So what's so bad about a corked bat? Or any bat that improves performance?
Why is it considered illegal?
Tennis players constantly improve their rackets for better performance. So do race cars. Even swimmers try out new suits.
Why is it considered illegal?
Tennis players constantly improve their rackets for better performance. So do race cars. Even swimmers try out new suits.
The guys on Baseball Tonight seemed to believe Sammy, but I still think he's guilty. IMO the reason why he never picked up the shards of the bat was that, like he said, he didn't know the bat was corked. *But* that doesn't necessarily mean it was BP bat. Remember that guys who cork don't do it every game (or they'd be caught easily)...so I'm guessing Sammy accidentally grabbed one of his corked *game* bats, which would explain his nonchalant reaction.
So he is guilty as hell, I think, but that being said you people are nuts if you think corking accounts for most, or even much, of Sosa's HR numbers. The guy is strong as an ox (courtesy of Mr. Drug, of course) and has picture-perfect technique. His HRs aren't little dribblers that barely land in the basket at Wrigley...they're mostly 400+ ft. monster shots. Not to mention the fact that corkers never cheat all the time--Sosa would heve been caught long ago if he did that--so most of his games are played au natural anyway. Then factor in the dubious advantage that corking provides in the first place. It seems pretty clear to me that he never needed to cheat to obtain those kinds of numbers, which makes this whole scandal that much more inexplicable.
On another note (unrelated to Sammy's guilt or innocence), is it just me or was that the crappiest cork job you've ever seen?? I mean for God's sake it was a little misshapen half dollar-sized blotch down past the midpoint of the bat near the handle. Yeesh...regardless of whether it was a BP or game bat you'd think a multimillionare superstar could afford a better mod job.
So he is guilty as hell, I think, but that being said you people are nuts if you think corking accounts for most, or even much, of Sosa's HR numbers. The guy is strong as an ox (courtesy of Mr. Drug, of course) and has picture-perfect technique. His HRs aren't little dribblers that barely land in the basket at Wrigley...they're mostly 400+ ft. monster shots. Not to mention the fact that corkers never cheat all the time--Sosa would heve been caught long ago if he did that--so most of his games are played au natural anyway. Then factor in the dubious advantage that corking provides in the first place. It seems pretty clear to me that he never needed to cheat to obtain those kinds of numbers, which makes this whole scandal that much more inexplicable.
On another note (unrelated to Sammy's guilt or innocence), is it just me or was that the crappiest cork job you've ever seen?? I mean for God's sake it was a little misshapen half dollar-sized blotch down past the midpoint of the bat near the handle. Yeesh...regardless of whether it was a BP or game bat you'd think a multimillionare superstar could afford a better mod job.
Originally posted by: exp
The guys on Baseball Tonight seemed to believe Sammy, but I still think he's guilty. IMO the reason why he never picked up the shards of the bat was that, like he said, he didn't know the bat was corked. *But* that doesn't necessarily mean it was BP bat. Remember that guys who cork don't do it every game (or they'd be caught easily)...so I'm guessing Sammy accidentally grabbed one of his corked *game* bats, which would explain his nonchalant reaction.
So he is guilty as hell, I think, but that being said you people are nuts if you think corking accounts for most, or even much, of Sosa's HR numbers. The guy is strong as an ox (courtesy of Mr. Drug, of course) and has picture-perfect technique. His HRs aren't little dribblers that barely land in the basket at Wrigley...they're mostly 400+ ft. monster shots. Not to mention the fact that corkers never cheat all the time--Sosa would heve been caught long ago if he did that--so most of his games are played au natural anyway. Then factor in the dubious advantage that corking provides in the first place. It seems pretty clear to me that he never needed to cheat to obtain those kinds of numbers, which makes this whole scandal that much more inexplicable.
On another note (unrelated to Sammy's guilt or innocence), is it just me or was that the crappiest cork job you've ever seen?? I mean for God's sake it was a little misshapen half dollar-sized blotch down past the midpoint of the bat near the handle. Yeesh...regardless of whether it was a BP or game bat you'd think a multimillionare superstar could afford a better mod job.
No one in their right mind would honestly believe that it was the corked bat that made Sosa Sosa BUT what IF?? w/o the steroids and the cork what is he then??
does the cork make him MARGINALLY BETTER?? I think that is almost w/o doubt too.
Key is, cork allows him to get more bat speed, that's why you'll probably never see gary sheffield cork because he already has such incredible bat speed, but if you watch someone like Chipper Jones hit (a legitimate power hitter albeit not in Sosa's class) he would benefit from cork because his bat speed isn't as good as some sluggers, Thome is another example of slower bat speed.
for guys like that cork means they can get around on a fast ball that they would normally have to go the other way with.
Now, theres the question, are they more likely to hit homeruns on balls they get around on then on balls they have to go the other way with?? OF course.
never mind the other properties of a corked bat.
conclusion, corked bats DO make a difference. would sammy still have had that many 60+ HR seasons?? Hmm mb not, it may have been 40 or 45 (assuming of course that he did use corked bats a lot, big assumption i know), still significant numbers but not sammy sosa numbers.
Sosa's problem is, without the HR, he isn't a very good ball player. it's not like he's a great or even good fielder or base runner. it's not like he has a great arm.
what he is is a power hitter who just damaged his credibility in the only area he's good at.
if it came out that maddux corked his bat and one season managed to hit .230 with 5 hr and 30 rbi's, would that damage his legacy?? well, probably not much.
