Jump to content

WOW! Umpire costs pitcher a perfect game!


BigD4VT
 Share

Recommended Posts

Most of you that are complaining have never been a umpire or a ref. so get off the couch and try to do it sometime.

 

I have umpired for two years and in this type of a situation with the pitcher being one out away from history in my mind if the play is anywhere close to a bang bang play I'm gonna call the runner out no matter what

 

With that said i've had my share of missed calls on the diamond and i've took plenty of critisim and I can only imagine what this umpire is going through

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
  • Replies 51
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

any way you look at it...crappy call...the ump and pitcher both handled it well.

 

the person I'm angry with at this point is Bud Selig...he should have overturned the call...the ump says it was a bad call and everyone knows it...the commish can do such a thing and a few years back they went through old games and threw out over 50 no hitters....if they can do that, they can make this right...Selig is an idiot and as long as an owner is commish then baseball will have a black eye.

 

and i see carroll county still loves me :) to be honest things have changed down there from what I've seen...but 6 or 7 years ago it was dirty pool lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
any way you look at it...crappy call...the ump and pitcher both handled it well.

 

the person I'm angry with at this point is Bud Selig...he should have overturned the call...the ump says it was a bad call and everyone knows it...the commish can do such a thing and a few years back they went through old games and threw out over 50 no hitters....if they can do that, they can make this right...Selig is an idiot and as long as an owner is commish then baseball will have a black eye.

 

 

 

 

Bingo! The umpire and players showed class...Bud Selig dropped the ball here. Outrageous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 
Bingo! The umpire and players showed class...Bud Selig dropped the ball here. Outrageous.

 

MLB is "dead" to me...at least it is until they let Pete Rose in the HOF...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 
 
MLB is "dead" to me...at least it is until they let Pete Rose in the HOF...

Well, maybe this story will completely kill baseball for you. Pete Rose: As big of a cheater as the rest of them...

 

http://deadspin.com/5555714/this-is-pete-roses-corked-bat?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+deadspin/full+(Deadspin)

 

You're looking at an X-ray of a Mizuno PR4192 bat, commissioned by Pete Rose specifically for his 1985 chase of baseball's all-time hits record. Inside, clear as day, is a piece of foreign material, about 6 inches long, and the diameter of a nickel. This is the story of that bat.

 

* * *

In 1985, over the July Fourth long weekend, Rose and the Cincinnati Reds headed to Veterans Stadium for a four-game series with the Phillies. Rose was on the last legs of his career and had been traded from the Expos back to the Reds the previous season. Permanently playing first base now, and serving as the last player-manager in baseball, Rose was in hot pursuit of Ty Cobb's iconic record of 4,191 hits. It was the only reason he was still playing baseball.

 

Before the season, Rose had a box of about 30 black Mizuno bats specially made for him. His trademark quick swing not nearly as quick as it used to be, Rose ordered his bats a little lighter than usual to shorten up his motion. The bats were 34 inches long, and weighed 31.6 ounces. In honor of his quest for 4,192 hits, they were dubbed the PR4192.

 

He used one of those bats — the bat you see in the X-ray — in the Philadelphia series. It was captured forever by a photographer's camera: Rose, waiting in the on-deck circle, bat resting on his left shoulder.

 

Pete Rose went 1-for-8 that weekend. He was 37 hits away from breaking the record.

 

* * *

Steve Wolter was a huge Pete Rose fan.

 

"He idolized Pete, his hard work, the effort he put forward," his son Adam says.

 

Wolter was in insurance in those days, and it just so happened that his company handled the Reds. He got to know Pete, came to consider him a friend. So, on Sept. 11, the very day Rose broke baseball's all-time hit record, Wolter made him an offer.

 

Though the Hall Of Fame requested it, Pete Rose sold the record-breaking bat to Steve Wolter. The Wolter family won't discuss the actual price, but they claim it was the highest amount ever paid for a single piece of sports memorabilia at that time.

 

While Wolter may have considered Rose a friend, Pete considered him a buyer. In the late '80s, as Rose's gambling debts were mounting, he sold off a large collection of his memorabilia, much of which ended up with the Wolter family.

 

"He needed the money, and that was the most he could get," says Adam Wolter. Included among the items in that transaction was the PR4192 Rose had used in Philadelphia.

