Sosa gets busted

[Guest bob_barron]

It was Grimsley unless I'm mistaken. Though didn't he make the situation even worse by replacing it with a bat that was obviously different than the one Belle used?

Ah, the Albert Belle bat fiasco from '94... one of my all-time favorite baseball tales...

 

Grimsley broke into the umpires' office in Comiskey Park after the game where Belle's bat was confiscated. He replaced it with a Paul Sorrento bat if I'm not mistaken. I think they wanted to use another one of Belle's bats, but unfortunately, EVERY ONE OF THEM had cork in it, so they had to use another bat and pray for a miracle.

 

But seriously, how cool is it that a team caught in a pennant race with the archrival, apparently caught dead to rights for having a cheating star player, comes up with such a scheme to try to save his ass? And it wasn't some guy loosely associated with the team that did it either. Grimsley was a pitcher on the active roster. Unreal.

Didn't the bat have Paul Sorrento's name on it as well?

[Guest MentallyNormal]

I wonder how many MLB players have been corking that never been caught. But heck hasn't corking of bats been going on since bats were made?

So it's sort of like it's apart of the game, but unless you're caught.

Corked bats have not been very good to me.

 

Lets bust out the aluminum and hear the ping no bling. Ping Ping Ping.

[Guest DrTom]

Considering Sosa's past success, and the fact that there's never been any reason to suspect him of wrongdoing before, it's easy to give him the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand, there's the fact that he's been in a tailspin since getting hit in the face, and may have been looking for something to jumpstart the rest of his season.

 

I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, but just barely. Either way, sit him down for a dozen games and let him think about it.

[Guest Choken One]

Dozen Games? Wilton G purposlely Corked and used that bat knowingly and only got 7 games...

 

Sosa should get the 5 game treatment and $25,000 fine...

[Guest DrTom]

Bah. That's a slap on the wrist. He could wipe his ass with $25,000 and not know the difference. It's a serious offense, intentional or not, and deserves a serious penalty, limp-wristed precedent be damned.

 

A dozen games and a $250,000 fine. That'll get bat corkers to sit up and take notice.

[Guest Choken One]

Of course this happens RIGHT before we could've gotten

 

Rocket Vs Slamming Sammy...

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

the best point made is that sosa has broken bats before with no cork in them.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

the best point made is that sosa has broken bats before with no cork in them.

Exactly. I'm looking at this things from both sides of the coin and trying to keep my bias towards Sosa out of this, but I can't ignore the fact that in all of his years of playing and all of the times he's broken bats, there's has never, not once been cork in them. I know that some people will say that he had been slumping and did it because of that, and hey, I don't dismiss that possibility. It's just that I've seen him go through much worse slumps than this and he never resorted to such a thing. Yes, no one but him knows that for sure, but anyone who watches a lot of Cubs baseball and has been watching for years (like myself) knows that he breaks bats quite often, so it isn't like we're only judging this from a few experiences.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

On ESPN, Gammons noted that he was saying he likes to have a corked bat with him to "put on a show" in batting practice for the fans and proceded to accidently grab the corked one for his actual at bat. And it proceded to break. Oof, thats a bitch if it's true.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

they just had a segment back from 2001 where Buck Showalter showed how to cork a bat. Its quite amazing that removing only about 2 ounces of wood and replacing it with an ounce of cork could make such a huge difference. I suppose one way to crack down on corked bats would be to have them x-rayed and then stamped "APPROVED" on them somewhere. After each at bat if the ball is put in play and the batter drops the bat, the Umps could look for the "APPROVED" stamp and if its not on there toss the player out for using a bat that wasn't approved, whether or not it had cork in it. Makes sense to me.

[Guest alkeiper]

Remember that Babe Ruth was discovered to have corked a bat or two himself.

[Guest hardyz1]

As another longtime Cubs and Sosa supporter, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. Of course there's the point that he's broken many bats over the years, with no cork in sight.

 

I'm not sure about his batting practice story. The first thing that I thought of was the major slump he's been in since he came back. But I don't think corking would help. He just needed to work on his timing.

 

I also don't think cork was what propelled him to his 60+ HR seasons. He's always been a power hitter, but in the late 90s he became a MUCH better hitter. He strikes out a lot now, but he used to strike out a lot more.

 

I'm watching ESPN right now and they're doing a special show called "Say It Ain't Sosa". The people who have his 498th HR bat cut it open and it was clean.

 

I'll reserve total judgment until the results of his other bats come in.

[Guest HellSpawn]

I think the thing is...

 

Why he got a corked bat?

