Sammy Sosa has been suspended for eight games

[Augie #70]

Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa has been suspended for eight games for using a corked bat in Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

[shy007]

He did appeal and will play in the Yankees series...... I hope he smacks 5 homers in the weekend series against those Damn Yankees.......

[ARKDTVfan]

Originally posted by Augie #70
Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa has been suspended for eight games for using a corked bat in Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. or better yet 5 per game :D

[Mark Holtz]

And yelling "Yes!" or "Si!" every time he hits a homer. ;)

[Bogy]

Not that I am any fan of the Yankees (boo, hiss), but since I believe he has only hit 8 homers so far this year, it's not likely. Besides, its a tossup whether I dislike the Yankees or the Cubs more. And I really have a desire to see the Cubs lose. Go Cards.

[Msguy]

The Sosa Punishment for his corked bat is too harsh. He only had 1 corked bat and he told MLB that bat was only used for BP. He grabbed that bat by mistake and now everyone wants to ruin his career because of this. Die all you people who want to tarnish his career. It's aweful funny how all his other bats were clean even the bats of his that are in the Hall Of Fame are all Clean. One Mr. Bud Selig better reduce his suspension to a much fairer amount to maybe 3 or 4 games at the most. Sammy has been Very Cooperative and has been honest. Let this issue go to rest and Reduce his suspension and move forward.

[markh]

Everything I've heard says 8 games is what previous players have been suspended for having corked bats. Just because Sammy is a big draw for MLB, they can't let him off easier than Joe Nobody.

What they should look into is all the supplements that enhance performance that a lot of players take. Last summer I read an article in Sports Illustrated about that. Steroid use strengthens muscle and leads to muscle and tendon tears. Then they turn to human growth hormone to strengthen bone and tendons. That leads to growth of bones. The article said there was one (unnamed) player whose hat size had increased 2 sizes since he had been in the majors. That's not normal for a guy in his 20's.

[Jacob S]

I would have to agree with markh on this one.

[firephoto]

I heard that the corked bat was black and that all his other bats are plain wood. I don't know if this is true but one should be able to notice the one black bat that they own when they have many dozens of other bats.

[Jacob S]

Also one would have to be able to know the consequences of using such a bat I would think and also think that they would notice the different bat.

[Msguy]

That is not true. Sammy and 1 other player got 8 games. others less

[Jacob S]

If others got less then it would have been unfair to Sammy Sosa and he should get equal treatment.

[Bogy]

Originally posted by Msguy
The Sosa Punishment for his corked bat is too harsh. He only had 1 corked bat and he told MLB that bat was only used for BP. He grabbed that bat by mistake and now everyone wants to ruin his career because of this. Die all you people who want to tarnish his career. It's aweful funny how all his other bats were clean even the bats of his that are in the Hall Of Fame are all Clean. One Mr. Bud Selig better reduce his suspension to a much fairer amount to maybe 3 or 4 games at the most. Sammy has been Very Cooperative and has been honest. Let this issue go to rest and Reduce his suspension and move forward.
Come on, how many corked bats do you think a player should be allowed before the penalty gets severe? Gee, he said it was an honest mistake. What more could anyone ask?:rolleyes: I don't want to ruin anyone's career, but any player has got to know the consequences of even having a corked bat in their possession, much less using it. Do you suppose the next time I get pulled over for speeding the officer will let me go if I tell him it was an honest mistake, and I just didn't notice the needle had gone so high?

[shy007]

Originally posted by markh
Everything I've heard says 8 games is what previous players have been suspended for having corked bats. Just because Sammy is a big draw for MLB, they can't let him off easier than Joe Nobody.

What they should look into is all the supplements that enhance performance that a lot of players take. Last summer I read an article in Sports Illustrated about that. Steroid use strengthens muscle and leads to muscle and tendon tears. Then they turn to human growth hormone to strengthen bone and tendons. That leads to growth of bones. The article said there was one (unnamed) player whose hat size had increased 2 sizes since he had been in the majors. That's not normal for a guy in his 20's.

I do agree with most of this...... But when I see these guys that aren't very big smacking homeruns, my co-workers always remind me of Henry Aaron...... I think he weighed 160 pounds when he started his career..... I think in his prime he was 180 pounds...... These guys work out with weights pretty hard nowadays..... I'm sure alot of them do some drugs but most are probably straight...... The guy I wonder about is Barry Bonds..... Look at his stats, he came in the league hitting around 20-30 homeruns and now in his late 30's he hits a ton of 'em...... Take McGwire, he hit 49 his rookie season..... I could see him hitting 70 plus.....

[Bogy]

Bat speed is what makes home runs. Not just muscles.

[Rusty]

Skip Bayless is a well traveled, long time, sports writer. Skip's resume includes stints at major newspapers in Dallas and Chicago. He currently writes for The Mercury News from the San Jose, CA area.

During Skip's many years at the Chicago Tribune he came to know Sammy Sosa very well. He does not like Sosa and considers him to be a "big phony".

This past Thursday, his column was about sosa and the current situation with the corked bat. Here's the link to that column.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/columnists/skip_bayless/6018790.htm

[Bogy]

Does anyone remember that his family-operated Sosa Foundation set up to help rebuild his Dominican Republic after it was ravaged by storms in '98 collapsed under accusations of corruption? No.
Actually, I do remember this. It was after I learned that McGwire had contributed $100,000 to the Sosa Foundation, while Sosa himself had kicked in less than $10,000, that I lost a lot of respect for Sammy. Hey, if a guy who is fortunate enough to make a lot of money wants to keep it for himself, thats one thing, but to put on a big show that you are helping your people, and then not fund it and allow others to skim the money is disgraceful. McGwire made a promise to contribute $1,000,000 to his foundation, which would then distribute the money, particularly to causes helping abused children. He made the promise, he put the money in the charity, and it was distributed. One year a third of the money went to the Evangelical Children's Home my wife worked at in St. Louis. 2 other such facilities received similar amounts of money.

McGwire made the pledge, and then Sammy felt he had to match him. But he didn't follow through the way Mark did. To me, that says a lot about a person.

[Jacob S]

Just because Sammy Sosa did not contribute as large amount as Mark McGwire does not mean that he is a bad person for contributing at all. It should not all be about how much is contributed.

[Bogy]

Originally posted by Jacob S
Just because Sammy Sosa did not contribute as large amount as Mark McGwire does not mean that he is a bad person for contributing at all. It should not all be about how much is contributed.
As I said, no one forced him to set up a foundation. He's the one who saw Mark getting good publicity for his foundation and other contributions. Sosa is the one who then make a big deal about how much he was going to contribute to his homeland through his foundation and then did not carry through, and let his family make off with most of the money to boot. Nobody would be remembering this stuff now, and the pattern it sets, it he hadn't tried to be cuddly little Sammy. A big difference is, Big Mac's foundation is totally funded by McGwire. No other contributors are solicited. In my book, one guys a hero, the other isn't. One guy carries through on his promises, and the other doesn't. One guy's main concern is the good of the team, to the point of renegotiating his contract downward so the team can get other players it needs, and finally retires so that the money is completely freed up when all he had to do was sit on the bench and keep collecting a very healthy check, the other guy is more concerned about himself. Ones a hero, the other isn't. But that's just my opinion.

[Jacob S]

You have made a good point. I did not know all of the details and I would have to agree on that.

[John Corn]

Just my $.02......8 games is not enough. If you get as many as 10 games for getting in a fight, you should get at least that many for cheating in a game.

[Frapp]

I thought I started this topic on another sports thread:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=122013#post122013

Maybe It`s my imagination :confused: