Whine? Corking Fear Real : Herzog, Others Say Lamont Was Right to Look for Cheating

Whitey Herzog has been waiting for the day when somebody, anybody, would follow his lead and check for corked bats.

“I’m telling you right now,” said Herzog, who managed 18 years in the major leagues, “if you checked everybody in baseball, you’d have a whole room full of corked bats.

“Believe me, with the way the ball’s flying out this year, you’d be stupid not to check some of these guys.

“This has been going on for years, but everybody has been talking so much about the balls being juiced, they forget some of these bats are juiced too.”

Gene Lamont of the Chicago White Sox became the first manager in baseball this season to check for a corked bat Friday when he requested that Cleveland outfielder Albert Belle’s bat be examined.

Belle’s bat was sawed in half Monday by the American League office and cork was discovered. He was suspended for 10 games. Belle appealed, and will have a July 29 hearing.

“It kills me how people now are saying that Lamont only did it because they’re in a pennant race with Cleveland,” Herzog said. “The guy was cheating, so what the hell difference does it make? Why are we sticking up for outlaws?”

The art of corking bats has been going on for decades, but only now, players say, has it been perfected to a science. There are woodsmen who drill holes at the end of bats, insert cork, plug the holes, sand and laminate, believing no one will ever know.

“They had a private wood-working shop in Cleveland,” said Red Sox reliever Steve Farr, Belle’s former teammate in Cleveland, “so what happened with him didn’t surprise me at all. That stuff has been going on since I was there for the first time 10 years ago.

“But I know pitchers that cheat, and I know hitters that cheat. You could pick five, six, seven guys on every team that cheat, so it’s no big deal unless you get caught.

“I mean, just a few weeks ago (while Farr was with Cleveland) a guy grabbed someone’s bat during batting practice, and when his bat broke, cork went everywhere.

“And this was right in front of the visiting manager.”

The advantage of using corked bats, according to players and coaches, is that it gives the bat a lighter feel and enables hitters to generate greater bat speed. It provides a springboard effect, they say, with the ball jumping off the bat and carrying farther than normal.

Although Belle has 27 homers this season, and is batting .350, his use of a corked bat was a surprise. If anyone was suspected of using a corked bat on the Cleveland roster, members of the Angels and Red Sox said, it was leadoff hitter Kenny Lofton. Lofton began the season with six home runs. This season, he has 10.

“To tell you the truth,” said Angel hitting coach Rod Carew, “Belle is the last person I’d have suspected. He didn’t need it, not with that power.

“Really, I’m surprised guys are still doing it. I’ve played with guys who did it, but I thought it was something that went out in the early ‘80s.”

Said Angel second baseman Harold Reynolds: “You hear about some guys using steroids for some extra pop, but not cork.”

Yet, it was no surprise to Herzog, who accused then-New York Met Howard Johnson of using a corked bat in 1987 and is convinced there is a widespread use of illegal bats today.

“We had an X-ray machine at (Busch Stadium),” Herzog said, “and one night when the Mets came into town, we decided to have all of their bats checked. Well, we found four of those (players) using corked bats, including Howard Johnson, but (Darryl) Strawberry, (Gary) Carter and (Keith) Hernandez were all clean.

“Johnson had gone from 10 homers to 36 in one year, so I know something’s not right, anyway. So we marked his corked bat, and when he came to the plate, I got umpire Paul Runge to take it.

“The thing was, when the game was over, Runge gave the bat back. He didn’t know the rule. He apologized, but as soon as he gave that bat back, it was long gone.

“I told him, ‘Next time I come out here to check bats, I’m going to bring a chain saw to home plate with me.’ ”

Johnson on Monday denied the allegations that he used a corked bat, just as he had in 1987.

Yet, the most ridiculous aspect of the rule regarding allegedly corked bats, critics say, is that managers are allowed to challenge only one bat a game.

“So that means once the first guy is checked,” Farr said, “a team can bring the whole arsenal out.”

Said Herzog: “It’s about as stupid as the beanball rule. If they really want to stop all this . . ., they should have a scanner by the bat rack. You want to stop this . . ., then get an X-ray machine like you’ve got at the airport.

“But I don’t think cheating is ever going to stop in this game. I’m convinced to this day that the (Minnesota) Twins were stealing our signs in the ’87 World Series when we were at their place.

“I asked (Tom) Brunansky and (Tommy) Herr if they were cheating when they got to our place, but they both denied it.

“Now, they’re honest boys, so I’d like to believe him. But I’ve also had players that I know damn well have corked bats, and they denied it.

“What the hell are you going to do?”