A Corked Bat Is Unlikely To Help A Power Hitter

Wired reports that a corked bat, as Sammy Sosa accidently used recently, is unlikely to increase power and may actually decrease it.

The boost a slugger gets from a corked bat is highly overrated. In fact, experts on the physics of baseball say such bats reduce a hitter's power.

"You have a slightly lighter bat, and you're going to hit the ball a little less far," said retired Yale professor Robert K. Adair, the author of The Physics of Baseball.
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Adair contends a corked bat actually may reduce by about 3 feet what would have been a 375-foot drive from a conventional wooden bat. While corked bats can increase bat speed and improve timing, he believes the benefits are minimal.
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Alan Nathan, a physics professor at the University of Illinois, also played down the benefits a long-ball hitter can derive from a corked bat.

"If your goal in life is to hit home runs, then I don't think a corked bat is going to help you too much," said Nathan, who has published studies on the subject. "On the other hand, if you're sort of a contact hitter, a singles hitter, then a corked bat probably can help you."

A quicker swing means a batter can watch the ball longer before taking a cut.

"The longer you watch it, the more information you have as to how you want to swing at it," Nathan said.