Sammy Sosa's batting incident

[sororitygirl2]

I definitely want to believe that it was an accident, but it's hard. It makes you question all his past accomplishments... It's really too bad.

[sugar and spice]

Every article I've seen has mentioned the 1% figure when mentioning the difference between corked and non-corked bats. I'd be willing to bet that most, if not all, of the difference is psychological.

Out of curiosity, if the improvement is that small, why outlaw corked bats at all? Why not just allow players to use corked bats? This would eliminate the "illegal advantage" that some players would have over others if they were secretly using corked bats, and apparently it wouldn't change the number of home runs enough that they would have to change the dimensions of the parks.

[KSigkid]

There have been a few baseball commentators who said the suspension should be reduced for "all Sosa has done for the game" (Dave Campbell on ESPN, and a couple more on local stations).

That is garbage - the guy cheated, got caught, now he has to pay for it. I don't buy the "only in practice" thing - if he wants to put on a show for the fans who show up to batting practice, wouldn't he also want to put one on for the rest of the crowd that shows up for the game.

He screwed up - yes, andro and steroids are just as much cheating, and the players who do that should be disciplined; but Sosa should be too.

You do the crime, you do the time.

[Eirene_DGP]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
Fifty or sixty other bats tested OK. I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I was thinking the same thing...Maybe it was just an honest mistake.