[Stardust]

Can't really ruin his reputation any further than it already is.

But I don't think corked bats make any difference for a hitter, except maybe mentally.

Most studies have shown that corked bats don't help hitters...

http://paws.kettering.edu/~drussell/bats...edbat.html

I don't disagree but the best argument that I heard was that the ball comes off the bat hotter, thus the first 100' the ball is traveling faster than un-corked bats, plus gives the ball 8 more feet in distance.

Pete was not a home-run hitter, so the 8 feet is a non-issue.

But the argument that I heard that may have taken some hits from Pete was the speed of the ball for the first 100'. How many balls were off the fielders glove that without cork would have made these balls catchable. It's not like it would have taken a thousand hits away, but certainly could have take a few hundred.