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The 7 - Baseball - No no NO, please no Sosa!
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StingArmy
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#1 Posted on 3.6.03 2016.59
Reposted on: 3.6.10 2022.43
http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2003/0603/1562772.html

I hope he hasn't been doing for a long time because I've really enjoyed following his career. Sigh..

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James F'n X
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#2 Posted on 3.6.03 2130.09
Reposted on: 3.6.10 2132.37
Pitch to Sosa... UNCORKED! DEEP TO RI...sorry.

He claims it was an exhibition bat, used for home run hitting exhibitions. Isn't Sosa confident enough in his own abilities that he has to use cheat bats in home run hitting contests? That's no excuse, Sammy. Welcome to Albert Belle absurdia.
It's False
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#3 Posted on 4.6.03 0102.52
Reposted on: 4.6.10 0104.39
Damn, is NOTHING sacred anymore? This just sucks, plain and simple. I never would have thought that of Sammy.

Mick Foley was right. The real world IS faker than professional wrestling!
Merc
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#4 Posted on 4.6.03 0209.22
Reposted on: 4.6.10 0209.46
I'm a little confused as to how guys in a gazillion dollar industry can actually get away with something as simple as corking a bat.

Do they all bring their own to each game? Doesn't anyone check them before/during each game?
Grimis
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#5 Posted on 4.6.03 0605.42
Reposted on: 4.6.10 0608.38

    Originally posted by Merc
    Do they all bring their own to each game? Doesn't anyone check them before/during each game?

It would be impossible to check everybat before each game. Each guy on the team probably has 10-12 bats "game-ready" for each game, plus another few dozen after that. Guy could realistically have eight dozen bats at any one time, so at that point you're over 2,000 bats around at any one time.
HomerJFong
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#6 Posted on 4.6.03 0708.17
Reposted on: 4.6.10 0708.18
D'oh! And I was looking forward to seeing him when the Cubs visited the Skydome next weekend. I'm guessing he'll be suspended over that time period.

The Big Kat
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#7 Posted on 4.6.03 1014.37
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1023.01
One thing that comes to mind, if Sammy uses a corked bat for exhibitions, did he use one for the Home Run Derby last year? I remember being in awe when he was hitting them OUT of Miller Park. It was so cool, but now that could be tarnished.

I honestly don't believe Sammy has used these bats for too long in a real game, he breaks plenty of bats during the year and this hasn't happened before. But he should still get suspended for this incident.
jfkfc
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#8 Posted on 4.6.03 1019.37
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1027.02

    Originally posted on ESPN.com
    Sosa ... said he had the corked bat "for batting practice -- just to put on a show for the fans ... I like to make people happy and I do that in batting practice."
Hey, maybe it's just me, but if I had an illegal bat that I knew was illegal, I might put a noticable mark on the bat, maybe the letters DUTFIAHBIARG* somewhere. Maybe even make the bat purple, or something definite to make sure that if I picked up the bat, or if it was handed to me, I could say "Ooooh....better give me another bat." I certainly couldn't say he used it knowingly, but it ain't too smart.


*DUTFIAHBIARG = "Don't Use This Fucking Illegal As Hell Bat In Any Real Game"
ges7184
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#9 Posted on 4.6.03 1046.14
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1046.35

    Originally posted by Grimis

      Originally posted by Merc
      Do they all bring their own to each game? Doesn't anyone check them before/during each game?

    It would be impossible to check everybat before each game. Each guy on the team probably has 10-12 bats "game-ready" for each game, plus another few dozen after that. Guy could realistically have eight dozen bats at any one time, so at that point you're over 2,000 bats around at any one time.



But there are things they could do if they wanted to really prevent this stuff. No law says they have to have 2000 bats, for instance. You could limit the bats per player and/or per team.

You could not allow players to have their own bats. By that, I mean that the league would provide the bats for each game, meaning the bats went straight from manufacturer to league, and the players wouldn't have access to the bats between games.

