I haven’t seen a thread yet - very sorry if there is a long, existing thread already.
Your thoughts?
I am inclined to think:
a) I still respect Sosa’s stats
b) He did use the bat for BP - but shouldn’t
c) I am still unclear about his steroid use - not related to corked bats, but still controversial
d) Given how much the fans like him vs. Albert Belle, he will recover
e) He must be suspended at least a few games
Your thoughts?
bump
Wow - I guess I am surprised there hasn’t been any Doper discussion on this topic…
RickJay?
BobT?
All you other baseball Dopers? Whaddya think?
There’s a mite bit of screaming about this over in the Pit.
Well, I avoid the Pit, when possible, so I’ll play here. I think he’s an idiot for having ANY bats that were corked, whether they’re intended for practice, or not. And, he just demonstrated why I think so; accidents happen. I DO think it was an accident. He certainly doesn’t need whatever minimal advantage a corked bat may offer. And, because it’s a rule, and he broke it, however unintentionally, I think he should be suspended for a few games. I think ten is probably too many, though.
I think it’s absolutely amazing how few people are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s not dumb, he’s a seasoned veteran, he’s been around for what, 14 or 15 years now? The bat was clearly marked with a “C”, and what dumbass would cork a bat, mark it with a “C”, and use it in a game, being one of the hardest-hitting players in the majors?
I’m satisfied with his explanation, that it’s something he used in batting practice to impress the fans. He seems to actually appreciate his fans, unlike a lot of other players.
And he admitted that he did something wrong and is willing to take punishment for it. Isn’t that enough?
I think that it was used with full knowledge of what it was, a corked bat. I think that having just returned from the DL and struggling, he had a moment of weakness and tried to give himself a slight advantage in order to get back “on the groove”. I DON’T think that he used the corked bat in past games. Far too likely that it would’ve split laike it did the other night.
However, he should be suspended for some where in the 6 to 10 game range.
I think it was the dumbest thing I’ve heard of a sports figure doing in quite some time. Whatever his motives or intentions were, why do ANYTHING that would risk people in the future mentally or literally putting an asterisk by your statistics. I mean, Roger Maris couldn’t help that fact that he played more games in his record season than Babe Ruth did, yet they put a ‘*’ by his season home run record for 40 years. Now, rightly or wrongly, some people are going to question the ‘legitimacy’ of Sosa’s multiple 60+ homer seasons. Why do anytying to risk that? Dumb, dumb, dumb.
People question his stats anyway because his home run prowess came from nowhere. Myself included. Meanwhile, I think he’s been thoroughly exonerated: 76 of his bats were x-rayed, no cork. 5 of his bats were taken from the Hall of Fame and tested. No cork. Even if what he did was intentional, which I’m inclined to doubt because the cork wouldn’t really help (and there would be SO much at risk), his records are safe on this particular question.