Sosa will retire, ‘calmly wait for my induction’

[Poiuyt]

Former outfielder Sammy Sosa will soon announce his retirement, and says he'll be waiting for the call to the Hall of Fame despite rumors of steroid use, ESPN reported on Wednesday.

"Everything I achieved, I did it thanks to my perseverance, which is why I never had any long, difficult moments . If you have a bad day in baseball, and start thinking about it, you will have ten more.

"I will calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Don't I have the numbers to be inducted?," Sosa told ESPN.

Sosa hit 609 home runs over his career, including more than 60 in three separate seasons.

In the interview, Sosa would not address allegations of steroid use, but stressed that he "always played with love and responsibility and I assure you that I will not answer nor listen to rumors. If anything ugly comes up in the future, we will confront it immediately, but with all our strength because I will not allow anybody to tarnish what I did in the field."

In 2003, Sosa was ejected from a game when caught using a corked bat. At the time he said he used the bat for batting practice, and used it in the game by accident.

more -

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/31093821/

[Onceuponalife]

1. Induct him in the Hall

but put an asterisk on the trophy.

[joeybee12]

2. If anyone votes for him, they better vote for McGwire also...n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

33. I'm With You, Joey

And i'm a Cub fan. But, geez, the guy gained 30 pounds of muscle in about 3 years. At least Mac took 10 years to do that. If anyone did 'roids, it was Sammy.

And another particular player that is defending massively by some idiots here.
GAC

[Forkboy]

3. He may be calmly waiting a long time.

[cboy4]

4. I had no idea Sammy was indicted or violated a single Major League Baseball

Rule!!!

:wow:

One thing we do know. He received a far, far, far less disproportionate amount of hate than Barry Bonds did.

Far less. That in and of itself is quite telling.

[hughee99]

5. Other than the corked bat? n/t

[joeybee12]

7. Wasn't it more than once? n/t

[hughee99]

8. As far as I remember, he was only caught once. n/t

[joeybee12]

6. One of the reasons Sosa (or even A-Hole for that matter) don't get the vitriol here is

because there's not some fool here trying to canonize them like they're trying to canonize Barry 24x7.

[madinmaryland]

16. +756

[KamaAina]

19. "A-Hole"!!!

:rofl:

[LisaM]

9. I agree with you that Bonds was disproportionately picked on

I've never understood it. It's clear that McGwire and Sosa did SOMETHING. But there was no outrage because they were too busy "saving baseball".

[Captain Hilts]

15. McGwire was a heavy-hitter from the get-go. Bonds' body and statistics completely changed

in his mid-late '30s when most players' numbers start to decline. He was a terrific ballplayer in Pittsburgh. One of the best.

Bonds would have been a hall of famer without the steroids. But the guy completely changed his body at a time when the aging process would have been hitting him.

McGwire was a bulky-looking home run hitter his whole career.

[Onceuponalife]

20. not true

McGwire was real skinny when he first came up, too. He and Bonds walked the same road...fellow travelers, if you will...

[trumad]

21. No he wans't...

McGuire was not skinny coming out of college---

Oh sure he go even bigger with the roids...but he was a big dude when he hit the big show.

[Captain Hilts]

30. He always had the big arms, etc. Not as big a chest, but he was a big kid. Not skinny as Bonds was.

[cboy4]

23. At least you're honest LisaM .. one of my main points all along has been --

even if one believes Bonds "enhanced" his at bats, how can baseball fans treat McGwire and Sosa like rock stars!??!

Of course, you're right .. Bud Selig, one of the most incompetent commissioners of all time in all of sports .. Mr. I can't make a decision about all star game extra innings, as well as many other important issues -- has dollar signs in his eyes.

He has all of the qualifications to work for the Bush Administration. No question about it.

[TZ]

27. "how can baseball fans treat McGwire and Sosa like rock stars!??!

