who has a corked bat

Who was caught with a corked bat?

Sammy SosaSammy Sosa admits to using a corked bat in 2003, but calls it an 'innocent mistake' What Sammy Sosa termed “an innocent mistake” with potentially serious implications overshadowed the Cubs' 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

Is it illegal to have a corked bat?

Porter Johnson, a physics professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, explains. In professional baseball, the bat must be made from a single solid piece of wood thus the use of corked bats during games is illegal. Still, corked bats have turned up several times in major league play, most recently by Sammy Sosa.

When was the last corked bat?

To Cork or Not to Cork In June 2003, Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa was caught using an illegal corked bat—hardly the first time it's happened in the Major Leagues. A corked bat is one in which a cavity is drilled out of the barrel and filled with a lightweight material such as cork.

Why are corked bats banned?

As the MLB rule states, it's not the bat being lighter than makes a corked bat illegal, it's because lighter wood bats are shorter than heavier bats and the bat is no longer a one piece of solid wood.

What is the benefit of a corked bat?

Corking a bat causes the bat to be lighter, which in turn allows the batter to swing it more quickly. However, the reduction in weight negatively affects the velocity of the ball as it leaves the bat, effectively cancelling out the advantage gained from a quicker bat speed.

What makes a bat illegal?

Generally, any tampering that changes the original specifications of the baseball bat will cause the bat to be illegal for any baseball league. Illegal tampering includes adjusting the bat's weight, length, or surface area. Certain levels of the game also have bat specifications that must be adhered to.

What baseball bats are illegal?

Perfect Game Bat Bans 2021 Starting in 2021, Perfect game bans all the USSSA banned bats, see below, and the 2017 DeMarini CF drop 5, the 2016 USSSA CF8 line of bats (5, 8, 10), the 2015 CF7 in a drop 5 and the 2015 Eaton XL1 in a drop 5. All banned for Perfect Game starting 2021.

What's inside a corked bat?

0:4115:29Hitting with a CORKED BAT | Wood Baseball Bat Reviews - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo if you guys don't know corking a bat is the act of actually hollowing out the inside of a woodMoreSo if you guys don't know corking a bat is the act of actually hollowing out the inside of a wood bat taking out a bunch of the wood with the intent to make the bat a lot lighter. And then filling up

Can you cork a metal bat?

Although it is easy to cork an aluminum bat, it gives the user of the altered bat an unfair advantage over other players. Find a bat that you would like to cork. Aluminum bats are not very expensive, especially one that you are going to modify. Remember, after the bat is corked, you can not use it for competitive play.

Is shaving a bat illegal?

Bat shaving is the illegal process by which a composite bat has the inside of its barrel cored out to become more flexible and have better performance. The practice is uncommon and considered dangerous. Our data indicates that those who shave their bats think it more prevalent than it actually is.

Is Rolling a bat illegal?

Is It Illegal? Bat rolling is not illegal. As a matter of fact, all composite bats must be rolled in testing before they are deemed legal for play. This is to make sure that as the bat gets hotter after more use, and it will not exceed the bat performance standards put in place.

Why do players put pine tar on bats?

The tacky, sticky nature of the pine tar allows hitters to have a more “relaxed” grip on their bat, which can help in making better contact with the ball and getting more pop on contact. It is not always only used on the handle the bat that players elect to put pine tar on.

What baseball bats are illegal?

Perfect Game Bat Bans 2021 Starting in 2021, Perfect game bans all the USSSA banned bats, see below, and the 2017 DeMarini CF drop 5, the 2016 USSSA CF8 line of bats (5, 8, 10), the 2015 CF7 in a drop 5 and the 2015 Eaton XL1 in a drop 5. All banned for Perfect Game starting 2021.

What is a corked bat Mythbusters?

A baseball bat filled with cork can hit a baseball farther than a normal bat. busted. This myth operates under the assumption that cork-filled bats can be swung faster because of their lighter weight, and that the springiness of the cork could propel the ball farther.

Can you cork a metal bat?

Although it is easy to cork an aluminum bat, it gives the user of the altered bat an unfair advantage over other players. Find a bat that you would like to cork. Aluminum bats are not very expensive, especially one that you are going to modify. Remember, after the bat is corked, you can not use it for competitive play.

Why do colleges use aluminum bats?

The reason why high schools and colleges use aluminum bats over wood is to cut the costs of purchasing new wood bats when they break. Aluminum bats are more durable and don't need to be replaced as often.

How to cork a bat?

Corking a bat the traditional way is a relatively easy thing to do.[2] You just drill a hole in the end of the bat, about 1-inch in diameter, and about 10-inches deep. You fill the hole with cork, superballs, or styrofoam - if you leave the hole empty the bat sounds quite different, enough to give you away. Then you glue a wooden plug, like a 1-inch dowel, in to the end. Finally you sand the end to cover the evidence. Some soures suggest smearing a bit of glue on the end of the bat and sprinkling sawdust over it so help camouflage the work you have done.

When did Norm Cash use a corked bat?

The effect is psychological, not a result of increased performance from the bat itself. Detroit Tigers' Norm Cash admitted to using a corked bat in 1961 when he won the batting title with a .361 average, but the next year he slumped to .243 with the same corked bat.

