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Former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa on Wednesday night became only the fifth major leaguer to reach the 600 home run plateau. Maybe it wasn't quite rain on his wedding day, but Sosa's historic home run came not just against his old team, but even against his old jersey — Sosa's 600th came off the Cubs' Jason Marquis, who now wears the "21" that Sosa wore during his tenure with the Northsiders.
Chicagoist noted to a friend in a bar as Sosa came up to bat just how different he looked from his days with the Cubs. Then more He-Man than human, he now looks more like he did early in his career. Guess that's what happens when one gets off the juice! But some things never change as Sosa broke into his familiar bunny hop while leaving the batters' box as his home run sailed into the right field bullpen.
Because the MSM needs something to talk about when the milestone is really nothing more than just another hit, another home run, many are using the event as another opportunity to discuss whether Sammy Sosa belongs in the Hall of Fame. ESPN asked the question to a number of their baseball experts. Seven of the eight would vote Sosa into the Hall. The Trib asks readers to vote. Chicagoist voted No.
Whether Sosa hit 600 home runs or not is irrelevant to whether he deserves enshrinement in Cooperstown. His statistics clearly place him among the most prolific hitters in the history of the game.
The issue boils down to the allegations of steroid use and whether Sosa was guilty of cheating to achieve what he did. Has anything ever been proven? No. But in addition to a sudden surge in his power numbers after 1998 along with his physique at the time, his pimpled complexion and a number of freak muscle injuries indicate he may have been using something stronger than Flintstones vitamins.
Some take the view that because nothing has been proven, and performance-enhancing drugs were apparently prevalent during the era, Sosa deserves to be enshrined. We don't buy the "everybody was doing it" argument — we'd keep Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire out, too. We can be certain that this question will present itself over and over again in coming weeks, particularly as Bonds races towards Hank Aaron's 755 mark for the most home runs of all time.
Photo by AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez.
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Ok, the Fire fire Sarachan and you guys are covering a baseball player from Texas?
Get on the ball!
Jeff loves it when pretentious bloggers (especially those that speak in a fictional third person) dis MSM -- especially when most of their news-related items come from them.
Bravo. Keep up the great work!
Jeff, Chicagoist also hates it when lazy MSM try to create "news" out of things that are not news. Standing at O'Hare on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to say that it's busy? Not news when we all know in June that they'll be reporting that story in November.
Asking again a question aleady asked, when the events don't really make any difference in the answer? Not news. 600 means nothing more than 500 when the true issue is the use of steroids in baseball. so why not investigate whether he did use anything illegal, along with others of his era? Why not answer the question we don't have the answer to yet? Now THAT would be news!
Ok, the Fire fire Sarachan and you guys are covering a baseball player from Texas?
I think I've heard of The Fire but I still haven't seen them play. Aren't they playing at one of the festivals this weekend? Was Sarachan the bass player?
Clint thinks these everpresent discussions of the worthiness of Chicagoist by people obviously interested enough to read it anyway are sour-grape silly.
The issue at hand: Legality really has nothing to do with it, as for the most part the chemicals in question weren't illegal. They weren't even against the rules of Major League Ball, which absolutely loved the McGwire/Sosa home run derby and the recovered fan base that came with it. Selig and company weren't interested enough to say anything about it when they were making money off it, and even the fans didn't care. It's a bit disingenuous to get all righteous about it now that public sentiment has turned.
The steoroid thing isn't new to baseball ... some version of it has been around forever. Roger Maris hit in the amphetamine era. Even the Babe was drunk half the time he built his record, which *was* illegal thanks to Prohibition. There simply is no such thing as a pure game, and there never has been.
I think people should stop digging through closets looking for dirt. Baseball has gotten the message on steoroids now, and things have changed. That's good. But Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa earned their records and followed the rules as they were. They deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
And while we're at it, let Pete Rose in, too.
and even the fans didn't care. It's a bit disingenuous to get all righteous about it now that public sentiment has turned.
Wha? I'd say many people disliked those two obviously hopped up mutated human forms, I know I did.
Even the Babe was drunk half the time he built his record, which *was* illegal thanks to Prohibition.
I can appreciate your larger point but c'mon now. Babe was a good hitter *despite* being sometimes addled by drink.
Drinking = Not good for hitting
Steroids/Corked Bats = Good for hitting
Clint thinks these everpresent discussions of the worthiness of Chicagoist by people obviously interested enough to read it anyway are sour-grape silly.
On this we agree 100%.
I agree with Clint. MLB is the real culprit. I'm sorry, but they knew what was going on. Baseball all but encouraged it. Now, they jump on the moral high ground, looking to suspend Giambi because he talked to a newspaper?
That's what pisses me off about the Cubs. They certainly enjoyed having Mr. Sosa bring fans to the park (remember when it wasn't a given that Wrigley would sell out?). And when the feeling was that the public sentiment was changing and the Cubs could be implicated because of their complicit behavior, they bailed on Sosa to wash their hands.
For gods sake, they hired Dusty Baker. Who was the manager of Barry Bonds! What's the ole saying? Don't hate the players, hate the game.