 

* * *

Bill Schubert considers himself an amateur collector, though the analyst from Stockton, Calif., did own one big-time piece of memorabilia: a Babe Ruth-signed baseball. But he always wanted one of Pete Rose's bats.

 

"Everything about Pete is so unique, and that goes for his bats," Schubert says. "The way he tapes it up; the way he sands down the hitting face; the way the barrel is scuffed on both sides, depending on which side of the plate he was hitting from.

 

"Pete's a divisive guy. But he's a big part of baseball history, and I'm a fan of baseball history."

 

In 2008, Schubert got in touch with Sports Investments, a Cincinnati-based collectibles store that is home to the largest collection of Pete Rose memorabilia in the country. It's owned by the Wolter family.

 

Steve Wolter had gotten out of the insurance business in the early '90s and opened the store and shrine to Cincinnati baseball. When Schubert called they didn't have any PR4192s left; they had sold the Philadelphia bat to a collector in Wisconsin. They promised to let Schubert know if they heard of one for sale.

 

As it happened, in August of last year, the Wisconsin collector moved to Hawaii and couldn't take his vast stockpile of memorabilia with him. So he called Sports Investments. Would they be interested in buying back the bat they had sold him? They were and they did, and then they called Bill Schubert.

 

Schubert balked at parting with the cash necessary to get his hands on the PR4192, despite its great condition, and despite his long-held desire for a Pete Rose bat. But he did have something to trade. He sent his Babe Ruth-signed ball (along with a cash difference that we won't mention in deference to his fear that his wife will find out) and in return received his game-used Black Mizuno PR4192. He didn't know it at the time, but it was the one Rose had used on that July Fourth weekend in Philadelphia.

 

* * *

Rumors of Rose corking his bat date back nearly a decade, to an ex-confidant's tell-all. In a 2001 Vanity Fair interview, Tommy Gioiosa said that Rose regularly corked his bats in 1985.

 

Rule 6.06(d) prohibits the use of corked and otherwise tampered-with bats, but the practice goes back long before an official MLB rulebook. It's simple physics: a bat that's been hollowed out with a drill, its innards replaced with cork, will be lighter without sacrificing power. Lighter bat, quicker swing, better contact on the pitch. That's how the thinking goes, anyway; MythBusters looked into it and found that the ball comes off a corked bat markedly slower, and concluded that the cheaters have only been cheating themselves.

 

Graig Nettles used superballs; Norm Cash used glue and sawdust; Sammy Sosa used cork. The material doesn't matter. All that matters is that players believe it gives them an edge, and it's nearly impossible to get caught. Only six players in major league history have ever been punished.

 

In 2005, Internet casino Goldenpalace.com purchased a purportedly corked Rose bat at auction for a jawdropping sum. Known for publicity stunts and sponsored streakers, Goldenpalace.com announced that it would saw apart the bat see what was inside.

 

It's unclear if they followed through, but no corked bat was ever presented to the world, and Goldenpalace.com later sold the bat for less than a tenth of what it had paid.

 

Rose has vehemently denied corking his bat. But then again, Rose vehemently denied betting on baseball for a long, long time, and now he's autographing balls, "Sorry I Bet On Baseball."

 

* * *

Bill Schubert's bat was authenticated by Sports Investments, which had received it directly from Pete Rose, so the chain of custody was as pristine as it gets. Still, there was no way to prove it had actually been used in a regular-season game, rather than, say, in batting practice or spring training. Today, all milestone-breaking equipment is immediately stamped, and tagged, and logged, and hologram-stickered for the collectibles market. But nothing of the sort was being done in Rose's day.

 

Last month, Schubert was cruising eBay when he stumbled across the September 1985 issue of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly. Now a bible of the card collecting market, the magazine then was just a few months old. And for that month's issue, to commemorate Rose's pursuit of 4,192, Beckett used a photo from the collection of a Camden, N.J., freelancer named Bob Bartosz. Bartosz had snapped the shot over the July Fourth weekend in Philadelphia. It shows Rose, waiting in the on-deck circle, bat resting on his left shoulder.

 

 

 

Schubert immediately noticed the browned tape and some telltale scuffs: one right above the "1" on the knob of the bat and three along the same grain above the tape. There was little doubt in his mind that the bat he held in his hands was the same one Rose held in the 1985 photo.