You could do random searches, and punish those who are caught with a very, very stiff penalty (perhaps ban them from baseball). While this would not guarantee that all the bats were not corked, if done properly (the suspensions right now are not that strict), it would provide a major disincentive for corking. The idea would be to make players believe that the risks is not worth the rewards. (The suspensions I was hearing from the last 5 corking incidents were like in the 10-15 game range, not near enough to be much of a disincentive, because it looks like the only way you can currently be caught is if you have the misfortune of splintering your bat the wrong way during a game.)

But from what I can tell so far, I don't think the league is necessarily that keen on really cracking down on this. Sammy will get a short suspension, and that will be that. (All this talk about lively baseballs, maybe it's corked bats that has led to more offense the last few years.)
Doc_whiskey
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#10 Posted on 4.6.03 1144.46
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1149.49
As far as home run derbies go, a cork bat does not add that much distance. According to the "Did you know?" on sportscenter this morning, it only adds a 1% increase on distance. So if you hit a 400 ft homerun, it would go 404 feet with a corked bat. SO really for someone is powerful as Sammy a corked bat really doesn't add a whole lot.
Grimis
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#11 Posted on 4.6.03 1145.05
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1152.17
The only real way to do it is random testing(something that MLB has been loathe to do in other areas). If it were up to me, players caught corking bats, sanding the ball, etc would be suspended without pay for one month.

You can't limit the amount of bats a player/team gets becasue that is negotiated between the manufacturer and the player and a lot of players donate autographed bats for charity, etc. Regardless, if a player breaks a lot of bats(or if they're like the one player who discared a bat after each hit) you're then limiting their ability to play.

Nor can the league provide bats. Each player has a different bat model. They use the same model from year to year, and often the same bat for long periods at a time. If the league provides the bats they man not have access to the bat they are comfortable with(imagine Tony Gwynn having to hit with a 35 ounce bat instead of a 31 or 32).
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#12 Posted on 4.6.03 1217.30
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1224.29

    Originally posted by Grimis
    The only real way to do it is random testing(something that MLB has been loathe to do in other areas). If it were up to me, players caught corking bats, sanding the ball, etc would be suspended without pay for one month.

    You can't limit the amount of bats a player/team gets becasue that is negotiated between the manufacturer and the player and a lot of players donate autographed bats for charity, etc. Regardless, if a player breaks a lot of bats(or if they're like the one player who discared a bat after each hit) you're then limiting their ability to play.

    Nor can the league provide bats. Each player has a different bat model. They use the same model from year to year, and often the same bat for long periods at a time. If the league provides the bats they man not have access to the bat they are comfortable with(imagine Tony Gwynn having to hit with a 35 ounce bat instead of a 31 or 32).



Exactly what I was going to say. You'd never be able to get anything like that through the players union either. Players use different models, different brands, different colors, different sizes, hell, different types of wood. Players already have endorsement deals with various companies. MLB doling out bats simply would not work.
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#13 Posted on 4.6.03 1235.41
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1237.44
Hello! This actually surprises you people? He went from hitting 30 homeruns a season to 60. I would not be surprised if he'd been corking them for a while now. I mean come on Sammy. Do you expect us to believe that lame story. We all know that hitters treat their bats like their kids. They're not going to accidentally pick up one that isn't one of their "game ready" bats. And sure he's broken bats before. But a lot of the time the batboys or player pick them up. He could've broken a corked bat before and the umpires just didn't see it. I'm not saying Sosa uses them all the time, but I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't the first time. And I think they should do random checks because I think a lot of people probably use them based on the explosion of homeruns and such. Plus if his "exhibition homerun bats" means he uses them in homerun contests well then he's a cheat. Some of those homerun contest he participates in has monetary rewards that he could be cheating someone out of.
ShotGunShep
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#14 Posted on 4.6.03 1300.54
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1300.58
Sammy says that he used that bat for batting practice. Hmm, well when we hit bp, we used wooden bats instead of our metal game bats(-3) because they are heavier. Why would you want to swing a lighter bat in practice than in a game? It doesn't make any sense.
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#15 Posted on 4.6.03 1308.24
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1309.04
Bonds went from a high of 49 homers [in 2001, with two other seasons of 40+, in 1996 (40), and 1997 (42)], to 73 in 2001. Sosa had two fewer seasons of 40+ before 1998, but was hitting 30-35 pretty consistantly. I'm not exactly sure I see your point, Quezzy. Yes, Sosa "came out of nowhere" but if one followed his career, you knew that (at least I did) that he was going to become a very, very good slugger. 60+ three times? I had no idea, but considering 60 gets threatened every year now, its not that far out of the realm of possiblity.
Grimis
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#16 Posted on 4.6.03 1308.55
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1311.15

    Originally posted by Quezzy
    He went from hitting 30 homeruns a season to 60. I would not be surprised if he'd been corking them for a while now.

