# Sammy Sosa: Why Didn't They Suspect Sooner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105 "2003-06-11T14:24:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/21 "2003-06-11T16:41:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mullinator \* > \*\*Ever been to a baseball game? I assume the answer is no since it is quite possible for fans to arrive early enough to see batting practice. > > The OP for this thread might as well say “I can’t understand why it took almost 300 wins for someone to check Roger Clemens for use of a spitball.” Just because someone exceeds at a task doesn’t mean we should assume they cheated to get there. Rather, it should be assume that the player is that good until confronted with strong evidence to the contrary. > > One corked bat does not strong evidence make. It is the sign of an idiotic idea, but not of numbers tainted by deception. \*\* Yes, I have been to many a ball game. However you obviously have not read any of the Sosa /corked bat articles. Sammy takes batting practice **before** fans are allowed in the stadium. I’ll find one of the probably many articles on the subject for you. We can’t disprove any home runs hit by Sosa since he was not caught hitting a home run with one. However, his reputation will now be linked with the question of wether he did hit any with a corked bat. Sammy Sosa was caught cheating with a corked bat, plain and simple. You can’t argue that. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/22 "2003-06-11T16:43:49Z")
Does anyone really believe his explanation? I sure don’t, not for a moment. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/23 "2003-06-11T16:52:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NYR407 \* > However you obviously have not read any of the Sosa /corked bat articles. Sammy takes batting practice **before** fans are allowed in the stadium. I’ll find one of the probably many articles on the subject for you. Not sure if this is the group of fans he was referring to, but before this past season, many Cubs fans could get a nice view into Wrigley Field by sitting on decks of buildings around the stadium. Many buildings even sold tickets for seats up there. (The Tribune Co. has since put up screens to block the view, after this had gone on for decades.) You can also get a good view into the stadium from the El’s Addison stop, though I didn’t have binoculars when I was last there to determine what exactly could be seen. ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/24 "2003-06-11T17:03:34Z")
**Ferret Herder** even if he was referring to those fans (or even if there were fans in the stadium), if ESPN is correct and there is only a 1% enhancement on distance then why risk it? A 400 Ft HR would only go an additional 4 ft with a corked bat. I am staying with the theory that he used the bat (maybe others) to get an advantage on swing speed to increase his timing and not necessarily distance. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/25 "2003-06-11T17:55:57Z")
In the late 1980s, suspecting players of corking bats became popular and managers would ask that a player’s bat be confiscated for further examination. That led to MLB instituting a rule where a manager could only challenge one bat of a player per game. As for weighing the bat, what would that actually prove? You would have to a very accurate scale, each bat would have to have a weight predetermined, and then there would have to be nothing else on the bat to alter that weight. That’s unlikely since nearly every bat is going to have some pine tar on it. I don’t think in any of the situations where a player was found to have used a corked bat was it uncovered unless the bat broke. To look at this the other way, why don’t we assume that every pitcher is illegally scuffing the ball or using a spitter? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/26 "2003-06-11T18:15:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NYR407 \* > \*\ ***Reality Chuck** , I saw an ESPN piece that said a corked bat goes 1% farther than a non corked bat. The distance is not substantial enough to justify using a corked bat. > > However, I believe the reason they use the bat is because it has a reduced weight but maintains the density of a heavier bat.\*\* Nope. It reduces the density. Cork is lighter than the wood it replaces. The reduction in density cancels out the increase in bat speed. All this froth about what is essentially a common piece of baseball gamesmanship is just plain silly. See [Charles Pierce’s](http://slate.msn.com/id/2084232/) column in Slate. [Six players](http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/2003/0603/1562807.html) have been caught with corked bats since 1970, but only Sosa is taking this much flak about it. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/27 "2003-06-11T18:24:03Z")
Only Sosa hit 500 home runs. No other 500 homer guy has been caught cheating. And only Sosa was/is considered to be an ambassador of the game. The others either were marginal players or were known for a surly personality (Belle). ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/28 "2003-06-11T18:32:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NYR407 \* > **Ferret Herder** even if he was referring to those fans (or even if there were fans in the stadium), if ESPN is correct and there is only a 1% enhancement on distance then why risk it? I’m not addressing the issue of why cork a bat; what I was talking about is one way that fans might get to see him in batting practice, since that was in dispute. Before anyone dismisses it as being a small number, note that the team owners went through the expense of installing screens on top of Wrigley Field specifically to block the view of people who watch like that, spurring a lawsuit from building owners. Apparently the Tribune Co. doesn’t think their numbers are insignificant. ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/29 "2003-06-11T19:35:41Z")
