CORKY

Sammy Sosa's bat split in the first inning of the Cubs-D-Rays game last night, and it turns out the bat was corked. Let the scandal begin. I don't have much of a negative reaction to this sort of thing. In fact, my first instinct is to feel badly that Sosa's reputation will take a a big hit here, even if it's deserved. I have one question: Is a batter corking a bat any worse than a pitcher scuffing a baseball? I have already read that Sosa corking his bat is worse than when Graig Nettles or Albert Belle corked theirs, because he is a greater player. But have Gaylord Perry or Whitey Ford's reputations been sullied significantly by the fact that they threw illegal pitches? And will this hurt Sosa more because he is a Black Latin player?