Sports Views

Also, quickly, about the Mets -- there is a rumor that they might sign Sammy Sosa because of his connection with GM Omar Minaya. The thinking is that as a part-time RF, he might provide the Mets some depth and extra pop for 200-350 AB's. If I were the Mets, I'd leave Sammy the hell alone. He's shot. Done for. Has nothing left. The Mets should do what they can to focus on adding a setup man, a starter for the back end of their rotation and a utility infielder. They don't need Sosa and Sosa, at this point in his career trajectory, doesn't need the boos from Mets fans. If Sosa's smart, he either takes a job in a low-pressure situation (ie Midwest or West Coast) or simply walks away from the game.

Second, in 1992, the Sox traded its most promising (although at the time raw and inconsistent) slugger, Sammy Sosa, to their cross-town rivals for the aging, breaking-down George Bell. Six years later, of course, Sosa and Mark McGuire would captivate a nation in a home run battle for the ages that would revive a sport damaged by strike (more on that coming). Although Sosa’s legacy would end up crippled by a corked-bat controversy and rumors of steroid use, he single-handedly brought the Cubs franchise back to life. Fans started coming through the turnstiles just to see Sosa and didn’t stop even after he got run out of town

I got appointed to sit with some muckey-mucks at a luncheon tomorrow with Brian McLaren. My first question will be an easy one: “So, Brian, who got the better end of the trade of Sammy Sosa to the Orioles?” That’ll test his generosity but not his orthodoxy!

In both shows, Ponson will receive visits and/or cameo appearances from his friends in the baseball world. Sammy Sosa is expected to be on Ponson’s shortlist, but no other names were available at press time.

I don’t know, but something’s extremely fishy here. I certainly hope beyond hope that Palmeiro’s telling the truth, but frankly I don’t believe him anymore. And I doubt almost anyone else does, either. His integrity is shot. At the minimum, Palmeiro’s ehavior has been very troubling and very disappointing for this long-time Orioles’ fan - and baseball fan in general. Unfortunately, the accomplishments of many modern Major League players have now been thrown into doubt by the actions of otherwise Hall-of-Fame caliber players - at least by the raw numbers, sans steroids - like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and now Rafael Palmeiro. And that’s just sad.

Well, remember this story, which mirror's today's WaPo headline about how the Washington Nationals could benefit from the Supreme Courts property redistribution ruling? In the late 1980s, before he became governor of Texas, George W. Bush's profession wasn't politics (or oil, since he couldn't exactly find any in Texas), it was baseball. His father helped him snag a sweetheart deal to own a piece of the Texas Rangers, and before he screwed it up by OKing the trade of Sammy Sosa, Bush scored one big success: he and his partners built the Rangers a brand new ballpark. How'd they do it? Through the miracle of eminent domain. From the Texas Observer in 1998:

OK, it is official. Sammy Sosa is just flat out horrible. I’ve joked before that the best thing that came out of the Sammy Sosa deal was the Orioles got rid of Jerry Hairston and made Brian Roberts an everyday player. In retrospect, I don’t think it can be consdiered much of a joke anymore. Brian Roberts was the best thing that came out of the Sammy Sosa deal and his game-winning homerun last night finally broke the season-long six-game losing streak. Sammy Sosa, meanwhile, was 0-4 and his average dropped to 0.235.

The problem is that this dramatic win in a way glosses over the continuing Foulke engima. He wasn’t knocked around as in other late inning situations, but he let on the lead off hitter, which is something you never want to happen with the score so close. David Newhan (who I have grudgingly grown to respect) steals second and is bunted over to third by Melvin Mora. Miguel Tejada is intentionally walked and Sammy Sosa is semi-intentionally walked. Rafael Palmeiro’s groundball gets Sosa at second but scores Newhan, tying the game.

Back in the friendly confines of Oriole Park of Camden Yards and the comfort of their own league, the Orioles got back on the right track in a big way, in a rousing come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. In fact, Sammy Sosa, who’d been on the disabled list with an abcess and staph infection on his foot, welcomed himself back to the lineup with a clutch RBI, reminding Orioles fans just how much his contributions were missed (and in case you were wondering how much they were missed, chew on this: before last night’s game...

Sammy Sosa's infected left foot is healing quickly enough for the Baltimore Orioles' outfielder to hit off a tee on Wednesday.

I did get to see Game Three at Wrigley. I'd left the day before with my sister's ex boyfriend. Somehow, I lost all my luggage, and I spent the better part of three days wearing a black trench coat, with a shirt, tie, and vest underneath it. (These were the clothes I'd been wearing on the way, you see.) I bought my first two jerseys that day; a Cooperstown Ernie Banks and a Sammy Sosa alternate. Even though the Cubs lost, it was fully worth it.

The Baltimore Orioles’ team physician says right fielder Sammy Sosa could be out for a month with a staph infection on the bottom of his left foot, multiple media outlets were reporting Thursday night.

Right now, the Baltimore Orioles are high flying and in 1st place in the AL East while the Cubs are walking in winning runs their way towards last place in the NL Central. You really can’t help but wonder if Sammy Sosa’s sparkplug personality is a factor in Baltimore’s rise while the lack of it is a factor in the decline of the Cubs. In retrospect, if Sosa’s boombox was really such a problem, why could not team management have sit down with him and told him to use headphones and not subject the rest of the team to his...

I spent this winter looking for a sign that Cub management had the will to win. What I got was a long, dreary winter's wait. The Cubs sat idle while division rivals St. Louis and Houston opened their wallets to bring in key free agents. Worse than that, the Cubs let three of their best players get away: Outfielders Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou, and pitcher Matt Clement.

Red Sox negativity aside, the important thing that I think we are learning is that the O’s may be a bit longer for contention than many realize. With an offensive core of Javy Lopez, Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora, Miguel Tejada and Sammy Sosa, a strong bullpen and a starting staff that’s come better than advertised, I don’t see any reason why the O’s can’t make noise in the 2005 playoff race. I have been on the O’s bandwagon since the Sosa trade and I don’t see any reason to hop off now.

The crowd was absolutely electric, and gave the warmest welcome of the afternoon to new Oriole Sammy Sosa. Sosa gave his traditional sprint out to right field, running with his head down but pausing to acknowledge the fans as he ran. He overran his position to center field, stopping to gesture to the fans out in the bleachers before trotting back to right.

HA! OK, OK, Jeff. Calm down. Raffy Palmeiro is just a couple decades past his prime, Sosa and Lopez are also past the sell-by date stamped on their foreheads, Roberts does not exactly have a Tony Gwynn history, and that trio mentioned may be a touch underrated, but that’s just because most people have never even heard of them. Now, Tejada is great (but in a slump), and Mora’s legit, I think. Those others range from OK to pretty darn good. They have a very good offense, don’t get me wrong, but let’s lay off the hyperbole. What Wells and Clement did is impressive enough without it.

And if anyone was watching SportsNite on Comcast SportsNet last night, you caught a glimpse of my back. They did a segment on fan reaction to Sammy Sosa and filmed it right where I was watching batting practice. The camera scans by a couple kids wearing Sosa shirts, then you see a taller person in a Roberts shirt. Yep, that's me. Yay! I was on tv!

Things are now falling into place the way they should. Miguel Tejada and Sammy Sosa with back-to-back homeruns and 3 RBI’s apiece. Brian Roberts and Melvin Mora getting on base ahead of them and it all adds up to an 8-1 thrashing of the New York Yankees. Orioles within 1/2 game of first place and the Yankees are tied for dead last in the division; things are off to a good start….