Sosa and 600 just don't add up
Aaron, Bonds, Ruth, Mays ... Sosa?
Here's where I get sick.
Here's where some of you say, "Innocent until proven guilty." I hear that, I do. But this isn't a court of law, and unlike with Bonds, where the possibility of an indictment has hovered for years, Sosa's speculated link to steroids will most likely never reach a courtroom. Which means the standard is a bit different. Innocent until proven guilty? Nah. Try innocent unless common sense screams otherwise.
In 2005, Congress invited two publicly anti-steroid players (Frank Thomas, Curt Schilling) and five steroid suspects to testify.
The five suspects: Jason Giambi, who was excused from testifying and would later admit to using steroids; Jose Canseco, who had admitted to using steroids; Rafael Palmeiro, who would later test positive for steroids; Mark McGwire, who refused to say whether he had used steroids by saying he wouldn't talk about the past; and Sosa, normally a loquacious interview subject who on this day didn't understand English well enough to banter with congressmen.
Sosa had an interpreter read a statement denying his usage of "illegal" steroids, which didn't address the issue that, until recently, steroids hadn't technically been "illegal" in Major League Baseball. (Bonds wasn't asked to testify because of the circus he would have created.)
That was 2005. Two weeks ago, baseball's steroid hunter, George Mitchell, announced he was seeking the medical records of a handful of suspected users, including Sosa.
On top of those clear-if-unverified strands linking Sosa to steroids, there is the fact that he was a speedy, sinewy player (36 homers and 34 steals in 1995) for a decade before morphing into an enormous, historical power hitter (64 homers, zero steals in 2001).
Soon he'll club a historic home run, and the scoreboard will light up with the No. 600. Maybe you'll smile. Me, I'll try not to vomit. Nor will I comfort myself with the idea that Sosa could have joined Aaron, Bonds, Ruth and Mays even sooner.
After all, he missed seven games in 2003 when he was caught using a corked bat.
Cheater.
