and i may be mentally challenged(the wife thinks so at times)but…when and why did the colleges start using the aluminum bats and the reasoning ?sorry if this has been asked before but it got me wondering…thanks
For as long as I can remember
And it’s a cost issue
Wooden bats break and over time it’s more expensive
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Cost, really. When aluminum bats first came out in the 1970s they were really cheap, like $25. And you could buy one and use it indefinitely, whereas a wooden bat is gonna break eventually. Now bats of either variety are expensive (Louisville Slugger charges $180 for custom wood bats, $350 or more for metal) but the metal is still gonna last a lot longer.
My dad worked for an aluminum company and through his employer I got a metal bat in like 1970, but I think the colleges adopted them in 1974.
Cost and supply. I’ve heard there is a drop off in the quality of wooden bats you see in A, AA, and even AAA. If they tried to take the college game to wooden bats, quality wood and costs would skyrocket. The P5 “haves” would be fine as they could afford to pay whatever but the have nots would be at a significant competitive disadvantage.
Every baseball and softball league except mlb/farms use metal now (maybe with rare exception). I remember playing little league, babe ruth, and legion ball in Prairie Grove - years before aluminum bats. Our bat bag always had several bats with tape jobs over cracks and breaks in the handle. Some of us used own personal bats…until they broke. Since it can never be proven otherwise, I feel sure i would have been a real power hitter, instead of a “banjo hitter” if Icould have used metal instead of slightly broken wood bats. 
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Anyone who tells you that you were the problem and not the bat is just lying to you. I know the difference between me and Willy Mays was the glove.
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Absolutely!
Some of the summer leagues use wood bats; I know Cape Cod does, and the Appalachian League went from being a minor league to an MLB-sponsored wood-bat college summer league.
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