When in high school I did a science fair report on the subject. I think I might still have it. If I find it, I will share with you guys.
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If you've got it saved would you mind sending me a copy? I'm doing an investigation on the physics of baseball including ballparks (ie. Coors), pitching, and hitting, and I'm in grade 11.
i had this discussion with my friend earlier today. force is equal to mass times acceleration. my contention was that the small decrease in mass basically offsets the small increase in acceleration which means it wont necessarily help you hit it farther. i dont really have the ability to accurately measure batspeed so i dont know if they would cancel out or not. the advantage in corking a bat isnt that it helps you hit it farther, but you can get a better look at the ball and can catch up to the fastballs that you were just missing.
i think the article kind of underestimates the advantage of bat speed to power hitters. bat speed is often cited as a reason why gary sheffield is a good hitter.
Well, no one is taking into account it's effect on the surface of the bat. With cork, is the ball able to return more of the pitched ball's power because of the added "bounce"?
It was for this reason, I've been told, not the bat speed increase, that power was added. Like with tennis rackets. If you use lower tension string, you get more power.
So, even though corking a bat is illegal and immoral, it is ok because after some research you find out it doesnt work? This makes no sense. If Anthrax is found out to be harmless, would it excuse the terrorists who send it with intent to harm? No. Likewise with Sosa. Using cork is intending to cheat, whether or not it actually works is a moot point. If he used it on purpose, which im 90% sure he did, it is inexusable.
I was slightly exagerrating. What the article does do is provide a sanity check to the people saying every one of his homers is suspect. Or his whole career is a sham, etc.
What it says is that yes, Sosa broke a rule and should be punished, but corking a bat is not only illegal, it;s stupid!
So yes, Sosa should be punished, but the 10 game suspensions they've given before seem to be about what the offense deserves. It's not steroids, and it's not betting on baseball.
Sosa screwed up. I'm pretty sure he did it intentionally, but it doesn't matter that much either way according to physics. At least not as much as I thought.
Still, no player should even be allowed to use a corked bat in BP. They shouldn't be allowed in MLB parks. Right under "No Cricket." (drawing a blank. Is that what they say?) They should have "No Corked Bats".
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by The Jury » Wed Jun 04, 2003 4:16 pm 
