In June 2003, the world of baseball was shocked that Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, one of the game’s best hitters, had been caught using an illegal corked baseball bat. Since then there have been several players that have been caught cheating and using an illegal baseball bat. So what are corked baseball bats and why are they illegal?
A corked baseball bat is an illegally modified bat that has been hollowed out and filled with lighter material such as wine cork. The reason why players cork bats is to make them lighter, allowing hitters to swing faster while also increasing their bat’s sweet spot.
Corked bats are not permitted to be used in professional baseball because they violate a rule that states bats must be one piece of solid wood.
In this article, we will discuss more in-depth on what a corked baseball bat is, how it’s made, what are the advantages and why they are illegal to use in professional baseball.
Let’s get started.
What is a Corked Baseball Bat
A corked baseball bat is a bat that has been hollowed out and filled with a lighter material, such as cork, to disguise the modification. This modification makes the bat lighter and easier to swing a longer bat.
Baseball bats that have been corked are illegal according to MLB and other league rules. Players caught using a corked bat or other modified bat in play are subject to ejection and further punishment.
The advantage or strategy behind using a corked baseball bat is that they are lighter allowing a quicker response by the batter. They can also use a longer bat without having additional weight.
Why Corked Bats Are Illegal
So, why are corked baseball bats illegal to use? In professional baseball, any baseball bat used must be made from a single solid piece of wood thus making a corked or bat during games illegal. In other words corked baseball bats are illegal to use during play because they are not made out of one piece of solid wood.
Here is what the MLB states in their rulebook concerning the use of baseball bats.
The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood. (Source: content.mlb.com)
When a baseball bat is corked it is no longer one solid piece of wood. This modification makes the bat much lighter which can allow an advantage to the hitter, but the use of one is not permitted during baseball games.
Benefits of Corked Baseball Bats
The benefits to using a corked baseball bat is that the bat is lighter than advertised and can increase a batters bat speed and “sweet spot”. With a corked bat you get the same length and thickness of a regular baseball bat, but it’s several ounces lighter. This allows hitters to use longer bats than they would otherwise resulting in an increase in bat speed and giving them a bigger sweet spot to hit from.
Advantages of Corked Baseball Bats
- Lighter
- Increased Bat Speed
- Larger Sweet Spot
Now let’s look at an example of why using a corked baseball bat would give a hitter an advantage over not using one.
Let’s say there is a hitter that can only effectively swing a 33 ounces bat. If this player gets a 35 ounce bat and corkes it by drilling a hole, replacing it with cork and patching it up with saw dust and pine tar. This player now has a 35 ounce bat that swings like a 33 ounce bat. He now has a larger bat with a bigger sweet pot that is much lighter. His bat speed will increase and he will be able to more easily hit the sweet spot of a bigger bat which can determine how far the ball will go.
How Much of a Difference Do Corked Bats Make?
It’s pretty clear that corked bats can give batters an advantage and there is a reason why they are considered to be illegal in professional baseball. However, how much of a difference a corked bat can make can be hard to quantify.
This distance gained by using a corked bat is fairly small. Lightning the bat does however increase the probability that a batter hits the ball properly. This where using a corked bat makes the biggest difference. A lighter bat helps both home run hitters and single hikers alike. (source: scientificamerican.com)
How Are Corked Bats Made?
When a bat is corked a corker will typically drill a hole at the end of the bat, hollow out a “sweet spot” and fill it with wine corks or superballs. The hole is then sealed with a combination of sawdust and pine tar.
As a result the bat is now several ounces lighter and is still long and thick as a normal wood baseball bat. A lighter bat, of course, is easier to swing and whip the bat through to any pitch.
Here is a video explanation on how a cork baseball bat is made.
Corked Baseball Bats vs. Regular Baseball Bats
Modifying and corking a baseball bat changes the bat from a solid piece of wood to a modified and lighter version.
Here are some of the key differences between a regular bat and corked bat.
- Corked bats have a larger sweet spot
- Regular bats weigh more than corked bats
- Corked bats are easier to swing as they are lighter
- Corked bats absorbs the impact of the ball more sending the ball off more slowly from the bat
What Corked Baseball Bats Look Like
Do corked baseball bats look the same as a regular bat? After a corked bat is drilled and filled with cork or other material, saw dust and pine tar are typically used to make the bat look like a regular bat.
After a bat has been corked it’s pretty hard to visibly see the difference between a corked and non-corked baseball bat. However when a baseball bat breaks a corked bat can easily be identified. This is when most players that are cheating and using a corked bat are caught.
Corked Baseball Bat Myth
One of the biggest myths in the baseball world is that many are under the belief that corked baseball bats allow a batter to hit the ball farther. While using a baseball bat that is corked does give hitters several advantages, hitting a baseball a lot further isn’t necessarily one of them.
In fact in a study performed by MIT Technology they said “We conclude that there is no advantage to corking a bat if the goal is for the batted ball speed to be as large as possible, as is the case for a home run hitter,”
A corked bat does however make it easier to find the sweet spot on a bat making it more likely that a player hits a ball well but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will always go further.