Mantle corking bats? Article on Yahoo Sports

Tanman7baseball · #1 05-04-2013, 08:31 PM

I see the science being thrown around on this thread but has anyone played baseball in the last 10 years? The mechanics of the swing has changed tremendously since the 60s. Most hitters then were rotational hitters. Today the swing has changed to using your hands more than anything. The lower body obviously generates power but "staying though the ball" with your hands is what the key is. Using your lower half to extend your hands is what the lower body is used for mainly. The result is "back spin". Rotational hitters generally hit the balls with "front spin", which results in less carry. Perfect example of a recent rotational hitter was Jim Edmonds. These type of hitters rotate off the ball when swinging which disallows them to stay through the zone longer when hitting. Now Pujols is one of the greatest hitters of all time. Does he have incredible bat speed? Absolutely not, it is very average actually. But he stays in the zone with his swing better than anyone else.

Back to the topic about corked bats. The density of the bat is what determines weight. When the bat companies make their bats they take out moisture to decrease the weight. If you have a 34in/35oz bat it is denser than a 34in/32oz bat. If you have a 34in/34oz bat and cork the center to make it 32oz then you have the advantage of using a denser but lighter bat. Therefore, ADVANTAGE.

Sammy Sosa broke one of his bats back in the day and it happened to be corked. He said he used it in batting practice and it must of got mixed into his game bats. The reason he used it though was because he said it made him feel good during BP because he would smash the ball better...

itjclarke · #2 05-04-2013, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanman7baseball

I see the science being thrown around on this thread but has anyone played baseball in the last 10 years? The mechanics of the swing has changed tremendously since the 60s. Most hitters then were rotational hitters. Today the swing has changed to using your hands more than anything. The lower body obviously generates power but "staying though the ball" with your hands is what the key is. Using your lower half to extend your hands is what the lower body is used for mainly. The result is "back spin". Rotational hitters generally hit the balls with "front spin", which results in less carry. Perfect example of a recent rotational hitter was Jim Edmonds. These type of hitters rotate off the ball when swinging which disallows them to stay through the zone longer when hitting. Now Pujols is one of the greatest hitters of all time. Does he have incredible bat speed? Absolutely not, it is very average actually. But he stays in the zone with his swing better than ...

I see your point, but I think the mechanics/physics of the swing has not changed that much in the last 50 years... Maybe the last 75-80, when the ball was mush and bats were 15-20 oz heavier, but not in the last 50.

Hips have always been key to triggering and generating upper body torque both swinging and in a pitching motion. I think the focus on hands, "staying inside the ball", "keeping hands back" etc are things that are talked about and taught more now, but are aspects that have always been present in great players' swings. Conversely, many/most of the beefcake power hitters of today have great hip action in their swings... More are able to "muscle" the ball out via upper body stregth, but the base mechanics are similar.

Btw- played ball my whole life.. Graduated HS 17 yrs ago, but played adult semi pro until about 6-7 yrs ago.

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