 

Schubert got in touch with John Taube of PSA/DNA authentication services, the closest thing the game-used bat industry has to a King Solomon. He showed him the photomatching, and Taube agreed that Schubert's bat and the one in the photo were one and the same.

 

 

 

 

 

Schubert knew he had a unique bat from the beginning. The tape job was uncharacteristically heavy, and Rose had painted a white "14" on both the knob and the head of the bat. Most of Rose's bats had his number on the knob, whether due to superstition or the practicality of finding it in the rack. But on the head? Well, that was a different story. Only a handful of known Rose bats have the "14" on the head.

 

 

 

A fellow collector urged Schubert to inspect the bat head, and he discovered a circular patch of rough wood under the white paint, about eight-tenths of an inch across. Could it be a drill hole?

 

Schubert had to know. He took the bat to an X-ray technician, who laid the bat on a table and punched a few buttons. Within minutes an image appeared on the monitor.

 

* * *

Many players use (or claim to use, after they've been caught) corked bats only in batting practice. If this bat turned out to be altered, there would be concrete proof that Pete Rose had used a corked bat in a game. Which wouldn't come as a surprise to many.

 

"There was no question he wanted the record," Taube says. "At that point in his career, he was going to do whatever he had to do." A game-used corked bat would add to the mountain of evidence that ballplayers only take the rulebook as a suggestion, especially when baseball's supposedly sacrosanct records are at stake.

 

Bill Schubert wasn't sure what he was expecting. Sure, he had heard the rumors about Pete corking. He didn't necessarily believe them; he didn't disbelieve them either. But he certainly didn't expect to see what he saw.

 

"I thought that I'd have to send the X-rays off to an expert to tell me if they saw anything funny," Schubert says. "But as soon as we saw it, there it was, right in front of our eyes. I said, ‘That's cork in there.' I was blown away."

 

It is, indisputably, cork. And with an unbroken chain of ownership, no one but Rose could have put the cork there.

 

The bat's previous owners were flummoxed.

 

"We never thought to look," says Adam Wolter. "Usually you cork it for power. Pete didn't need that or want that. But I guarantee a lot of people are going to be checking their own Pete Rose bats now."

 

They have been. John Taube has a PR4192 with white paint on the head, concealing what appears to be a drill hole. Same goes for Chuck Long, an Ohio collector. And Steve Mears, a Southern California collector, also went and got his X-rayed:

 

 

 

Adam Wolter, the scion of the first family of Pete Rose memorabilia, acknowledges that the evidence is all but airtight. The photomatching puts the bat in Rose's hands, preparing to step up to the plate in July 1985. What was already a highly sought-after collector's item now becomes a one-of-a-kind piece of history.

 

"I don't think it ruins his legacy," says Wolter. "There's already so much controversy surrounding Pete, this just falls into the same category. That's what drives his demand: the controversy. It only enhances the items even more."

 

Don't think Bill Schubert doesn't know that. A game-used PR4192 bat could go for $5,000 or more. But a proven corked bat is unique; no one has any idea how high the bidding could go. Certainly six figures.

 

Schubert's in no hurry to sell. He sent it off to John Taube for further authentication, and upon its return he will put it back in its case. He thinks he might display it in his den, next to a baseball signed by Bart Giamatti.

 

* * *

A few years back, Pete Rose addressed the corking rumors.

 

"Go up to Steve Wolter and get that 4192 bat," Rose said in 2004. "Take it to an examiner and see if there's any cork in it. I guarantee you there won't be.

 

"If somebody has a corked bat that has my name on it, bring it on down."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

only problem is that it's been proved that a corked bat doesn't give the hitter any additional advantage...in fact, it's shown to be worse...so...makes no difference in the big pic other than a good story.

 

My favorite Rose story is how his hit streak came to an end and the level of pissed off that he was after the fact...lol...classic.

 

I hope he gets in the HOF someday...before he dies would be great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
only problem is that it's been proved that a corked bat doesn't give the hitter any additional advantage...in fact, it's shown to be worse...so...makes no difference in the big pic other than a good story.

 

My favorite Rose story is how his hit streak came to an end and the level of pissed off that he was after the fact...lol...classic.

 

I hope he gets in the HOF someday...before he dies would be great.

