| MILWAUKEE--He really should just grab the cup, piddle in it and send it to the lab. It's the only way Sammy Sosa ends all suspicions, quiets the riffraff, blows away the steroid clouds and lets us resume enjoyment of his immaculate career, currently in an innuendo warp. He is sadly mistaken when he says, ''The whole world knows that I am innocent.'' The whole world assumes nothing, Sammy. The whole world wants answers no one is providing, including you. If you are innocent, why tolerate talk that you and other elite sluggers are juice-geeked frauds? Wouldn't you be eager to take a test to clear your name and ensure that a series of approaching milestones--starting with your 500th home run--are suitably appreciated? Go see a legitimate doctor today, then hand the results to Rick Reilly in time for his next Sports Illustrated column. Or keep dealing with a perception problem for the rest of your baseball days. ''I'll take a test right now to clear up anything," said White Sox star Paul Konerko, he of the sportswriter's body. Given the climate about steroids, all players should have his pro-active attitude. When Sosa returned Monday from a unique three-day absence and cranked away in the All-Star Home Run Derby, Joe Fan didn't sit at home and ooh and ahh like other years. This time, he looked cockeyed at the contestants and wondered: How did they get so damned big? Does this guy inject juice through his buttocks? Does that guy go to a Mexican pharmacy to get his goodies? If Ken Caminiti is telling the truth, which 50 percent are on steroids? If Jose Canseco is telling the truth, which 80 percent are on steroids? I used to love the Derby. But when Sosa became the first player to clear the open outfield windows of Miller Park, which propelled him to another flurry of long-distance bombs, I didn't get excited. Nor did I smile when he told ESPN in mid-contest, ''Let's stop this and get dinner. I'm getting whiplash.'' Sosa isn't doing himself many favors lately. It's one thing to lash out at a writer from the company newspaper, but firing F-words at the nationally respected Reilly only raises eyebrows about Sosa's defensive posture. And did he honestly have to leave the Cubs for three games last weekend, missing the debut of interim manager Bruce Kimm? His wife, Sonia, injured her hand when she fell in a household accident, understandably prompting Sosa to fly home. But this was hardly a life-threatening situation. ''She fell and she had a glass in her hand, and it caught her right thumb, but deeply,'' he explained. ''They got a couple of stitches, and then [Monday] they had surgery, so everything is perfect, thank God.'' I'm glad she is OK. But Sosa could have flown back to Atlanta around noon Saturday, played two games for a team that needs every victory it can get, then been back in Chicago by Sunday evening in plenty of time for the surgery. His record of on-field reliability is almost impeccable, so we only slap him on the wrist. Yet isn't the timing a tad curious, in that his departure from the club coincided with Don Baylor's firing? |
| Sam-ME |
| From The Chicago Sun Times Tuesday, July 9, 2002 |
| We all know how Chicago's Tribune-biased media will only cover the warm and fuzzy Sam-ME Sosa stories. Here you'll find the other side of the story...the truth! |
| FINALLY UPDATED AGAIN!!!! |
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