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Not sure how many of you saw the video of the Chicago Cubs baserunner getting stabbed in the chest by a shard from a shattered maple bat, but if you didn't, I assure you it wasn't pretty.

In fact, it was downright ugly.

A few inches and the runner would have been either killed or much more, seriously injured.

That shouldn't happen, but baseball has only itself to blame.

Major League Baseball has a set of rules for developing bats and if someone or some company wants to provide them to the Major Leagues they have to both meet specs and pay a healthy fee.

Slowly, maple has replaced ash as the wood of choice. Thank Barry Bonds for that. He broke the home run record with a Sam Bat made in Canada from Canadian maple.

Since then, the maple bat has been the choice of many if not most hitters.

Maple might be good for the fans as it is a harder wood and if you can swing it, there will be more pop. That translates into more home runs.

But, it is not good for the players if they are going to be put at risk.

A couple years ago Major League Baseball ordered a study of why maple bats shatter.

I would guess they do because of the property of the wood.

I have seen them shatter in amateur league games too. Luckily no one has been in the way.

Wood bats belong in baseball. They make it the pure game it should be. I will go one step further and tell you I feel they should be at all levels of baseball.

But, the wood must also be such that the game is safe.

Major League Baseball has a challenge ahead of it. I hope they take it seriously and make it about safety rather than money.