 

A couple things about your argument.

1.) It doesn't matter if it's been "proved" or not. According to the MLB rule book, it's still illegal.

 

2.) Along those same lines, it was his intention to get ahead using a method he thought would help him do so. He knew what he was doing was against the rules. And if someone intentionally does something against the rules to gain an advantage, I would consider such actions "Cheating".

 

3.) Making a bat lighter is going to help the batter swing his bat faster. If you swing a bat faster, you give yourself a better chance to make contact with the ball. Lance, you're thinking about the power aspect of it. The Mythbusters (hahaha, can't believe I'm referencing them) demonstrated that corking a bat makes the ball come off the bat at a lesser speed than a bat that retains it's natural build. All Rose was worried about was getting hits. It didn't matter if the ball went 40 ft. or 400 ft. He just had to reach 1st base.

 

So while Pete Rose left everything he had on the baseball field, he still went about aspects of his career in a shady way that I don't think gives him the privilege to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, at least if PED users are also left out. If PED users are given an asterisk and allowed into the HOF, then by all means, let Rose in. Until then, I think he's just another sports hero turned tragedy.

Edited by vthokies4life
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
A couple things about your argument.

1.) It doesn't matter if it's been "proved" or not. According to the MLB rule book, it's still illegal.

 

2.) Along those same lines, it was his intention to get ahead using a method he thought would help him do so. He knew what he was doing was against the rules. And if someone intentionally does something against the rules to gain an advantage, I would consider such actions "Cheating".

 

3.) Making a bat lighter is going to help the batter swing his bat faster. If you swing a bat faster, you give yourself a better chance to make contact with the ball. Lance, you're thinking about the power aspect of it. The Mythbusters (hahaha, can't believe I'm referencing them) demonstrated that corking a bat makes the ball come off the bat at a lesser speed than a bat that retains it's natural build. All Rose was worried about was getting hits. It didn't matter if the ball went 40 ft. or 400 ft. He just had to reach 1st base.

 

So while Pete Rose left everything he had on the baseball field, he still went about aspects of his career in a shady way that I don't think gives him the privilege to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, at least if PED users are also left out. If PED users are given an asterisk and allowed into the HOF, then by all means, let Rose in. Until then, I think he's just another sports hero turned tragedy.

 

I grew up around baseball. My dad played semi-pro ball, and I played on a much lower but competitive level, and I was privileged to be around the game from age three until I hurt my knee at the age of 41 playing softball. (By the way, at that age it was past time for me to hang up my spikes). I was never aware of any player I played with or against who did steroids or corked bats, but I saw lots of guys try and gain a competitive advantage in other ways. Pitchers in particular, would put foreign substances in their gloves such as sandpaper, etc. to scratch the ball so that they could have a better grip and make the ball break better, spit ball pitchers (and they are still doing that today), excess pine tar on bats, etc. It has been a part of the game since the game began. It's part of the lore of baseball, and part of the romantic history for those of us who have played and been fans of the game all of our lives. It was rumored that Ty Cobb sharpened his spikes before every game. His opponents knew it. He slid into second or third base with his spikes high, and if you're the fielder trying to tag him out, you're aware of the fact that you could get your arm sliced up like a Thanksgiving turkey. He was considered by many as one of the dirtiest players to ever play the game. He attacked a verbally abusive fan who had no hands. Ty Cobb was included in the inaugural Hall of Fame. I know there are those that believe everything in sports should be as pure as the driven snow, but that's just not reality. Athletes in every sport have done it. I'm not talking about steroids, because I do think that's a different animal entirely, but Pete Rose corking his bat or betting on baseball games should not keep one of the greatest players who ever played the game out of the Hall of Fame. He earned it, and he deserves the honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Edited by blueinbama
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
A couple things about your argument.

1.) It doesn't matter if it's been "proved" or not. According to the MLB rule book, it's still illegal.

 

2.) Along those same lines, it was his intention to get ahead using a method he thought would help him do so. He knew what he was doing was against the rules. And if someone intentionally does something against the rules to gain an advantage, I would consider such actions "Cheating".

