I have a confession to make (buckle up, Mom)…I’m on steroids.
It’s true.
I went to the doctor, er…”immediate care physician” earlier tonight and was diagnosed with “Dermititis, nonspecific”. Nice work , “Dr. Eric”…way to pin it down there! I’m glad my normally underwhelming insurance assured I only pay 95 cents for my future addiction to Prednisone.
ANYWAY, my dermatological issues aside, and since I’m not “Johnny This is What’s Going on in My Life”, I only bring up my own steroid issues to shamelessly segue into another.
A New York Times article is claiming that Sammy Sosa (who, currently, is “calmly” waiting for his call from Cooperstown) is listed among the same 104 names that claimed A-Rod’s purity before the season started.
I’m outraged!
What about the magical season of 1998?
What about the world’s most beloved Dominica…zzzzzz.
Seriously, folks…are you THAT shocked? Why is it that if you do a Google search about Sosa and steroids you get hundreds upon hundreds of articles about how Sosa is another black mark on the game?
Why are we surprised at this point? Tell me the sun is going to rise in the East tomorrow and I would be MORE shocked than if you told me Sammy Sosa is guilty of using PEDs.
That being said…I’m going ahead and RE-post (with some minor editing) something I wrote nearly two years ago when one of my least favorite players eclipsed the 600 home run mark. Unfortunately, I feel the same way today as I felt then.
Enjoy.
I’ve been reading a lot of the national columns lately and have to admit…I think I’ve made a deal with the devil.
Why you ask?
Are you ready for it?
Sammy Sosa is a Hall of Famer, first ballot…no questions asked. Admittedly, I hate Sosa…HATE HIM, but his stats are so overwhelming that you could almost disregard the home run numbers and he’d STILL get in.
Well, maybe not…the home runs are what really get him enshrined, but you know what I mean.
We all know by now that there are only six baseball players that have hit 600 (or more) home runs…Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Ken Griffey, Jr. are the others. But did you realize that Sosa is the only one to have hit more than 60 home runs more than once?
Probably. And he did it three times!
Did you know that Sosa has seven years with 40 or more homers and he did it in six straight seasons? Ruth hit 40 or more in seven straight seasons. By comparison, Reggie Jackson (563 career bombs) NEVER hit 40 or more in back-to-back years and only has two season with more than 40.
Let’s look at some other notable numbers.
Sosa was an All-Star only seven times. However, he has seven top ten MVP finishes. He won the MVP award only once (over Mark McGwire in 1998) and finished in the top ten in six straight seasons.
The guy was a scoring machine…PERIOD. The guy was as “Ruthian” as anyone, and nowhere can I find a synonym that cleverly uses his name to the heighten the feats of others.
Sosa played for some piss poor teams and still managed nine straight season with 100 or more RBI (a career high of 160 and a previous high of 158 are awe-inspiring). Again, Ruth’s best was eight straight and Jackson only had six 100-plus seasons total.
During the aforementioned nine year span, Sosa had six straight years with 100 or more runs scored. The seventh year…he scored 99.
Did you know that Sosa has more home runs at Wrigley Field than Babe Ruth had at Yankee Stadium? More impressive, Sosa has 545 home runs as a Cub…and even one AGAINST them.
“Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks has 512 as a Cub. North Siders might want to reconsider who is who.
When I wrote this in June, 2007…I went through the whole thing without mentioning steroids. And that was on purpose.
There was no reason to believe that a, then, 39 year-old man couldn’t have an acne issue!
In all seriousness, the longer this steroid debate rages (pun intended) on…Sosa’s numbers gain more legitimacy. You see…if/when more players get implicated, the more players like Sosa, Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, McGwire, Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez become “one of the guys”.
I guess we’ll see if the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 becomes one of the best ever with Roger Clemens, Bonds, Sosa, Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza (among others) or if all will get scrapped and writers elect (see what I did there?) to make a point and enshrine Mike Lieberthal and Todd Walker.
***Following the news of Sosa’s alleged misconduct, I asked you…”is Sosa still a Hall of Famer”? 42% of you said “yes”, 14% said “no” and 42% said “Hell no”. So there you have it. We’ll see.***
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