Sosa caught with cork in his bat

Nope. Wives tale.

Bart Giamatti was thinking of making cheating with a cork bat into a more severe penalty to protect the integrity of the game.

But first he asked Yale Physics proffesor Robert Kemp Adair to determine what effect it actually has.

Adair discovered that a corked bat would actually decrease how long a ball is hit by an average of 3 feet. Why? Simple physics. You are decreasing the density of the bat.

Adair then included his findings in his book "Physics of Baseball."

edit.

Corking aluminum bats might work, by making them more dense, since they are hollow.

 

Hit a tennis ball with a baseball bat. Now hit a steel ball. The steel ball is denser. Which flies farther?

 

Sportscenter just reported a corked bat increases velocity about 1%.

 

You slept through Physics, right Sly?

Since the steel ball is object being hit, the lighter, less dense object will travel a farther distance, and will be effected less by gravity.

When you hit a ball, you are transferring the kinetic energy of the bat to the ball. Reducing the weight and density of the bat reduces the kinetic energy of the bat.

But hey, it wasn't my study.

 

Why corks don't work

 

OK

Throw a steel ball at a concrete wall.

Now throw a steel ball at a rubber wall.

Which one causes the ball to bounce further?

 

It's the bat, not the ball, that's in question, Sly. Hit a baseball with different types of bats.

 

A pound of gold.

A pound of zinc.

Which is more important to your health?

 

The secret is cork or rubber that is the same weight and density as ash but that will compress and rebound giving the ball extra spring. I think that is called "Flubber".

 

dont believe the hype, piper. If cork didnt give an adavntage to hitters it would be used in bats. Cork is part of wood. Bats have to be an approved wood.