I don't know who follows baseball (I don't really) but Sammy Sosa is a really popular player so I thought I'd post this: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2003/06/03/sosa_ejected_ap/ Comments?
technically, i don't see advantage of using a bat with cork insert. It might lighten up a bat for better swing speed but cork is dampening material so it suck up energy. Try dropping a shuttle on a floor and see how high it bounce. This cork bat thing is just a placebo.
From what i heard, a corked bat has a section that is hollow inside and a cork is in it. From this, when the bat is swung, the cork will slide toward the top making the bat have a faster speed. You all seen those bat they sell in Toys 'R' Us for kids, where they have an object in the bat so when you swing the bat, the object will slide toward the top of the bat making the momentum of the bat go somewhat faster. I've seen this dicussed in badminton forum as well. I forgot where but i think it was a Wilson racquet or something that people said there was sand in the shaft of the racquet.
ProKennex. I have a Kinetic ULX, there is some sand (at least, more than 1 ppl guess/say so) in the handle. When u swing the racket, u can hear some sort of sound. However, whether it really boost up the swing motion or not, I can't really say.
Exactly. I am sure more than 1 player (including many all stars) doing this. Sammy is just the one being caught this time. It surely will effect his public image somehow in the recent days. But, heck, unless he could be caught again in the near future, ppl will soon forget about this and cheer for him again.
You mean it's not because the racquet is spoilt and stuff like that??? My friend has a racquet like that too, I thought maybe it rusted inside or something like that.
People need to know that, if you have a bat like that, your hits will be able to fly about 20ft+ more than regular hits. This information came from professional players in my country, Taiwan.