Sosa ejected for corked bat

[Goldwolf]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2003/0603/1562772.html

CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Tuesday night's game against Tampa Bay right when umpires found cork in his shattered bat.

ESPN's Harold Reynolds reports -- after talking to a a representative in the Cubs public relations department -- that Sosa will admit in his postgame presser that the bat he used tonight was corked.

Sosa will say the bat is usually used in home run hitting exhibitions but somehow it got mixed in with his game bats. He says he has never used a corked bat in a major league game before tonight.

The Cubs had runners at second and third when Sosa broke his bat with a grounder to second that at first appeared to drive in a run.

But crew chief Tim McClelland gathered with the other three umpires to examine the bat. Cubs manager Dusty Baker came out and the umpires showed the bat to him.

Mark Grudzielanek was sent back to third base, the run was wiped off the board and Sosa was ejected as he stood in the dugout.



:eek2: :smoke:

[Turbulence]

Not good for Sosa...why should we believe him?
Like you said Goldwolf, :eek2: .

[tommy]

Not good for Sosa...why should we believe him?
Like you said Goldwolf, :eek2: .

I personally think Sosa has integrity and is a good person and player. It was probably a mix up. But if it happens again...

[Jeff O Rocks]

I agree Tommy...I have heard nothing but good things about Sammy...I can't see that he would ever try to cheat...I hope it was a mix-up! :roll:

[nccanes]

Not good for Sosa...why should we believe him?
Like you said Goldwolf, :eek2: .

I personally think Sosa has integrity and is a good person and player. It was probably a mix up. But if it happens again...

Well I suppose the inspection of his other bats will tell that tale. They took his other bats from the dugout.....

I, too, hope it's a mistake.

[Turbulence]

I saw 'the' interview on Sportscenter this morning....he looked genuine in his claim. Y'all are right...Sosa is one of the best guys in baseball...I can only hope for him and for baseball that it was one big mistake...
http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/baseball/mlb/img6409142.jpg<-- The Break

[talkingcanes]

Not good for Sosa...why should we believe him?
Like you said Goldwolf, :eek2: .

I personally think Sosa has integrity and is a good person and player. It was probably a mix up. But if it happens again...

Well I suppose the inspection of his other bats will tell that tale. They took his other bats from the dugout.....

I, too, hope it's a mistake.

I heard on CNN, MSNBC........one of them, that they found no problems with the rest of his bats. I think it was a mistake. Probably shouldn't even use corked bats for batting practice so there won't be any further mix-ups.

[nccanes]

I heard on CNN, MSNBC........one of them, that they found no problems with the rest of his bats. I think it was a mistake. Probably shouldn't even use corked bats for batting practice so there won't be any further mix-ups.

Excellent. I heard one new report that said he liked to use the corked bat during batting practice to "put on a long ball display for the fans".

I suppose if someone purposely was using cork in a game, they wouldn't be dumb enough to have more than one - thus that explanation would be unavailable. Not that I don't believe Sosa.

Interesting opinion from a USA today columnist:

Doubt will linger for a long time

Even if one is inclined to believe Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa, every one of his home runs, past and future, will be questioned. And it should be. It is our human, if not cynical, nature.

Did he use one of those corked "exhibition bats" during his memorable 1998 duel with Mark McGwire? Will opposing managers be tempted to check Sosa's bat every time he hits a homer the rest of the season, the rest of his career? Which one of Sosa's 505 home runs was hit with a corked bat?

There are too many questions, and Sosa's excuse as to why he even has a corked bat — "for batting practice, just to put on a show for the fans ... I like to make people happy and I do that in batting practice" — just invites more questions. A batting practice pitcher lobs pitches across the plate. Sosa needs no help in delighting fans during BP. If he does, there's even more reason to question the legitimacy of his home runs. There's no need for increased bat speed — cork's primary benefit — in BP. Corked bats have no place in the clubhouse or dugout.