I actually would attribute that to things that are not corking a bat. A corked bat is only as good as the hitter using it; if you still can't get the barrel through the zone and generate bat speed, it doesn't do you any good. If anything, I would chalk it up to the lively ball or steroids.

But there is expansion pitching as well. Check out these numbers

Sammy Sosa:
1996: 40
1997: 36
1998: 66
1999: 63
2000: 50
2001: 64

Mark McGwire
1995: 39
1996: 52
1997: 58
1998: 70
1999: 65

Brady Anderson
1995: 16
1996: 50
1997: 18

Barry Bonds
1992: 32
1993: 46
1994: 37*
1995: 33
2000: 49
2001: 73
2002: 46

Roger Maris
1959: 16
1960: 39
1961: 61
1962: 33

Mickey Mantle
1960: 40
1961: 54
1962: 30

They key theme in several of those years was expansion. Home runs became easier to hit in years after the pool of pitchers was expanded. The outliers in these lists are 1996(There is no way Brady Anderson should be the only Oriole ever to hit 50 homers) and 2001 (Bonds, Sosa, and Luis Gonzalez all had high jumps in HR totals).

I would attribute the jump in dingers, including Sosa, to less pitching and steroids than I would ever attribute it to corking bats.
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#17 Posted on 4.6.03 1347.46
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1348.03

    Originally posted by jfkfc
    *DUTFIAHBIARG = "Don't Use This Fucking Illegal As Hell Bat In Any Real Game"

That's just too funny. :-)

I am a huge baseball fan, have always been, and lately (last couple years) I feel like I spend more time defending it than anything else. Then this comes along...

There is no excuse for having a corked bat around. Period. If you can't use it in a game why would you even have it in the first place?

Just a damn shame...
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#18 Posted on 4.6.03 1356.57
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1357.27
Damn, this really, truly sucks to me. Even if Sosa did make an honest mistake, his past is going to be tarnished now, and any home runs he hits from now on will be looked upon skeptically. Plus, Sosa just makes the Cubs complete, even if they did have a winning record without him. The last thing they need at this point is some corked bat scandal drawing their attention away from playing well.

The thing that annoys me is Torre (Yankees) sticking his large mouth into the article I read (NY Times). Like the Yankees have anything to talk about when it comes to doing anything it takes to win games.
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#19 Posted on 4.6.03 1445.18
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1449.43

    Originally posted by messenoir
    Damn, this really, truly sucks to me. Even if Sosa did make an honest mistake, his past is going to be tarnished now, and any home runs he hits from now on will be looked upon skeptically. Plus, Sosa just makes the Cubs complete, even if they did have a winning record without him. The last thing they need at this point is some corked bat scandal drawing their attention away from playing well.

    The thing that annoys me is Torre (Yankees) sticking his large mouth into the article I read (NY Times). Like the Yankees have anything to talk about when it comes to doing anything it takes to win games.


I do agree with you that his aaccomplishments will now be looked upon skeptically. It sucks for him and it sucks for baseball.

Also, I did not read the article, but in lieu of turning this into a 'you hate the Yanks because your team sucks' versus 'your Yanks bought their rings', I'd just like you to further define "doing anything it takes". To me, most if not all major league teams "do whatever it takes to win" by: showing up to the ball park; giving 100% every day; making trades; nurturing farm teams; taking batting practice, etc. I don't really understand how 'doing whatever it takes' is now being considered a valid comparison to CHEATING!
messenoir
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#20 Posted on 4.6.03 1449.48
Reposted on: 4.6.10 1450.39
Buying rings is cheating to me. It's just legal cheating.
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