It’s common for wooden bats to crack, break or even shatter during a game, however, for slugger Sammy Sosa on June 3, 2003 – the shattered bat led to a reveal of a corked bat. Sosa tried to explain that he would use corked bats during batting practice and that that particular bat mistakenly got put into his game pile.

To try and stem the negative PR from his corked bat incident, Sosa supplied ESPN with one of his regular game used bats to have cut open on live television. ESPN obliged and when they cut the 2003 Sammy Sosa game used bat, all they found was solid wood. Offered here is the very bat that was cut in two on live TV. This is the 2003 Sammy Sosa X-Bat that was game used in 2003 and offered up as evidence that he didn’t routinely used corked bats.

This bat displays outstanding game use with the aforementioned slice through the barrel curtesy of ESPN. There are ball marks, white leather scuffs and other abrasion marks still on the bat besides the slice. There is a light coating of pine tar on the upper handle/lower barrel area and the knob has been heavily taped to form a sphere to enhance the grip. Sosa’s number “21” is handwritten in silver marker on the top barrel, along with the weight “33”. Sosa has signed the two pieces of this bat in contrasting silver marker and inscribed both including “BAT THAT WAS Cut Up On ESPN”. This bat comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA for the game use and a LOA from JSA for Sosa’s signature.

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