 

He said it was only for HR Derbies and that, well, WHY?

The reason for a HRD is to test X vs Y, one on one, and prove YOU are the best, if you cheat to win its not fair.

 

I like the guy but the old say is: "its only cheating if you get caught.", Well, it looks like he got caught.

[The Dames 0]

No, he didn't say they were for Derbies, he said batting practice. There's no harm in wanting to give the fans a show.

 

Dames

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

He said it was only for HR Derbies and that, well, WHY?

The reason for a HRD is to test X vs Y, one on one, and prove YOU are the best, if you cheat to win its not fair.

I thought he said it was to put on a show during batting practice?

[Guest alkeiper]

I'm watching ESPN right now and they're doing a special show called "Say It Ain't Sosa". The people who have his 498th HR bat cut it open and it was clean.

 

That show is living proof that ESPN have lost their freaking minds. Two hours of speculation. Mind numbing.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

I too am a bit disgusted with the amount of coverage this incident is getting. Yes, I know it's a big deal, but they're just laying it on here. Just shows you that they've got your back until you're down and then, everyone takes their shots at you.

 

Sosa had been striking out a lot since his return, so it would make even less sense for him to use a corked bat to get out of the slump seeing as how he would actually need to make contact with the ball before worrying about distance.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

I'm watching ESPN right now and they're doing a special show called "Say It Ain't Sosa". The people who have his 498th HR bat cut it open and it was clean.

 

That show is living proof that ESPN have lost their freaking minds. Two hours of speculation. Mind numbing.

That doesn't suprise me about ESPN. God forbid they wait until more bats are tested and an actual suspension comes down.

 

Why is Sosa so worried about breaking out of his slump? Players go through horrible hitting stretches. They play out of them. What the Cubs should of done in the first place is send Sosa to the minors for 2 or 3 games. Let him get some at bats and get the rust off.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Why is Sosa so worried about breaking out of his slump?

 

Has this actually been confirmed or is this just more speculation? I'm sure he was worried somewhat about it, but I doubt he was getting that desperate to break out of it. Like I said, I've seen him go through much worse slumps than this.

[Guest hardyz1]

I agree he should've gone to AAA for a couple rehab games. I think he struck out 8 times in his first 2 games back.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Why is Sosa so worried about breaking out of his slump?

 

Has this actually been confirmed or is this just more speculation? I'm sure he was worried somewhat about it, but I doubt he was getting that desperate to break out of it. Like I said, I've seen him go through much worse slumps than this.

You're right it is speculation. My point is why know? He's gone through slumps before. What made this any different.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Well, it's because of that fact that I'm almost inclined to believe that he grabbed the wrong bat. Choken One made a good point earlier when he noted how Sosa didn't react at all when the bat shattered, which would lead you to believe that he didn't know he had the corked bat.

[Guest Downhome]

No, he didn't say they were for Derbies, he said batting practice. There's no harm in wanting to give the fans a show.

 

Dames

That's true, however...

 

...it's now being said that when he takes batting pratice, it's before any fans are even IN the stadium.

 

Hmmmm, I don't know about all of you but I smell bullshit. It's obvious that there is something up with him, and I for one don't trust him. Fuck, he's gained almost 60 pounds of basicly muscle in just the past few years. Not to mention that many people who has worked with him in the past, or have professionally wrote about him or the such say that he is one of the biggest fraud's in the history of the sport.

 

Didn't he even hit his wife with a champagne bottle and either almost, or just got arrested over that also?

 

I wouldn't doubt his using corked bats, steroids, or anything else to make himself look better.

[Guest hardyz1]

According to Sportscenter: MLB took 77 bats, no cork found.

 

77 bats?! Damn.

[Guest Downhome]

According to Sportscenter: MLB took 77 bats, no cork found.

 

77 bats?! Damn.

Do you even think they'll "find" any? Sammy Sosa is a draw, not only for the Cubs, but for MLB as a whole. They will give him a small punnishment, but you wont see his career ended because of this, MLB will not allow that to happen.

 

I don't expect them to annouce even if they DO find any, they will protect their boy.

[Guest hardyz1]

Do you even think they'll "find" any? Sammy Sosa is a draw, not only for the Cubs, but for MLB as a whole. They will give him a small punnishment, but you wont see his career ended because of this, MLB will not allow that to happen.

 

I don't expect them to annouce even if they DO find any, they will protect their boy.

Well, God forbid you would be wrong. That would be such a shame. A blow to conspiracy theorists everywhere.