Why was Sammy Sosa ejected from the Cubs?

On June 3, 2003, Chicago Cubs centerfielder Sammy Sosa was ejected from a game in the first inning for using a corked bat. His bat shattered upon impact with the ball and the umpire who picked it up discovered the bat had been hollowed out and filled with cork. Sammy said it was an accident - that he had used the bat during batting practice ...

How much weight can a corked bat shave?

A corked bat has (slightly) less mass. By drilling out the center of a wood bat and replacing it with cork a player can shave about 1.5 ounces off of the weight of his bat. More importantly, the location of the center-of-mass of the bat would shift slightly towards the handle end of the bat.

What makes Sammy Sosa's bat interesting?

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. This would have a different effect than has been described above.

Why do bats use cork?

Why use cork? Well, the hollowed out portion of the bat needs to be filled with something or the bat would sound significantly different than a solid bat , giving away the illegal modification. Graig Nettles was playing for the New York Yankees in 1974 when he broke a bat during a game and six superballs bounced out. I read somewhere that several Anaheim Angels players had experimented with liquid mercury - which would be very interesting because the moment of inertia would change while the bat is being swung, with the largest inertia just before impact.

What is the coefficient of restitution of a bat?

The Bat-Ball Coefficient-of-Restitution (BBCOR) depends primarily on the elastic properties of the ball and bat, with a slight dependence on the moment of inertia of the bat. If a hollowed-out, corked wood bat has a trampoline effect, then it would show up as an increase in the BBCOR.

Why is corking important in baseball?

Being able to swing the bat faster allows the hitter to delay the swing for a crucial extra fraction of a second. And this may allow more accurate hits. “So, while corking may not allow a batter to hit the ball farther, it may well allow a batter to hit the ball solidly more often,” say Nathan and co.

What is the effect of a hollowed out bat?

There is another factor, the so-called trampoline effect in which the surface of a hollowed out bat deforms and reforms like a trampoline, thereby increasing the elasticity of the collision. This is known to occur in hollow metal bats but whether this holds true for wooden ones is still open.

Why are bats modified?

The reason bats are modified in this way is to make them lighter. This allows the hitter to swing them faster. But if the goal is to give the ball the highest possible velocity as it leaves the bat, lighter is not necessarily better.

Is trampoline effect negligible in corked bats?

First, they say the trampoline effect is negligible in corked bats. In other words, there is no increase in the elasticity of the bat-ball collision. Second, they investigated the trade off between higher bat speed and lower collision efficiency and found no benefit to a corked bat.

Is the corked bat wrong?

The Misleading Myth Of The Corked Bat. The belief that a baseball can be hit further with a corked bat is wrong. But these illegal bats may still give an unfair advantage. In June 2003, the world of baseball was shocked by the revelation that Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, one of the game’s finest sluggers, had been caught using an illegal bat.

Does a corked bat give unfair advantage?

Whether a corked bat gives and unfair advantage boils down to how these factors even out under the the kind of ball speeds that occur in a real game.

When did Sammy Sosa get caught?

September 16, 2010. In June 2003, the world of baseball was shocked by the revelation that Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, one of the game’s finest sluggers, had been caught using an illegal bat.

Who broke the corked bat?

6. Wilton Guerrero. Wil ton Guerrero said he had never used a corked bat before he got caught one fateful day in 1997, and by the looks of his amateurish actions, that story passes the scrutiny test. According to reports, Guerrero broke the corked special on an infield grounder.

Why was the bat confiscated?

During the first inning of a game against the White Sox, umpires confiscated his bat following allegations of corking from the Chicago bench. The umps stored the suspicious lumber in a locker and planned to send it to the league office for examination after the game. The bat never made it.

Why did Jason Grimsley return the bat to the umpires?

Indians pitcher Jason Grimsley later admitted to the foul play, and Cleveland returned the bat in question to the umpires in hopes of avoiding more dire consequences from the league. Belle received a 10-game suspension for the bat, which turned out to most certainly be corked.

What did Amos Otis do for batters?

Amos Otis did for batters what Preacher Roe and Gaylord Perry did for pitchers, in that he was refreshingly open about his foul play with bats after retiring in 1984 . The occasion came when Otis was inducted into the Mobile (Ala.) Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

Who had his own run-in with MLB officials in 1996?

As some of these stories suggest, the advantage of using a corked bat was negligible for Major League hitters. 7. Chris Sabo. Cincinnati’s Chris Sabo had his own run-in with MLB officials in 1996, the last season of his nine-year pro career.

Did Otis ever find himself in the commissioner's crosshairs?

Otis never found himself in the commissioner’s crosshairs for his experiments with corked bats. For that, we believe he deserves a cheater’s good sportsmanship award (if such a thing exists) for coming clean on his own accord.

Who broke a bat in the 1974 Detroit game?

Graig Nettles. In one of the more humorous episodes of bat-stuffing over the years, Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles got into a pickle during a 1974 game versus Detroit. Nettles broke a bat hitting a single and six super balls came flying out of the barrel, which the Tigers catcher collected from the field.