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June 05, 2003
Sosa-Gate And The Real Scandal In Baseball
The 76 bats Major League Baseball seized from Chicago Cubs superstar Sammy Sosa tested negative for cork yesterday, but questions about his credibility will linger for much longer. Despite these bats having been cleared, the investigation continues and the possibility remains that Sosa's bats currently at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. might be tested as well. Initially, I was inclined to believe Sosa's explanation that he only used the tainted bat in batting practice, but after 24 hours reflection, I'm starting to have my doubts. Despite this, I'm having a little trouble cutting through all the sanctimony displayed in the media. I think the master of the patio, Martin Devon, put it best last night: It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. But then, I'm a cynic. The fact that you have all these huge ballplayers that routinely hit 50+ homers a year, and that MLB has no drug testing to speak of tells me that there is a casual attitude about the integrity of the game to begin with. Or do you think that the rash of 50+ home run seasons has nothing to do with eroids-stay? Bingo. After doing some reading about the actual impact of hitting a baseball with a corked bat, I have to say this: there isn't any compelling objective evidence that settles the question of whether or not using a corked bat helps a batter hit a baseball harder and farther than a normal bat. The evidence is in dispute, just one of the "truths" of baseball that the high priests of the game have accepted, unquestioned, from the gospel of the game. As far as I'm concerned, that conclusion is nothing more than voodoo, and I can't help but be reminded of the conclusions drawn by Michael Lewis in his recent best-seller, Moneyball -- that much of the knowledge used in evaluating the game of baseball is inaccurate and erroneous, and not backed up in any way by clear objective evidence. On the other hand, I've done plenty of reading and writing here at Off Wing on the effects of steroids. I know for a fact that steroids encourage the growth of muscle mass that can increase a player's strength -- in particular the growth of "fast-twitch" muscles that can radically increase bat speed. They do this, in part, by allowing an individual to train with weights longer and with more intensity than normal. Further, steroids cut the amount of time an individual normally needs to recover, allowing him or her to resume high intensity training more frequently. Further, the risks and side-effects of steroids use are well known. These facts about steroids aren't in dispute, and are well established within the medical community. Yet baseball seems far more concerned about one corked bat, than by any evidence that a significant portion of its players might be artificially enhancing their performance in ways that might push them into an early grave. I've said early and often that Major League Baseball's steroids testing plan was an absolute joke -- one, in part, that the folks who run the game continue to pull on a steadily shrinking fan base. What's it going to take for MLB to take the issue of steroids seriously? There's only one way, and that won't happen until it's too late, and baseball has another dead body like Steve Bechler's that it can't explain away. UPDATE: All of Sosa's bats at the Hall of Fame were examined and found to be cork-free. ANOTHER UPDATE: George Will doesn't get it. I mean, he really, really, doesn't get it. YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Through David Pinto, I found this article that talks about a study that found that corked bats add two percent to the distance of a batted ball: The tests were done with a mechanical hitter rigged to swing both the corked and uncorked bats at exactly 66 mph, as measured 6 inches from the tip of the barrel. Balls arrived at 70 mph. This contradicts some of the claims I uncovered the night Sosa's bat shattered. In fact, one of those references claimed that the reason the ball would travel further off a bat that hadn't been corked is precisely because it wouldn't absorb any energy from a pitch. Essentially, the ball "pops" off the bat precisely because it's so much harder than the ball. In any case, my main point still stands: the efficacy of using a corked bat is in doubt, whether or not the practice is banned. Steroid use (and the abuse of other performance-enhancing drugs), however, is a far more dire problem than corking a bat could ever be.
Eric
07:31 AM
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» All corked up from Off the Kuff Tracked on June 5, 2003 09:23 AM CommentsI'm curious about something. Why is there so much more outrage over steroid use in baseball than in, say, football? It doesn't make sense to me. Posted by: at June 5, 2003 08:48 AM You've got me there Charles. Perhaps because of the explosion of power hitters in the majors, and the advent of over-developed ballplayers who play a game without pads make it easier to pick on baseball. Posted by: at June 5, 2003 04:48 PM It's interesting that you feel the need to compare Sosa's wrong with another problem within the game of baseball. We all know that two wrongs don't make a right. And what Sosa did was, beyond a doubt, wrong. Whether he's telling the truth or not is irrelevant. He is the one who bought the corked bat and selected it, intentionally or not, to use in that game. Do you think the cops would care for your excuse if you told them that the radar detector they caught you using in Virginia was intended for use only in Maryland? Certainly not. Your decision to use the device in VA, conscious or not, would bring upon you all of the penalties and repurcussions of the violation. Sosa's actions have to be seen in the same way. He knows, better than most people, the problems associated with using a corked bat in a regular game. If he did it intentionally, obviously he should be punished and his records should be regarded with scepticism. If he simply grew lax in selecting the corrects bats at gametime, he should suffer the same consequences because he's an adult and he knew the risk he was taking but he wasn't careful enough. Posted by: at June 6, 2003 11:42 AM I think you're missing my point entirely, Terry. I was simply pointing out that the fact that while a violation of a baseball rule that may be based in junk science causes an uproar, a problem of epidemic proportions (steriods), one whose impact is well documented in the medical community, goes without a serious response. What Sosa did was a clear violation of the rules. But know this Terry, ignoring a massive problem like steroids use -- the use of which we know conveys a massive advantage in baseball far in excess of merely corking a bat -- engenders disrespect for the law, and gradually undermines its authority. I'd suggest that was what you detected in my post. Posted by: at June 6, 2003 11:17 PM Post a commentThanks for signing in, . (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |