Just when you think Pete Roses’ reputation cannot get damaged any further, this shows up. A corked bat that he used in his quest for the batting record. Goto: This Is Pete Rose's Corked Bat For the entire story. It leaves little doubt.
Last nail in the coffin then? Never to be forgiven? No room in the HoF? Too bad. records with *** or +++ above them just dont mean as much. I watched him play with the Red's back in my early AF days at Wright Pat.
I'm pretty sue the HoF is now completely out of the question. I used to enjoy watching both "Charlie Hustle" and Johnny Bench. As a catcher myself in both Little League and Babe Ruth divisions, I was a fan of great catchers. As such I had turned into a real Reds fan while those two were playing at their peaks. That surely taints the Rose legacy, probably beyond all redemption. He will still be a saleable collection contributer, probably as much now "for" his mis-conduct as his real deeds. Too bad is right.
Cork-bats don't help with hitting. At least in the sense of making you hit the ball harder. Mythbusters (apparently) debunked that Myth. They concluded that, if anything, a cork-bat doesn't make the ball go any faster. On the same note, I think that that (hitting the ball slower) could actually help you get on base more, as you can dink the ball over the outfield but in front of the infield. You watch baseball today and most balls that clear the infield are caught by the outfield. A little hard to test, but something to think about.
The corked bat wasn't used to increase the "power" of the hit, but to reduce the time it took to complete the swing. And thus catch him up to his old swing speed. He never was a real "power hitter" just a good eye, high speed swing, and from both sides of the plate. The corked bat would certainly aid in swing speed, and that was the reason.
Rose was far from a power hitter, he hit a great ball, but mostly singles and doubles. It is too bad that all these good stats, are going to be forever tainted by both his "gambling" habits, and now his "bat" trickery. Just look at all the times he hit 1st in each of the sections, positions, and performaces, both by year and career. See: Pete Rose Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com I could almost forgive "Charlie Hustle" for his gambling weakness, but the cheating has hardened my heart.
I love Pete Rose, Cincy legend! Sure he might have corked a bat or two and gambled on some games, but he's still a legend in my books. Cork doesn't make up for hand eye coordination
Pete Rose can go to hell! as can Barry Bonds, Mark Maguire, Jose Canseco, and all the other cheating POS's. 61 is still the magic number. Rose was going for career hits and not home runs. As far as a corked bat hitting home runs it won't; what it does is increase a batter's swing speed and allowing them to get more hits....lighter bat less fatigue faster swing. Most guys will use a lighter bat for batting practice. The idea behind the "cork" is that it gives the bat the same dimensions as a regulation playing bat; except, the center has been drilled out and replaced with a lighter substance such as cork or foam. That way the batter has the same feel and size of bat, it's just not as heavy. Lighter bats can give more control we used to use them for fielding drills. Brad
There ya go Brad, the lighter bat made up for his "swing speed" deteriorating with age. He still had the "eye-hand" co-ordination, he just couldn't get the stinker around in time. The lightness of the doctored bat "cured" that flaw and alowed him to continue to hit his last year. Rose was never a power hitter, what did he have? Less than 200 Homers in twenty plus years as I recall without looking at that stat. chart I put up. Drug enhancement will always be a nasty, but doctoring your bat is even sneakier to my mind. He didn't "bulk up" like some of those guys, he just kept his "swing speed" up artifically, and that bothers me more than his "gambling". That was a weakness which hurt few but himself, and his loss of HoF possibles. This latest tarnishes his image more in my head than the gambling. 61 homers in a season by Maris, and "Hammering Hank's" 755 in total will always be the marks until somebody beats them without "drugs or doctored bats". The rules aren't supposed to be "guide lines" or suggestions.
I am an A's fan and I love baseball.....there I said it. This is allegedly the first "Steroid Free" season and there is a difference in hitting, how and why that is possible I don't care. I personally would rather see a catcher leg a double into a triple and get a couple of RBI's than see a juiced up pin head knock a home run with the bases empty....small ball is what is fun to watch. Miguel Tejada got pinched with a corked bat a few years ago after he went to the Oreo's. I am with you and I have no tolerence for cheaters. The fact that there were three three perfect games in 25 days is a testiment to the change in the sport. It's too bad the kid from Detroit got the bad call; but, it was handled well and that stuff happens in baseball. Babe Ruth had the best approach to fitness: Beer, Cigars and Sausage.
The idea put forward by that the really fine movie by Billy Crystal called; 61*, which seems to indicate that Maris’ record had an asterisk next to it in the record books is wrong. It was still a great movie, get it on Netflix if you can and never seen it. That anyone ever thought there was an asterisk is at least as much the fault of sportswriter Dick Young as of commissioner Ford Frick. Frick worshipped Ruth and was at his bedside the day before he died (and made much of that in interviews and after-dinner speeches). Maris had the bad luck to have his greatest season in 1961 at a time when Frick was commissioner of baseball. As early as July 17, when Maris and several other sluggers were ahead of Ruth's 1927 pace, Ford, apparently distressed that the new 162-game season would give someone an unfair crack at Ruth's record, called a press conference and issued this ruling: "Any player who may hit more than 60 home runs during his club's first 154 games would be recognized as having established a new record. However, if the player does not hit more than 60 until after his club has played 154 games, there would have to be some distinctive mark in the record books to show that Babe Ruth's record was set under a 154-game schedule ..." See: The myth of Maris' asterisk - Salon.com Something that should be kept in mind here is that Maris hit his 60th home run in his 684th plate appearance, while it took Ruth 689, so Roger beat the "Babe" by five. Not taking anything away from Ruth, just recognizing Maris. Doesn’t matter, I’m still a Mantle fan more than a Maris fan for some reason. The switch hitting? Perhaps. Maybe the life-style more like the "Babe" than the straight arrow Maris? The all around home run champ will always be Hank Aaron in my mind, he just kept "getting the job done", year after year for 23 season, racial bigots be damned.