Sorry **Ferret Herder** , I didn’t mean to imply that is what you meant. I thought the Tribune Co. was more upset that they weren’t getting any money from the building owners that have the bleachers. I heard that it is, or now perhaps it was, quite costly to sit in those seats. Any chance they can to make money or deny another entity to profit from their product they will. At Shea they installed a “K” Counter in Mets Bullpen. Pretty laughable with todays team but also just happens to block the view from the 7 train exit walkway. There were never more than a few dozen people that would stand there and no one profitted since all you need was a subway token to watch. But I guess someone decided the few hundred dollars in potential revenue per game it was worth it. **RealityChuck** , I am only going by what Buck Showalter said in his report on Baseball Tonight. They re-aird it last week on SportsCenter. I could have heard him wrong but I am pretty sure that is what he said. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/30 "2003-06-11T20:19:30Z")
> [@](#): > > The 5 bats in the HOF. He would have been pretty foolish to have used a corked bat knowing it was going to the HOF. He would’ve been pretty foolish to mark his corked bat with a ‘c’, but he did. You’re now demanding Sosa prove a negative. He could have hit all of those home runs with corked bats and just disposed of the bats. I can’t prove that’s true, but Sosa can’t prove it’s untrue - especially if you throw out the bats in the HOF - so there! _J’accuse!_ Whether he cheated for more than one at bat, or intentionally, nobody else can really say. I suppose if people look at footage from games before the one in question and prove it’s the same bat, perhaps it was intentional. Meanwhile, confining ourselves to the evidence at hand, his career and records are not in jeopardy. And yes, they checked ALL of his bats. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/31 "2003-06-11T20:31:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > \*\*And I’m intrigued by **RealityChuck** ’s assertion that corked bats don’t affect a ball’s distance. Genuine question: If distance isn’t a factor, what is the purpose of corking a bat, then? \*\* People hang CDs from their rear view mirrors in the belief that it somehow reflects speed radar and protects them from getting a ticket. Doesn’t work, and people will admit they know it doesn’t work, but in the back of their mind, they’re still thinking, “but maybe…” and therefore the CD stays. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/32 "2003-06-11T21:10:18Z")
Albert Belle was a slugger comparable to Sosa and he was caught with a corked bat. But Albert Belle was about as unpopular as Sosa is popular. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/33 "2003-06-11T22:02:21Z")
Does there remain a General Question here? ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/34 "2003-06-12T00:15:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\*Does there remain a General Question here? \*\* The only GQ I see unanswered is why they don’t weigh bats: because legitimate bats vary in weight anyway. Players each choose their favorite weight - there can be several ounces in variation between legitimate bats. I don’t think there’s a GQ any more. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/35 "2003-06-12T01:52:58Z")
So in summary; - The reason they didn’t suspect sooner is that there was no reason to. Sosa has had scores of his bats explode and crack open before and not one of them was corked. - The reason bats are not weighed is because it’s logistically impossible to do so and corking bats simply is not much a problem in the major leagues. - For the love of Christ Almighty, it’s **McGwire.** ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/36 "2003-06-12T02:32:45Z")
There, all neatly summed. Guess this can be closed now. ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/37 "2003-06-12T02:39:01Z")
Sofa King-actually closing the roof makes it Easier to hit HRs in Miller park. I was there w/ roof closed 3 weeks ago & Mcgriff & Green hit everyone in BP in the seats. Shawn hit 4 in one game there last year. Closed roof usually helps,not hinders HRs - check the Bob, Metrodome. Possibly the Astrodome was tough, but the roof was always closed, so nothing to compare it with. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/38 "2003-06-12T03:37:55Z")
Before this is closed, I should say that Sosa doesn’t need a corked bat if he plays half his games at Wrigley anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/39 "2003-06-12T11:18:01Z")
I should also add that it is _much_ more likely that a corked bat _will_ shatter. If he’d used it before, and people were looking… and they would be… it’d have been noticed. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105/40 "2003-06-12T11:33:09Z")
What they should do is fill it with aluminum. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sammy-sosa-why-didnt-they-suspect-sooner/181105.md?page=3)