 

3.) Making a bat lighter is going to help the batter swing his bat faster. If you swing a bat faster, you give yourself a better chance to make contact with the ball. Lance, you're thinking about the power aspect of it. The Mythbusters (hahaha, can't believe I'm referencing them) demonstrated that corking a bat makes the ball come off the bat at a lesser speed than a bat that retains it's natural build. All Rose was worried about was getting hits. It didn't matter if the ball went 40 ft. or 400 ft. He just had to reach 1st base.

 

So while Pete Rose left everything he had on the baseball field, he still went about aspects of his career in a shady way that I don't think gives him the privilege to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, at least if PED users are also left out. If PED users are given an asterisk and allowed into the HOF, then by all means, let Rose in. Until then, I think he's just another sports hero turned tragedy.

 

I believe that about 75% of the guys that have played MLB in the last 30-40 years have done things to gain an advantage in multiple games that would constitute "challenging" the MLB rule book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
He attacked a verbally abusive fan who had no hands.

 

Timeout. I vote that we continue the Pete Rose discussion after you tell this story. I've not heard it before and it sounds quite... interesting (I'm hesitant to use the word "funny" even though I'm tempted to. He attacked a fan with no HANDS?! There's humor in that somewhere, I just know it).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 

3.) Making a bat lighter is going to help the batter swing his bat faster. If you swing a bat faster, you give yourself a better chance to make contact with the ball. Lance, you're thinking about the power aspect of it. The Mythbusters (hahaha, can't believe I'm referencing them) demonstrated that corking a bat makes the ball come off the bat at a lesser speed than a bat that retains it's natural build. All Rose was worried about was getting hits. It didn't matter if the ball went 40 ft. or 400 ft. He just had to reach 1st base.

 

Not bad analysis for a soccer player. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
I grew up around baseball. My dad played semi-pro ball, and I played on a much lower but competitive level, and I was privileged to be around the game from age three until I hurt my knee at the age of 41 playing softball. (By the way, at that age it was past time for me to hang up my spikes). I was never aware of any player I played with or against who did steroids or corked bats, but I saw lots of guys try and gain a competitive advantage in other ways. Pitchers in particular, would put foreign substances in their gloves such as sandpaper, etc. to scratch the ball so that they could have a better grip and make the ball break better, spit ball pitchers (and they are still doing that today), excess pine tar on bats, etc. It has been a part of the game since the game began. It's part of the lore of baseball, and part of the romantic history for those of us who have played and been fans of the game all of our lives. It was rumored that Ty Cobb sharpened his spikes before every game. His opponents knew it. He slid into second or third base with his spikes high, and if you're the fielder trying to tag him out, you're aware of the fact that you could get your arm sliced up like a Thanksgiving turkey. He was considered by many as one of the dirtiest players to ever play the game. He attacked a verbally abusive fan who had no hands. Ty Cobb was included in the inaugural Hall of Fame. I know there are those that believe everything in sports should be as pure as the driven snow, but that's just not reality. Athletes in every sport have done it. I'm not talking about steroids, because I do think that's a different animal entirely, but Pete Rose corking his bat or betting on baseball games should not keep one of the greatest players who ever played the game out of the Hall of Fame. He earned it, and he deserves the honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

 

I believe that about 75% of the guys that have played MLB in the last 30-40 years have done things to gain an advantage in multiple games that would constitute "challenging" the MLB rule book.

 

I think you guys are saying the same thing here. Essentially the argument you're making is that if enough people do it, it's fine even though it's against the rules. It's also the same argument that's being used to justify PED users' chances of getting into the HOF. If you ask me, that argument doesn't work out. Rules are rules. If you break a rule to gain an advantage, you are a cheater. Cheaters don't belong in the Hall of Fame. Are there cheaters in the Hall of Fame? I don't know of any right this moment, but I think we could get a pretty resounding "Yes" with 5 minutes of research.

 

I guess the questions we all kind of ask, and Hall of Fame voters should ask, are these: Does the rest of his body of work overshadow any instances that we know he cheated, or was his body of work a direct result of his cheating? Pete Rose bet on baseball. There is no evidence he threw games to make money. Pete Rose also corked his bat. With a corked bat he broke a significant record. Does the rest of his work overshadow these events? Then take Mark McGwire. He used PEDs. One could argue that his PED use directly affected the player he became, that his body of work was so HOF worthy because he cheated, instead of having certain instances of cheating that could be lost in the shadows of otherwise clean play. We have no idea what his career would have looked like if he had stayed away from PEDs, therefore we don't have any (well, we have limited) instances of his career without them. So because his career was solely based on this substance that gave him a considerable advantage, I don't think he deserves a HOF bid. Ever.

