It was just a normal day in June for major league umpire Brian O'Nora. Eat lunch at noon with the crew. Relax. Get to the ballpark in Kansas City at 5:45 p.m.. Walk out to the field. Play ball. Ordinary, until the shards of a broken maple bat hit him — twice.

In the second inning, Kansas City Royals catcher Miguel Olivo hits a ground ball to the shortstop.

As Olivo heads to first, a stray splinter of his broken bat whips behind home plate, cutting O'Nora on the side and the back of the head. It was the second time in three months he had been victimized, with only two bloody butterfly pads on his head to show for it.

"I've been in the league since '91 and I've never seen anything like this before," O'Nora said. "I'm very lucky, very fortunate."

In recent years, the debate over the two predominant woods in baseball, maple and ash, has gained momentum after more and more fans, umpires and players have tried unsuccessfully to dodge broken bats. Terry Pollreisz, manager of the C......