Watch for a catch-up in the coming week(s) on our latest five good things that happened in or near Wiscasset. There were plenty, as you may have read on our pages and at wiscassetnewspaper.com, but the monthly honor will have to wait due to the shocking national development at press time, on the news and on radio sports talk shows, all about the use of "torpedo" baseball bats and all the home runs they were being associated with.

Tenpin bowling went down a lot of pegs for us longtimers when, 30 or more years ago, changes in the lanes and other equipment made talent and earned skills less important than they traditionally had been. Success in a sport should take being a natural, or being extremely dedicated to improving. When someone is both, that is the magic combination.

Still is, and I get sports is an industry, and industry has to always be working on and selling the next thing.  

I also know major leaguers still need talent and skills to play at that level because baseball is about more than hits.

But like a perfect game in tenpins becoming a lot more common than the high bar it once was, especially for amateurs, having a baseball bat help your stats does not mean you got better. And after a while, fans will feel a little, maybe even a lot, less excited for home runs if there are more of them.

Keep big league baseball how we remember it, while a home run is still a big deal. Regulate torpedo bats out of the sport.