From the commentary I heard, his not racing to scoop up bat parts was supposed to be a point in favor of his argument that it was an accidental use of a BP bat. But since I’ve never seen ballplayers running around picking up shards of their broken bats under normal circumstances, Sosa’s doing so in this case would have looked rather suspicious.
Very true, but it’s been done before. Wil Guerrero picked up the barrel of his broken, corked bat on the way back to the dugout after he was out.
Any case, corked bats don’t add anything to your hits, maybe a foot or two at the very most. It’s just a myth that they do. So neither his records nor his ability to hit a ball really, really far should be in doubt.
Just a dumb mistake. And in any case, if he had been corking his bat for a long time, someone would have figured it out by now with all the shattered bats that occur.
I bet he’s taking 'roids too.
Fuck sosa.
I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Bats break quite often in the bigs, and when a corked bat breaks, it’s pretty obvious. Last night on ESPN they showed a tape of when Chris Sabo’s corked bat broke, and it looked as if there had been an explosion in a cork factory. The stakes are pretty high, and, as Nightime suggests, the advantages of a corked bat are not as clear-cut as one might think.
BTW, Troy McClure SF: Wilton Guerrero, after his corked bat broke a few years ago, tried to scoop up the pieces before going back to the dugout. Unfortunately for him, he looked a bit too guilty in trying to hide the evidence.
Oh, and what Neurotik said about corked bats too. Good analysis, that.
If this is true, and I have no reason to doubt you, why in blue blazes then would anyone take the risk? I’m understandably skeptical that anyone would jeopardize their reputation for such a minuscule gain.
Sammy would have been better off getting caught with drugs or a DWI. At least then he’d be seen as needing help, as it is he’s seen as a cheater with only stupidity as his excuse.
How many people in normal society believe all sorts of urban legends? Same deal in baseball - some people believe that it does help hit the ball a lot farther, despite evidence to the contrary. Just one of those things…
Although, Harold Reynolds, I think, on Baseball Tonight said it might be a psychological advantage. He said he once used one in BP and he just felt a whole lot stronger and more confident up there and it gave him a bit of a boost mentally.
Perhaps that’s what Sosa was after to try and get out of the slump. And besides, even if you know that corking doesn’t really give you a physical edge, there may be that little voice in the back of your head that says, “Hey maybe it does and the evidence is just wrong!”
No, that is not true. Sosa refused to have himself tested for steroids for Rick Reilly, when Reilly demanded, in the Cubs clubhouse, that Sosa take a test to prove to Reilly he wasn’t juiced. He did not “refuse to answer any questions,” and he did not object to being part of a league-wide testing regimen - in fact, he specifically said he supported such a plan in that very same interview.
And need I point out:
CORKING BATS IS AGAINST THE RULES.
STEROIDS, UP UNTIL THIS YEAR, WERE NOT AGAINST THE RULES.
Corking bats is cheating. Always has been cheating. Taking steroids was not cheating. I am far more disgusted with Sosa cheating than I am with him doing something that isn’t cheating.
And I’m disgusted today. What an idiot.
That’s reasonable, especially considering the fact it’s a sport absolutely rife with superstitious habits by it’s participants.
My comment above of course being directed at Neurotik’s explanation.
If the bat added even one inch to the distance the ball goes, that’s often enough to make the difference between a home run and a long fly ball. A foot or two? Big difference.
I just can’t think of ANY legitimate reason why he would own a corked bat. Just stupid, stupid, stupid. On Sports Center last night, they reported that officials had confiscated all his other bats for the investigation, so the results of that should be interesting. Has anyone heard anything else about that this morning?
As much as I revile the act and blame him entirely, I kinda felt for the guy during his press conference last night. I know in the past, when I did something I knew was wrong and got caught, the red hot embarrassment and regret were overwhelming. To be forced to get up in front of millions of people and talk about it must be excruciating. There were a couple times I thought he was going to burst into tears during the questions. Oh well, I guess he should have thought about that before he picked up “the wrond bat.” 
Boo hoo, perhaps he can wipe the tears away with a wad of hundreds.
He is in the public eye, and he was well aware of what he was risking. I say fuck him.
Of course, “wrond bat” should be “wrong bat” in my post. Believe it or not, I actually read over my post before hitting submit. I guess my proofreading skills could use some honing. :smack:
Well, it’s even worse for Sosa than it was for, say, Albert Belle. The fans didn’t like Belle, so he didn’t have a lot to lose in the court of public opinion. Sosa, however, has long cultivated an image of being fan friendly, a man of the people, a Good Guy.
Well, I say fuck him, too. I was just saying that I could identify with his embarrassment.
PS: Yeah, and to accomplish that, you could use the bat he used . . . 
I also heard they’d confiscated his bats. The findings will be the next most interesting development in this situation. Looks like he shit and stepped in it to me.
As far as being fan friendly, I’ve heard that he is a serious asshole. Anybody hear that as well?