the ash from flying through the air when the hurley breaks.
Now, Flan is in communication with officials from Major League Baseball in the US with a view to having baseball bats fitted with the same safety feature.
“Baseball bats are made from ash and maple and, like hurleys, they break. A friend of mine was reading an article about the problems this was causing for the game and he emailed them details of what I had done with regard to the treatment of hurleys to make them safer. Within 10 minutes they responded and we have been in communication regularly over the past few weeks”, Flan Marsh told The Clare Champion this week.
“They wanted to know what the technology was and asked all about the safety aspect. They were very impressed.
“We asked them to send us some bats and a consignment is on the way. We will treat them and send them back and see how it goes from there. We are in communication with their technical people, who have asked us for the technology and this is something we are considering at this time,” he added.
Marsh developed his treatment for hurleys because of his concerns for the safety of those who play the game. Having been hit by a flying hurley himself, he was determined to do something to make it safer for players and spectators.
Marsh’s hurleys will still break, although breaks are less common. However, when one of his hurleys breaks, the two pieces stay together.
A roofing contractor, Flan turned to making hurleys when work dried up because of the recession and he believes that the treatment he developed for hurleys can be adapted for baseball bats and help rid Major League Baseball of the scourge of broken bats.
Over the past decade or so MLB has seen a significant rise in the number of broken bats and injuries related to these breaks. Stories about fans being injured by flying pieces of bats have become all too common.
Metal bats have been banned from youth leagues in New York and North Dakota. Many other youth leagues have imposed their own similar bans. Metal bats are increasingly being replaced by wooden ones.
One of the worries about a return to wooden bats is cost; metal bats are cheaper because they need to be replaced far less frequently. If Marsh’s treatment can solve the problems by making the wooden bat less breakable, he could help tip the balance in the direction of wood over metal.
“Since The Clare Champion highlighted the fact that I am making shatter-proof hurleys, we have been particularly busy. Being asked by the Major League Baseball to is a huge boost and I am looking forward to doing business with them,” Flan said this week.
He may well be the right man with the right idea at the right time.