Say it ain’t so Sammy , Sammy, Say it aint so.
My question, how do you cork a bat in the first place? I would assume you saw it it half, hollow it out and put cork in it and reglue the bat back together. Wouldn’t that be noticeable? If that’s how its done it would belie any “innocent” explanation about how the bat got into the game?
Do they make bats “pre-corked” ? Wouldn’t the manufacturer identify it as such on the bat to preven this kind of “mistake”?
:smack: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-030604bat-graphic,1,1547761.graphic
I still say that doing such an action belies any innocent explanation if you go through such such a deleiberte action to tamper with the bat (not a GQ I know)
Baseball tonight(ESPN) showed an old tape of Buck Showalter showing how last nite. A hole is drilled, about one half inch diameter, 10 inches long cylindrical space- is filled w/ crushed cork. The top is glued back on 7 ‘scuffed up’ to hide the hole.
Re innocent explanation: Sosa admitted he used it for BP for the fans. He said he grabbed it in error. The rest of his bats were confiscated & will be checked. He was adament he never used one before,but how could he know?
Just passing through; thought I’d add a non-member, if opinionated, link: http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark_jayson/1562825.html
This is some heavy stuff for sure. Didn’t they also use Super Balls at one time?
Just our of curiosity, what could possibly be the legit reason to use cork at practice? To give the fans a better show? Or to warm up without putting too much strain on yourself (from a heavier bat)? Has anyone ever used a cork bat for non-nefarious purposes before?
I believe he said it was for the fans.
The best method, if you know what you’re doing, is not to saw off the top of the bat but to drill a 1/2 to 3/4 inch plug out of the top, remove, then drill a hole below it, fill, then reinsert the plug, sand, and paint. A plug is far less likely to pop off than a sawed cap.
Of course, the bat can still blow apart and reveal your treachery.
So how does corking a bat make the ball go farther? Is it just that the bat is lighter so you can really pound away?
Lighter bat = increased bat speed.
Low bat speed for bunts; high bat speed for dingers
I’m getting lost here.If you lined up all the bats in the dugout from lightest to heaviest, would’nt you achieve the same thing by choosing a lighter bat than you usually use? No cork needed?
Sure, but if you’re already using a light bat, it might not be possible to get much lighter with a ‘regulation’ bat. Cork weighs much less than the white ash most bats are made of, so it takes out a lot of weight. I corked a bat at home once just to try it out around the time of the other recent corking scandal (Albert Bell?) and it made a big difference in the weight of the bat.
Interestingly, ESPN suggested last night that the corked bat = increased power thing is unproven. They said it only increases bat speed by about 1%. Fascinating - is this much ado about very little? I mean, it’s still cheating, but it might reduce questions about his recent home run exploits.
By the way, his other 76 bats were tested (X-rayed) and none were corked. The bats in the Hall of Fame may be tested as well. He’ll probably be suspended, but it appears Sammy was telling the truth.
Yes, Belle, & Wilton Guerrero of all people, were caught. No question of suspension- 7-10 games. This was on another thread-IMO it is mostly placebo- recall, he was out 2 weeks w/ bad toe, & fanned 6 times last Saturday.
Item- Sammy refused a steroid test challenge from a reporter 2 years ago, after he said he would be tested anytime, anywhere.
With corking the bat is lighter but still has a nice fat hitting surface.
I do suspect Sosa as far as steroids go, but then again, as I recall, the reporter was being a dick and looking to make a story out of it. I don’t do drugs either, but if someone asked me to take a test, I’d say no…
“but how could he know?”
It feels lighter. Whatever happened to using bat boys anyway?
Can it really feel that much lighter? It’s not like the whole bat is hollowed out - only a tiny bit is taken out and replaced with the cork. Didn’t look like there was much cork in there at all to me.