In 1998 they DID..but not now. Or are you missing the fact that nobody has wanted to touch Sosa as a player for 2 years or the fact that McGwire got only 25 PERCENT on the HOF ballot. Or how both McGwire and Sosa got slammed after their "testimony" in front of Congress.
I love how you CHERRY-PICK your facts.

[trumad]

28. Don't let the douche get to you with his bullshit....

McGuire and Sosa are disgraced in baseball as they should be....

[Captain Hilts]

31. McGwire has been disgraced. Sosa didn't break the important records so folks don't care. nt

[Captain Hilts]

14. And less than Mark McGwire. nt

[El Supremo]

10. Put his corked bat in the hall right next to...

Barroid's asterisk branded baseball.

There should be a whole Cheaters Wing.

[trumad]

22. They should eliminate the cork bat in the cheating category...

Myth Busters busted the myth that the corked bat increase the distance of the hit ball... it actually decreases it.

[cboy4]

24. I don't blame you -- a last place fan, rooting for one of the worst teams

in all of professional sports, being absolutely bitter about MLB's home run king.

Remember the day Bonds hit three homers against the Rockies a few years ago in Denver?

In the same game!!!

It sounded over the radio like the Giants were playing a home game, as so many fans chhered.

Oh my gosh, good times.

[El Supremo]

26. You're gonna get yours...

:cry:

[cboy4]

29. Just don't tell anyone I have a seperate oven in my house, specificially designed

for Giants games!!

[joeybee12]

11. "Calmly wait for my indictment?"

That seems to make more sense.

[madinmaryland]

12. That's what I thought too. Seems koby4 did too.

[joeybee12]

13. I think the Red Sox are the only team cboyupton have yet to claim

to be life-long fans of.

[cboy4]

25. I would rather get mowed down by a locomotive than root for the long lost

cousins of the New York Yankees Baseball Club.

What's funny is Red Sox fans like joeybee12 content his team is pure and can't possibly be compared to NYY in spending!! :spray:

[Jetboy]

17. I have followed the Cubs sine the 1970s and I think that he is

guilty. When he came to the Cubs I felt that he had potential to be a pretty good all around player. He steadily improved his average and always had some power. I feel that his natural ability peaked out in the mid-90s as a 30 hr 30 sb guy. He was a pretty good all around MLB player- an all star but surely no HOFer. Bonds on the other hand was a lock long before he puffed out whereas Sosa wouldn't have had a HOF sniff without the late 90s, early 2000 seasons which clearly have a cloud hanging over them. Sammy progressed naturally to a good player, but there is no way he went from 30 hrs to 60+ hrs without PEDs of some sort.

The corked bat thing makes him a cheater for one game- a total non-factor IMO. They tested dozens of the bats stored from the '98 season and every one of 'em was clean in addition to the other bats in his possession at the time. There is no proof that he ever used one before or after and a lot of proof that he didn't.

I predict that Sammy will never make the HOF and that Clemens and Bonds will. Clemens and Bonds were 'future HOFers' long before the late 90s whereas Sammy wasn't even in the discussion. Arod should have made it but now his early years are under suspicion. Mcguire and Raffy were borderline HOFers before the era in question so I'm guessing that they will not make it.

[KamaAina]

18. His induction? Is someone planning to hook him up to a battery or something?

:shrug:

[Capt. America]

32. What an ass. First of all, it is bad form to "say" that you expect to be in the Hall..

..even when you know you are a lock. Did Maddux say at his retirement, "see you in the Hall in five years". NO. Because it is not classy. Two. This MF is another roidhead. (Please, Upton and Cboy, I do not need your defending Sosa here as a proxy defense of Barroid) Coming up with the Rangers this guy was 160 pounds wet, then, "all of the sudden" he is the freaking incredible Hulk WITH telltale puffy face, thick neck, and acne (see also: M. McGuire).

I hope they never let this CHEATER in the hall.

[Captain Hilts]

34. Yes, I agree. nt