[Guest HungryJack]

Dude.....you must not even WATCH baseball. By all accounts, Sammy is legit one of the nicest dudes in all the majors. I'd LOVE to hear these so-called 'Sammy is a fraud' stories. Sosa has admitted to using corked bats in BP. I agree with the fact that he should be punished, and he very likely will be severely punished, as the MLB is looking to send a message to cheaters, after the past few years of steroid allegations, drugs, various other allegations, etc.

 

And as far as your bullshit claim, I'd say you're the one who's full of it. Everybody knows Sammy's always been a power hitter, as has Mark Mcgwire, even when he was a LITTLE dude. I mean, the dude was hitting 30+ homers in the early 90's.

 

 

Sosa now has something like the most 60+ HR seasons of ANYONE in history, and youre gonna tell me he's been using cork all this time?

 

BULLSHIT.

 

Firstly, the adding of cork to bats has been studied, and whether or not it actually adds to distance and power is debatable, and still is being debatable. While it is true that corking a bat makes for better batspeed, it's also fairly obvious that adding cork and removing wood decreases weight severely, thus hurting one's power.

 

Ata ny rate, We don't need you sitting here preaching to us how Sammy is evil, and you are SURE that he's cheating, and if you're gonna accuse the man of beating his wife, you had BETTER be able to prove that shit.

 

 

Until then, do us a favor, and get outta here. Go talk about Jewel or something. Leave baseball to baseball FANS.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Fuck, he's gained almost 60 pounds of basicly muscle in just the past few years.

 

You're kidding, right? Sosa was a twig in his Texas Rangers/Chicago White Sox days. He's had his current frame since I started watching baseball in 1994.

 

I was thinking about all of this and then it hit me that it isn't totally impossible that perhaps someone set him up. There's a lot of evidence that would suggest he didn't know about the corked bat and hey, there's always more than a couple of people looking to knock anyone with a shred of success down.

[Guest Downhome]

Dude.....you must not even WATCH baseball. By all accounts, Sammy is legit one of the nicest dudes in all the majors. I'd LOVE to hear these so-called 'Sammy is a fraud' stories. Sosa has admitted to using corked bats in BP. I agree with the fact that he should be punished, and he very likely will be severely punished, as the MLB is looking to send a message to cheaters, after the past few years of steroid allegations, drugs, various other allegations, etc.

 

And as far as your bullshit claim, I'd say you're the one who's full of it. Everybody knows Sammy's always been a power hitter, as has Mark Mcgwire, even when he was a LITTLE dude. I mean, the dude was hitting 30+ homers in the early 90's.

 

 

Sosa now has something like the most 60+ HR seasons of ANYONE in history, and youre gonna tell me he's been using cork all this time?

 

BULLSHIT.

 

Firstly,  the adding of cork to bats has been studied, and whether or not it actually adds to distance and power is debatable, and still is being debatable. While it is true that corking a bat makes for better batspeed, it's also fairly obvious that adding cork and removing wood decreases weight severely, thus hurting one's power.

 

Ata ny rate, We don't need you sitting here preaching to us how Sammy is evil, and you are SURE that he's cheating, and if you're gonna accuse the man of beating his wife, you had BETTER be able to prove that shit.

 

 

Until then, do us a favor, and get outta here. Go talk about Jewel or something. Leave baseball to baseball FANS.

How precious, even this forum is full of those who do not allow opinions to be stated. For your information I've been a hardcore Baseball fan for 15+ years, almost as long as I've been a Pro. Wrestling fan.

 

I can't prove anything to you guys that he does cheat, but you can't sit there and tell me you know for a fact that he doesn't. Hell, there is more evidence out there that he DOES, I hate to break that too you.

 

I have read reports on Baseball for years, I watch things all of the time, and contrary to what MOST believe, there are MANY people in the sport (both players and sports writers) who have said time and time again that the man is not what he seems.

 

No one truly knows one way or another what he does or does not do, the thing is, there is simply more evidence in the direction of him being a little bit of something many don't suspect.

 

By the way, I doubt they'll do ANYTHING to him untill after this weekend and the Yankee series.

[Guest Downhome]

Fuck, he's gained almost 60 pounds of basicly muscle in just the past few years.

 

You're kidding, right? Sosa was a twig in his Texas Rangers/Chicago White Sox days. He's had his current frame since I started watching baseball in 1994.

I'm sorry, but that's just not true. Back in 1997, just six years ago, he weighed just at 185. Heck, he was at that weight for a number of years, even in 1994. Since then, he has put on a considerable ammout of mass, most of which is muscle. I believe that he's "officially" at 220 right now, but most have said in the past week, and especially today, that he is up to around 240 or so now.