Physicist: Cord adds little less pop at plate

UNDATED - While Sammy Sosa may think using a corked bat makes a baseball go farther, experts on the sport&#39;s physics say such bats reduce a hitter&#39;s power. <br> <br> Retired Yale professor Robert K. Adair is the author of &#39;&#39;Physics of Baseball&#39;&#39; and he says a corked bat provides a slightly lighter bat but you&#39;re going to hit the ball a little less far. <br> <br> Adair contends a corked bat actually may reduce by about three feet what would have been a 375-foot drive from a conventional wooden bat. While corked bats can increase bat speed and improve timing, he believes the benefits are minimal. <br> <br> Sosa was ejected from a game last night in Chicago for using a corked bat. The Chicago Cubs slugger says he had used the illegal bat for batting practice only and picked it out by mistake. <br> <br> Alan Nathan is a physics professor at the University of Illinois and he says corked bats could possibly help a contact hitter but downplays the benefits for a long-ball hitter like Sosa.