The series before Sosa was caught corking he had a 5 strikeout game followed by a game where he beat us in the 16th inning with an RBI single... In the end the Cubs beat us by one game.... I know it does no good to make excuses and whine, but most people tend to believe he didn't just cheat on that one day.. so one must really wonder if he was cheating in our series after that 5 strikeout game.. It probably wouldn't have made a difference on that specific RBI and I didn't think too much about it at the time but when the season ended and we lost by 1 game.. can't help but wonder if he won a few games for the cubs while cheating this year..
I know it seems like bitterness to bring it up now.. I was just thinking about it earlier... In a race that ended by 1 game... an extra few feet on one hr.. or getting around a little bit faster on one ball than you would normally without cork can make the difference... I was just wondering why the media etc hasn't brought it up much either... your star player caught corking mid year and you win the division by one game.. makes you seriously wonder how many games the man did cheat in
I doubt that the corking helped him out that much. He was in a huge slump when he got caught corking, and he had his best month in July with a .305 average, .695 slugging %, and 13 homers Sosa is one of the most notorious whiffers in this era...dude strikes out more than teenage boys on prom night. Extra bat speed doesn't help if you can't make contact
I'm sure it didn't help him out THAT much.. but enough for one game is my only thoughts lol.... wouldn't extra bat speed help you to make contact with a ball you normally wouldn't have caught up to?
I would have to agree. The bat speeds helps him make better contact. And in my opinion, the bat speed increases distance as well... partly due to getting that better content.
Yes, I dont know if it actually helped anything or not.. I was just noting that the series before he was actually caught using it he was playing against houston..... so unless you believe that was the very first time he used it.. then he was most likely cheating vs houston.. I guess you really cant make a team forfeit a bunch of games for cheating though.. so not much mlb could do
although I wouldnt mind making the team faces a stricter penalty for one guy cheating... because I have to doubt all cubs wins this year before he was caught
If you have a tape of that 5K game, check out the bat he used when he hit that single. He switched to the black one. My guess, Miller, Lidge, etc. absolutely embarassed him and he needed a quicker bat to even make contact. I think he cheated. I know he Ks alot, but that was a miserable funk he was in. Check out the tape though. His first 5 abs, he used a tan one. He switched to the black one on at bat #6.
wow, for some reason I was thinking it was the game before that he struck out 5 times.. but it was the 5 strikeout game that he got the winning hit in... I wasn't aware he changed bats, but that makes it even more believable that he switched to the corked bat during that game after going 0-5...
I believe he was using that bat for quite a while. There is no way he "accidently picked up the wrong bat" BS is true. Also, seriously, who in their mind would leave another corked bat around incase their current corked bat breaks? I mean....duh! If it breaks you are busted, so why the hell would you have another around for the officials to find?! Mr. Corky cheated his way to a couple of Cubbie wins, and I do believe that his corked bat helped them in a few. I am pissed seeing them on tv, and not the Astros. dang...i can't post it...."the server is too busy"....I am clicking on the post button for the 8th time.....
They were the better team becaue they won by 1 game...? even if that 1 game was because a player cheated?
it wont let me edit.. but obvioulsy they dont make you go back and forfeit games.. but if a guy is caught with a corked bat in say the 7th inning are all the runs he bats in before that taken away.. the ones from earlier in the game just curious
Dude...the bat that busted had a giant freaking 'C' on the end of it. I think if the guy was trying to cheat he wouldn't have clearly marked the bats he had corked. I mean at least give him some credit for not being a complete and total moron. You would figure if you are going to cheat you are going to try to hide it and not leave clues on a bat that has a big C on the end of it. To everyone else...didn't yall see the piece on ESPN where they said no one even knows if corked bats are an advantage or disadvantage to a hitter? Further, why would more speed matter if you have a lighter bat? Here...I just found this...short and sweet so read it... http://www.gmi.edu/~drussell/bats-new/corkedbat.html
That article actually supports the argument that cork makes a difference. Basically they say that Corked bat = more reaction time and more contact Corked bat = less distance but it is minimal at best What they didn't add was that Corked bat = more sweet spot shots so, if you have a corked bat you have a greater chance of hitting the sweet spot becasue of the increased reaction time and you don't have a major reduction in distance. Therefor, more HR's.
Ok maybe I need to quote from the article. Not trying to sound condescending but I really don't think you read it. article article article article article From the other link on the page you can goto an interview with Robert Adair who wrote "The Physics of Baseball" http://www.ajprint.net/archive_authors/canfield/interview.html again he points out that only timing is effected with a lighter bat, not the actual force. which makes sense in terms of physics. article article here he states a possible advantage of a corked bat, but not for homerun hitters as most people would like to believe. the idea of a corked bat helping someone hit homeruns has always confused me. it has confused me because it doesn't make sense in the realm of physics. so you guys take the physics for what they are worth or just keep on believing that corked bats help you hit homeruns and that a corked bat is something completely different than a lighter bat.