Call Sosa a cheat. Call it an honest mistake. Either way, he has invited doubt that will follow him the rest of his career, right up to his possible Hall of Fame induction.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Weren't we all already questioning the legitimacy of everyone's home runs lately anyway with all the rumors about steriods?

[tommy]

Sammy Sosa's Bats Show No Signs of Cork
11 minutes ago

By NANCY ARMOUR, AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO - No cork or other foreign material was found in any of the 76 bats confiscated from Sammy Sosa (news)'s locker and X-rayed by baseball officials.

The bats were taken from the Chicago Cubs (news)' locker room during the game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (news) on Tuesday night. Cork was found in Sosa's bat when it shattered after he grounded out in the first inning of the Cubs' 3-2 victory.

"We believe the X-ray process was sufficient to determine the state of those bats, and we're very confident all of those bats were clean and had no foreign substances within them," Sandy Alderson, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner's office, said Wednesday.

"We're happy with that, and that is consistent with Sammy's explanation of the incident last night."

There is a possibility that Sosa's bats in the Hall of Fame could be examined, Alderson added. The Hall has five of Sosa's bats, including the one he presented in mid-April, more than a week after he hit his 500th home run.

Sosa said he accidentally pulled out a bat he uses to put on home run displays for fans in batting practice, and swore that he's never done anything illegal. If he was trying to cheat, he said, why wouldn't he have tried to grab the bat before anyone saw it?

"I would have come back to the plate and picked up all the pieces, don't you think?" he said Wednesday. "I didn't pick it up. I went to the dugout. So you guys can see the difference."

But that doesn't mean he's off the hook.

Bob Watson, baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, will decide what — if any — punishment Sosa will face. He's expected at Wrigley Field by Thursday morning to do interviews before returning to New York to make a decision.

Other players who've used corked bats have been suspended for up to 10 games, and Alderson said he thinks precedent will play a part in Watson's decision. Sosa can appeal any discipline imposed.

"I think it would be in everyone's best interest to conclude this as quickly as possible, and be able to have a decision that is timely," Alderson said. "On the other hand, there needs to be thorough investigation.

"As I said, Sammy has been very forthcoming, and I think we are all hopeful the investigation will corroborate what he has told us," Alderson said. "So far, there is no indication in anything we have seen that his explanation is not accurate."

Sosa uses bats made by three different manufacturers. While each brand is visibly different, Alderson said all bats made by the same maker look similar. The bat Sosa used Tuesday night was made by Tuffbat.

Alderson also said baseball will look into the issue of having special bats for batting practice so a situation like this doesn't happen again.

"If this was a batting practice bat, the possibility of confusing that bat would suggest that we probably ought to be awfully careful about having any of those bats around," Alderson said. "It's not something we've looked at, but we will."

Sosa was in the lineup Wednesday night against Tampa Bay, and fans gave him a loud ovation when he did his traditional sprint to right field before the game. Several fans carried signs supporting him, including one that read, "Still loving Sammy."

When Sosa came to the plate for his first at-bat, he got a standing ovation.

"We're all human and we've all made mistakes. Nobody is perfect in this world," he said before the game. "I stood up yesterday like a man and took the blame. But the media today, they got me up there like I'm a criminal. That's something that really bothered me and hurt me."

[Jeff O Rocks]

I am happy!! I believed Sammy when he said it was a practice bat....he seems like a good guy... :spin:

[folgersnyourcup]

I always had the squeaky-clean image of Sosa as well and thought he was awesome until about a year ago I heard the audio clip of him cussing like crazy at the reporter who asked him if he would be willing to take a steriods test if the league required all players to undergo one. He said something to the effect of "Shut the f up, I will never take the test A-hole".

It was really bizarre and changed my image of him so this latest thing didn't surprise me though he should still be given the benefit of the doubt no matter what. I'm glad he was not cheating.

I wish I could find the exact quote of what he said to the reporter. I remember it being something like what I typed above but I really can't remember.