The debate over whether or not to allow metal bats in youth baseball out of safety concerns has made its way to Pennsylvania, and if people here in Maryland are paying attention, it just might open the door to bringing the Little League World Series here.

With the momentum of the decision earlier this year by New York City officials to ban the use of metallic bats in high schools, the Pennsylvania House's Children and Youth Committee is hearing testimony today on a proposed ban on non-wooden bats in organized baseball and softball games from high schools all the way down.

A coalition calling itself Don't Take My Bat Away, fronted by former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and comprised of sporting goods manufacturers, bat makers and Little League officials, has banded together from across the baseball universe to fight the move. They contend that metal bats are no less inherently safe than wooden bats, and don't want them taken away.

(By the way, left unspoken in the debate is the real reason why high schools and youth leagues use metal bats more than wooden bats: They cost less in the long run, as metal bats rarely need to be replaced. When was the last time a kid or a major leaguer for that matter kept the same wooden bat for an entire month, much less entire season?)

At any rate, Little League officials are hinting that if Pennsylvania enacts a metallic bat ban, they might move the World Series from Williamsport, the picturesque little town where it's been held since 1947.

Here's a humble suggestion: If the politicians in Pennsylvania are silly enough to enact such a ban, potentially tossing away millions of dollars in tourism and all the international media attention that comes with it, Maryland officials should immediately move to bring the World Series to, say, Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen.