Mantle corking bats? Article on Yahoo Sports

[GoldenAge50s]

I grew up in the late'40's--early '50's & followed Mickey every step of the way! I IDOLIZED him as a young boy and all the way to his death in 1995. As passionate as I was about him, I don't believe I could have stated what you wrote any better, or even as well!

Thank You for your post---it expresses my feelings about what Mickey Mantle meant to me in a beautiful way!

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Very well said!

I just can't believe that some people are trying to besmirch Mantle now in 2013. Maybe he did use a corked bat, maybe he didn't. Maybe it helped him, maybe it didn't.

Does anybody who has seen Mantle play, be it in person, on television, or for my generation, on tape, seriously think that Mick needed help hitting the ball out of the park? If a corked bat helped him (and that is a big if to me), how much distance did he really get from it? Or how much additional bat speed did he realize from a lighter bat weight? The guy nearly hit the ball out of Yankee stadium. Let me repeat that. He nearly hit the damned ball out of Yankee Stadium. He also hit the facade of the upper deck in right field. Before I hurt my back, I was a pretty damned good hitter. I could have hit the ball three times, and the combined distance of the three fly balls wouldn't have gotten the ball up there.

I don't care who you are. The average man, hell, the best baseball players today couldn't hit it that far. Load them up with every steroid on the planet. Work them out until their biceps are the size of Minnie Minoso. Give them a brand spanking new Louisville Slugger. They're not hitting the ball up there.

While I respect the Yankee legacy, I am not a Yankee fan per se. But anybody suggesting that Mantle somehow achieved his home run prowess from a corked bat is a few playing cards short of a deck. As far as pure power goes, Mantle is top 5 to ever play the game. If he'd been healthy during his career, and didn't play with the thought of "hey, you'll be dead by 45" floating around in the back of his head, Bonds, Aaron, Mays et all would be looking at a pretty much unattainable career home run record.

I love Hank Aaron. He remains one of my favorite human beings. But he would be the first to tell you that for pure home run power, he couldn't have competed with Mantle. Hitting the ball out of the park is one thing. Hitting a moon shot that could come down in Brooklyn is an altogether different thing.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by GoldenAge50s

I grew up in the late'40's--early '50's & followed Mickey every step of the way! I IDOLIZED him as a young boy and all the way to his death in 1995. As passionate as I was about him, I don't believe I could have stated what you wrote any better, or even as well!

Thank You for your post---it expresses my feelings about what Mickey Mantle meant to me in a beautiful way!

Tip of the cap to you, Fred.

[36GoudeyMan]

I grew up in NYC in the 1960s. If anyone dared whisper that Mantle was cheating (whether it was 1960 or 1969, with peak skills or diminished skills), there would have been a beat down worthy of West Side Story. Now, that doesn't mean he didn't "cheat." And it doesn't mean that it isn't newsworthy because he's dead and iconic. All it means is that someone out there is making an allegation. True, its an allegation about one of the most beloved and held-sacred players in the national pastime, but its an allegation. None of us were there when he supposedly did this; none of us worked with the seller of the bats in Minnesota, or the corker himself, apparently. Many of us were graced by the display of power Mantle could put on ("moon shots" often did not do those homers justice). But we also know he was an terrible alcoholic, used controlled substances like amphetamines, etc. Is there an un-flawed hero anywhere? The "science" over the lack of an advantage from corking a bat may be exact and reliable, but baseball is not "science." It is feel, it is psyche, it is intuition, it is hunch, it is timing, it is belief, it is streaks and and it is slumps. If Mantle wore a purple tutu under his pinstripes because it made him feel lucky, so what? Science can disprove the impact of purple tutus and we'd still be gawking over an auction of a Mantle game-used purple tutu, as if that was the talisman of Mantle's being. Did Mantle use a corked bat in 1956 when he won the Triple Crown? When he hit 54 home runs? When he hit his 500th? I'm not saying it doesn't matter, I'm saying that, of all the things players have done in the batters' box, on the pitchers' mound (Dock Ellis, anyone?) on the field, even off the field, it seems to me that the question of Mantle maybe, possibly corking his bat in 1962 (IIRC) is, at the very worst, a trifle. The auction is a curiosity, perhaps accurate in its description, perhaps, well, let's call it "fanciful." But to extrapolate from that listing that "Mantle cheated" is a leap I can't make, and won't make, and not because it was Mantle, although that helps me minimize what the auction suggests. Its because that form of "cheating" doesn't make enough of an impact, often enough, consistently enough, to a hitter of Mantle's caliber, consistency and power, in any event.

[CardTarget]

If you try to cheat but 45 years later physics proves that your "cheating" actually hurt you, are you still a cheater?

I'm only 35, so Mantle was retired 15+ years by the time I was truly watching baseball, but it seems to me that things like corking, spitballs, etc were a lot more accepted before 1980.

Was anyone actually penalized in a game before 1980 for "cheating"? We can all remember Phil Neikro, George Brett, Sosa, etc... but before cameras recorded every second of every game perhaps it was just part of the game.

[sycks22]

Mantle was already seeing triple by the time he was up to bat anyways with all the booze in his system. I don't think the corking would've helped him.

[DeanH3]

[QUOTE=CardTarget;1127375]If you try to cheat but 45 years later physics proves that your "cheating" actually hurt you, are you still a cheater?

I would still say yes because the intention was to get an advantage whether it helped or not. I'm not accusing Mantle of cheating. That is something that can never be proven. But I do believe players of every generation did something to get an advantage over the competition. Some helped and other probably not as much as intended.

[HRBAKER]

Ill winds blow when people speculate that something may be amiss with their man-gods. Could you really not see an aging megastar not trying to get a late in career boost by corking? Certainly just as plausible as thinking someone would take a Mantle gamer and cork it themselves. All that really matters is if the corker thought it would help, most players weren't exactly schooled in physics!