 

That got kind of wordy. Let me know if I need to clarify further.

 

As for Rose, I personally think his career is tarnished by the betting scandal and the corked bats. His lack of respect for the of the rules of the game -and the game itself- he played and managed is, in my opinion, reason to keep a great player like him out of the Hall of Fame. I think these instances make him seem like he thought of himself as being above the game. And anyone who has that attitude, regardless of talent, is going to end up on the bottom.

 

 

Yeah... this story definitely made me laugh in that "I shouldn't be laughing right now" way. My real only thought is this: If you can't defend yourself for some reason (a good reason being a lack of hands), then you probably shouldn't be heckling people. Just a thought.

 

Not bad analysis for a soccer player. ;)

 

Haha, I've watched a game or two of baseball over the past couple of years. But yes. I am a soccer fan through and through. Actually, I'm such a big soccer fan that I went and got tickets to the World Cup about a year and a half ago. And yes, I'm leaving for South Africa on Friday. Never been to Africa before either, so this should be a pretty good time. I'll keep you all posted on my trip whenever I can find internet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Haha, I've watched a game or two of baseball over the past couple of years. But yes. I am a soccer fan through and through. Actually, I'm such a big soccer fan that I went and got tickets to the World Cup about a year and a half ago. And yes, I'm leaving for South Africa on Friday. Never been to Africa before either, so this should be a pretty good time. I'll keep you all posted on my trip whenever I can find internet.

 

Man, that's AWESOME! Take some pics and send a few of 'em my way!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
I guess the questions we all kind of ask, and Hall of Fame voters should ask, are these: Does the rest of his body of work overshadow any instances that we know he cheated, or was his body of work a direct result of his cheating?

 

Pete Rose's gambling had absolutely nothing to do with his body of work, and that is the only reason he is not in the HOF. Whether or not we disagree on the cork bat deal is a moot point where the HOF is concerned.

 

Steroids are an entirely different subject. Corking a bat or throwing a spit ball still requires your natural ability to succeed. Steroids enhance ones natural ability to a point of being freakishly more powerful. Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire are two perfect examples of two fairly normal sized athletes morphing into the Incredible Hulk. Apples and oranges.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I seriously doubt the weight of the wood vs the weight of the cork would add much to his bat speed...as far as avg goes, if you are not hitting for power then bat speed is not nearly as important to make contact...maybe if you are a pull hitter and trying to turn around on a fast ball to pull it...but as far as a guy with 4000 hits at that point trying to make contact goes, i just doubt he gained anything from a corked bat...that's all i'm saying...is it right to cork a bat? no. Does Pete belong in the Hall? yes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
I seriously doubt the weight of the wood vs the weight of the cork would add much to his bat speed...as far as avg goes, if you are not hitting for power then bat speed is not nearly as important to make contact...maybe if you are a pull hitter and trying to turn around on a fast ball to pull it...but as far as a guy with 4000 hits at that point trying to make contact goes, i just doubt he gained anything from a corked bat...that's all i'm saying...

 

Lance, take it from someone who's played baseball through high school, there's a noticeable difference in a 32 ounce and a 30 ounce bat. That's how I used to get hits off good teams when I played: use a 32 ounce bat against the Grundys, and use a 29/30 ounce bat against the Tazewells. If you're losing just 2 ounces from replacing the wood with cork, then that's a huge competitive advantage, if you're hitting for average. I don't know what else to tell you, if you haven't played. Maybe some of my baseball-playing brothers could help me out here.

 

Pete Rose wasn't jacking 50 bombs a year. He was a pure contact hitter, the best there ever was. I agree, that he should be in the Hall. But if you think that having a corked bat didn't help him get around a couple tenths quicker, then you're kidding yourself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
Lance, take it from someone who's played baseball through high school, there's a noticeable difference in a 32 ounce and a 30 ounce bat. That's how I used to get hits off good teams when I played: use a 32 ounce bat against the Grundys, and use a 29/30 ounce bat against the Tazewells. If you're losing just 2 ounces from replacing the wood with cork, then that's a huge competitive advantage, if you're hitting for average. I don't know what else to tell you, if you haven't played. Maybe some of my baseball-playing brothers could help me out here.