For sosa tho, he has called into question the only thing he does well.
that's really to bad, NOT. I was never much of a sosa fan.
Originally posted by: jjones
I agree. While Sosa's achievements are still great, this will always cast a shadow on them. Not too badly, but figuratively speaking, he'll forever have an asterisk next to his name.Originally posted by: LeeTJ
Originally posted by: MainFramed
Is it possible that he has been using this in the past to help with his home run's? I haven't really been following this thread, just noticed it actually, and I dont follow baseball so if someone already said this...sorry
to be honest i dont' think anyone buys this "OOOOOPPPSS it was a mistake and first time ever" routine.
either way, he can't verify 100% that he never cheated before and I just don't see anyway that he will ever be able to convince the majority of people that this was indeed a 1 time first time mistake.
Loss of credibility.
Thought the same things.....Sad part is this is what he will be remembered for when it comes to the home runs, even if it was his first time. He wont get the true reconition he once had......sucks to be him
It doesn't bother me in the least cause corking a bat doesn't help very much. It might add 30 ft but I kinda doubt it.
He's still a good hitter.
He's still a good hitter.
why would he even have a bat thats aginst the rules for practice?
that just sounds kinda retarded...
at least he has people giving him good advice...come out and admit it add that it was a mistake and not try to deny it or just hide in your house.
that just sounds kinda retarded...
at least he has people giving him good advice...come out and admit it add that it was a mistake and not try to deny it or just hide in your house.
Why do you doubt that a corked bat will not help a hitter? 30ft can make a difference between a common deep fly out and a home run. Somehow, I don't believe his story about his bat being only for practice. Why does he need a corked bat for practice or for any reason? If MLB wants to crack down on something, they better crack down on performance enhancing drug usage.
Miramonti
Lifer
- Aug 26, 2000
- 28,653
- 100
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76 bats confiscated, 76 bats clean
he said its for batting practice to put on a show for the fans.
this is believable given how much of a showboat he is. he's broken a ton of bats over the past few years...but only one with cork.
he said its for batting practice to put on a show for the fans.
this is believable given how much of a showboat he is. he's broken a ton of bats over the past few years...but only one with cork.
the fact that all of the confiscated bats came out clean doesnt say too much, i mean if you are gonna use a corked bat why would you need more than one? personally i think he was trying to gain a compeditive edge and he was caught red handed. I honestly cant believe how anybody could believe his ridiculous story. now i dont think that he has used a corked bat all that often because he obviously doenst need too but it certainly makes sense given his dismall season (only 6 home runs). but lets face it i bet one out of every two ball players cheats in some form or another so this really isnt that big of a deal.
Now
how's this, What if sosa comes back and only hits 20 HR's or so the rest of the season.
what if he never has a 50+ hr season again.
does that cast some MAJOR suspicion on his career?
how's this, What if sosa comes back and only hits 20 HR's or so the rest of the season.
what if he never has a 50+ hr season again.
does that cast some MAJOR suspicion on his career?
i think sammy is still one of the best hitters and the corked bat would not make all that much of a difference,
but i think this is very bad for his reputation. From what I know of baseball players, very very few dont care about what bat they use. Most hitters if they didnt know at first when picking out the bat that it was corked would be able to tell when they took practice swings
i mean if what people say is true that it increases your bat speed, wouldnt he realize that when he swung the bat?? and players are very particular about their bats
i think he is guilty...give him the 10 game suspension and move on...
but i think this is very bad for his reputation. From what I know of baseball players, very very few dont care about what bat they use. Most hitters if they didnt know at first when picking out the bat that it was corked would be able to tell when they took practice swings
i mean if what people say is true that it increases your bat speed, wouldnt he realize that when he swung the bat?? and players are very particular about their bats
i think he is guilty...give him the 10 game suspension and move on...
EXACTLY, there is NO way in the world that he didn't know it was the corked bat. he says it was a mistake but that's a bald face lie. this is a guy that is gonna take 200 or 300 swings a day in practice. there is NO way he doesn't know the difference. shoot i don't play much tennis at all but i can tell the difference between 2 rackets of slightly different sizes. we are talking like 4 oz for a 30+ oz bat. don't tell me that a professional hitter isn't going to notice 4 oz gone.
yep although i think its only 2 ounces usually, but still
if it makes a difference then he should have been able to tell
if it doesnt, then why have it at all...
1 mph can be HUGE if it's the difference between PULLING a pitch and going the other way with it.
comeon the difference between a GOOD fast ball pitcher 93 to 94 MPH and a mediocre fastball pitcher 91 to 92 mph is only 1 MPH.
at least do your homework. btw, i don't need links as evidence.
small margins makes ALL the difference on the professional level. it's not like we are talking hackers like me who couldn't hit a 80 mph fastball if my life depended on it. we are talking guys who have worked their whole lives to hit 95 mph fast balls.
does that 1 mph in bat swing make a difference? YES, it's HUGE. i don't care who wrote that paper you quoted, they are plain stupid if they don't think 1 mph makes a big difference.
the difference between a fly ball out and a HR can be as small as 1 inch.
On Baseball Tonight today at like noon they had a some sports memorbilia company sawing sammy's 498th home run bat open, there was no cork.
I believe Sosa, he should get a 7-10 game suspension, make an appearance on the conan obrien show, make some jokes about it, and move on.
I believe Sosa, he should get a 7-10 game suspension, make an appearance on the conan obrien show, make some jokes about it, and move on.
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