The Official Sammy! Update Thread ©

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I'm not buying what Mitchell is selling.

[Bruno7481]

I also question that Sosa would have 40+ corked bats. But, in all honesty, do you really think Sosa only had one corked bat? Also, do you really think it was for BP only and he "accidentally" used it?

 

I only bring this up to try and make the point that it is very possible Sosa had some other bats that needed to be disposed of. Again, 40+, that would be a lot, but its very reasonable to assume he had more than one.

[Jon]

Meh. Even if this was true and he thought he was cheating, it not having any real effect makes me not care.

[apete6]

2003 called...

 

it wants its drama back.

 

Hopefully a surprise Zambrano contract extension wipes this story off of the Cubs headlines for tomorrow.

[soccer10k]

I'm still calling BS. It's pretty damn near impossible for me to believe that Sammy had FORTY or more corked bats - I could maybe buy him having a few, but forty??

 

Agreed. There's no way he only had one corked bat but 40+ is just absurd.

[UBlink]

Maybe it was what they were "corked" with? Maybe he had 40 bats with little secret compartments for storing performance enhancing drugs. Or maybe he had some some with secret radios that allowed a spotter in center field to send him the catcher's signs. I'm not calling BS, I'm calling Maxwell Smart.

[The Voice of Reason]

Maybe it was what they were "corked" with? Maybe he had 40 bats with little secret compartments for storing performance enhancing drugs. Or maybe he had some some with secret radios that allowed a spotter in center field to send him the catcher's signs. I'm not calling BS, I'm calling Maxwell Smart.

 

 

Or maybe a teammate could crawl through rafters like a secret agent to steal evidence of a cork bat. LOL.

 

Oops, sorry, my bad - that really did happen once.

[The Voice of Reason]

Meh. Even if this was true and he thought he was cheating, it not having any real effect makes me not care.

 

I disagree with your premise that corking a bat has no effect. It may not help with home runs but it can be helpful to a player - which is probably why players risk the embarassment of being caught with a corked bat.

 

http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/bats-new/corkedbat.html

 

No scientific advantage? Reducing the mass (lowering the moment-of-inertia) increases the swing speed - which increases batted-ball speed. But at the same time the lower mass reduces the effectiveness of the collision - which decreases the batted-ball speed. Which effect is greater is a toss-up. But since the two effects offset eachother, there appears to be absolutely no scientific advantage to using a corked bat - at least for hitting home runs. There would be an advantage to just making contact, however. Because the bat is lighter and can be swung faster, a player can wait a few milleseconds longer before commiting to a swing. This means he can watch the pitched ball travel about 5 or 6 more feet before deciding to swing. For a slumping player this may help make contact with the ball more often. But, a corked bat will not make the ball go faster or further.

 

Also, evidently not all corked bats are the same.

 

Sammy's corked bat was different. What makes Sammy Sosa's corked bat interesting is that it was not corked in the usual way, by drilling a hole in the end of the barrel. The cork-filled hole in Sammy's bat was in the taper region at the middle of the bat.

 

For a wood bat, the bat speed just prior to the collision is the single most important factor in how fast the ball comes off the bat. So, it is conceivable that Sosa's specially corked bat could give him a slight advantage for hitting the ball faster and farther.

[Jon]

Meh. Even if this was true and he thought he was cheating, it not having any real effect makes me not care.

 

I disagree with your premise that corking a bat has no effect. It may not help with home runs but it can be helpful to a player - which is probably why players risk the embarassment of being caught with a corked bat.

 

http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/bats-new/corkedbat.html

 

No scientific advantage? Reducing the mass (lowering the moment-of-inertia) increases the swing speed - which increases batted-ball speed. But at the same time the lower mass reduces the effectiveness of the collision - which decreases the batted-ball speed. Which effect is greater is a toss-up. But since the two effects offset eachother, there appears to be absolutely no scientific advantage to using a corked bat - at least for hitting home runs. There would be an advantage to just making contact, however. Because the bat is lighter and can be swung faster, a player can wait a few milleseconds longer before commiting to a swing. This means he can watch the pitched ball travel about 5 or 6 more feet before deciding to swing. For a slumping player this may help make contact with the ball more often. But, a corked bat will not make the ball go faster or further.

 

Also, evidently not all corked bats are the same.

 

Sammy's corked bat was different. What makes Sammy Sosa's corked bat interesting is that it was not corked in the usual way, by drilling a hole in the end of the barrel. The cork-filled hole in Sammy's bat was in the taper region at the middle of the bat.

 

For a wood bat, the bat speed just prior to the collision is the single most important factor in how fast the ball comes off the bat. So, it is conceivable that Sosa's specially corked bat could give him a slight advantage for hitting the ball faster and farther.

A lighter bat is not related to the cork, though. The cork itself provides no advantage. And I don't believe there was ever any proof that there was actually a hole drilled in the bat he used.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Sammy was honored tonight for his 600th HR.

 

And then left the game after being hit in the head again... :shock:

[JimSorgi]

Sammy was honored tonight for his 600th HR.

 

And then left the game after being hit in the head again... :shock:

 

That's stinks. Who hit him?

[Butterscup1679666578]

Sammy was honored tonight for his 600th HR.

 

And then left the game after being hit in the head again... :shock:

 

That's stinks. Who hit him?

 

Cliff Lee.

[Ender]

My guess would be that its not easy to tell which bats are corked so they just threw them all out to be safe.

[Soul]

Sammy was honored tonight for his 600th HR.

 

And then left the game after being hit in the head again... :shock:

 

That's stinks. Who hit him?

 

Cliff Lee.

 

Texas avenged him, beat the Indians pretty good. Lee looked horrible. At this point I'm pretty glad we didn't pick him up in the offseason, as many wanted.

[soccer10k]

Sammy was honored tonight for his 600th HR.

 

And then left the game after being hit in the head again... :shock:

 

I originally read that as "Sammy homered tonight for his 600th HR" and was about to make a joke on how you're a month behind.

[The Voice of Reason]

Rangers trying to unload Sammy.

 

http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-2/118551043316250.xml&coll=1

 

But the guy the Rangers really want to move is Sosa, who hit his 600th career home run earlier this season but is standing in the way of Texas' top hitting prospects, Jason Botts and Nelson Cruz. Texas would like to get both of their Triple-A sluggers some at-bats in the majors in the final two months of this season, and if they can't deal Sosa, they might have to bench or even release him. The Rangers are trying to sell Sosa as a potent right-handed bat for a team (like Minnesota or Anaheim) in need of offense. But his skimpy .303 on-base percentage and the ... you know ... baggage he brings with him make it unlikely that any team would take a flier on him. It's possible Texas could "tie" Sosa to a deal for one of their more desirable players -- i.e., you can have Gagne if you take Sosa off their hands -- but so far they don't seem to be getting too many bites.