 

Pete Rose wasn't jacking 50 bombs a year. He was a pure contact hitter, the best there ever was. I agree, that he should be in the Hall. But if you think that having a corked bat didn't help him get around a couple tenths quicker, then you're kidding yourself.

 

I played ball of all sorts from the time i was old enough to know what it was, maybe before...changed schools in 3rd grade to play ball for Vansant...lol...I played up until I screwed my knee up playing ball down in Myrtle Beach...had 13 HR's in 8 games playing on the big fields before my knee decided to fly apart...so I know what you are saying...I am just saying I don't think it helped him any more than it hurt him...same difference...i have been reading around and trying to find a weight listed for that bat that is causing all this fuss, and for some reason cant find it? does anyone know the weight? the cork may not even add up to an ounce of weight difference depending on how much is in there...most of the time back in the 80's this was done because people thought it would make the ball fly off the bat better, not to shave weight...in fact there were also cheats to load the bat on the end, which did give you a better distance...i think most people got caught with those as it tended to break the bats more and stuff would fly out...I know Claudell Washington from the Braves got busted like that once in a game...lol...usually people just say it was a batting practice bat that got used by mistake and move on...yeah right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
I played ball of all sorts from the time i was old enough to know what it was, maybe before...changed schools in 3rd grade to play ball for Vansant...lol...I played up until I screwed my knee up playing ball down in Myrtle Beach...had 13 HR's in 8 games playing on the big fields before my knee decided to fly apart...so I know what you are saying...I am just saying I don't think it helped him any more than it hurt him...same difference...i have been reading around and trying to find a weight listed for that bat that is causing all this fuss, and for some reason cant find it? does anyone know the weight? the cork may not even add up to an ounce of weight difference depending on how much is in there...most of the time back in the 80's this was done because people thought it would make the ball fly off the bat better, not to shave weight...in fact there were also cheats to load the bat on the end, which did give you a better distance...i think most people got caught with those as it tended to break the bats more and stuff would fly out...I know Claudell Washington from the Braves got busted like that once in a game...lol...usually people just say it was a batting practice bat that got used by mistake and move on...yeah right.

 

Now I've actually heard of hollowing out a portion of the barrel of the bat to put weights/BBs/shot in to give it a little more weight. I'm not sure if that'd be productive at all, unless your timing on a pitcher was close to impeccable.

 

My favorite example was Sammy Sosa, when he got caught with the corked bat in 2006. Claimed it was a BP bat, and he had 75 of his bats searched. The ONLY bat he had that was corked. BP bat my rear end...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

it's productive...i dont know if they still make them, but there were a ton of "loaded" softball bats out there in the 90's...some even liquid filled...there was one that had a weight in it that would slide inside the bat as you swing so that by the time you were at the point of contact it was in the end of the bat...you would get a lot more length on those types of bats vs a regular bat...another had these clear looking weights that screwed on to the end of the bat and had the end cap over them so you could see down inside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
it's productive...i dont know if they still make them, but there were a ton of "loaded" softball bats out there in the 90's...some even liquid filled...there was one that had a weight in it that would slide inside the bat as you swing so that by the time you were at the point of contact it was in the end of the bat...you would get a lot more length on those types of bats vs a regular bat...another had these clear looking weights that screwed on to the end of the bat and had the end cap over them so you could see down inside.

 

There are still a lot of loaded softball bats today, some of them going as high as $350. But if you're buying a loaded softball bat to get more power (especially for slow-pitch softball leagues), then you're missing the purpose of hitting in softball: to get the ball on the ground. Such short distances between the bases that if you have any kind of speed, you can leg out a lot of hits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
There are still a lot of loaded softball bats today, some of them going as high as $350. But if you're buying a loaded softball bat to get more power (especially for slow-pitch softball leagues), then you're missing the purpose of hitting in softball: to get the ball on the ground. Such short distances between the bases that if you have any kind of speed, you can leg out a lot of hits.

 

two things:

 

- I have (well had anyway) power and zero speed...if I don't hit it at least to the wall or over it then I will still get thrown out at first lol.

 

- Chicks (especially drunken chicks) dig the long ball...lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...