{"id":14819,"date":"2003-06-05T12:19:00","date_gmt":"2003-06-05T12:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.driko.org\/blog\/2003\/06\/05\/corked-bats\/"},"modified":"2003-06-05T12:19:00","modified_gmt":"2003-06-05T12:19:00","slug":"corked-bats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.driko.org\/blog\/2003\/06\/05\/corked-bats\/","title":{"rendered":"Corked Bats"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the light of Sammy Sosa’s corked bat incident on Tuesday<\/a>, “no cork or other foreign material was found in any of the 76 bats<\/a> confiscated from Sammy Sosa’s locker and X-rayed by baseball officials” on Wednesday. As much as I’d like to give Sammy the benefit of the doubt, I’m still a little wary of the whole incident, although the results of this examination go a long way in my book.<\/p>\n

I was a little skeptical about how much advantage can be gained with the use of corked bats, but it appears that they can help players, if only minimally. A Wired<\/i> story quoting several baseball and physics experts debates the effectiveness of their use<\/a>. The slight gain in bat speed is almost offset by the lighter mass of the bat, possibly reducing “by about 3 feet what would have been a 375-foot drive from a conventional wooden bat,” not really helping power hitters but allowing contact hitters to get a quicker swing and consequently a better look at a pitch. In the end, though, the article points out that “baseball players are famously superstitious, and if a player succeeds with a corked bat once, he is apt to use it again. Also, the reputation of corked bats has a strong hold on players looking for an advantage.” That’s the main reason why it’s illegal, even if its benefits are only minimal.<\/p>\n

Taking advantage of the whole situation, “The Fort Myers Miracle, Minnesota’s Class A affiliate in the Florida State League, plans to hand out free pieces of cork to the first 505 fans<\/a> through the gates on Thursday night.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the light of Sammy Sosa’s corked bat incident on Tuesday, “no cork or other foreign material was found in any of the 76 bats confiscated from Sammy Sosa’s locker and X-rayed by baseball officials” on Wednesday. As much as I’d like to give Sammy the benefit of the doubt, I’m still a little wary … <\/p>\n

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