From the archives: MLB Suspends Sosa for 8 Games

This story was originally published in Newsday on June 7, 2003

Cubs superstar Sammy Sosa was suspended for eight games Friday, three days after using a corked bat against the Devil Rays.

As expected, Sosa filed an immediate appeal through the players association, and the suspension is on hold pending a hearing, allowing him to face the Yankees this weekend.

Typically, an appeal of a suspension is heard by Major League Baseball president Bob DuPuy within a week.

"I believe the world's not ended yet. I'm still here," Sosa said with a smile after he went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in the Yankees' 5-3 win over the Cubs on Friday at Wrigley Field. "I have to be happy with myself that I know how to deal with everything. I'm a tough man. I've got a strong mind, and nobody can touch that."

"He's one of the great players in the game, so sure, for a special series like this, I'm sure the fans appreciate he's here," Joe Torre said. "But as manager of the Yankees, I wish there was one less bat in the lineup."

David Wells, who earlier in the week angered Cubs fans by saying Sosa shouldn't play in the series, enjoyed Sosa's presence Friday. "Sammy's a great guy," said Wells, who got the win Friday. "It's fun with him in the game."

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said before the game that he supports the appeal and won't ask for a specific length of suspension, simply that it be reduced.

"Because of the circumstances and his upfrontness and honesty about it, and the things that were checked out thoroughly, we're hopeful it will be reduced some," Hendry said.

Tom Reich, Sosa's agent, told ESPN that Sosa decided to appeal because the penalty is "on the high side," and hopes to have it reduced by a game or two. Reich said that whatever the result, "everybody will abide by it."

Sosa, who has been battling a slump, declined to discuss the specifics of the decision handed down by Bob Watson, MLB's vice president for on-field operations, either before or after Friday's game. Sosa repeatedly has said that he used the corked bat only for batting practice and mistakenly grabbed it in the first inning against Tampa Bay.

He grounded out as the bat splintered and was ejected when the cork was found. After the game, he apologized to his teammates, baseball officials and fans.

Watson interviewed Hendry, manager Dusty Baker and other team officials for two hours Thursday morning in Chicago. In addition, MLB ordered that 76 bats confiscated from Sosa's locker during Tuesday's game be examined, and the Hall of Fame checked five others that Sosa has donated to Cooperstown since 1998. None of the X-rays or CT scans of the bats uncovered any evidence of illegal doctoring.

In a statement issued a few hours before the scheduled start of the Cubs-Yankees game, Watson said, "It appears that Sosa's use of an illegal bat last Tuesday was an isolated incident ... Nonetheless, Sammy Sosa used an illegal bat during a league game by his own admission. As such, I considered all relevant precedent and determined eight games was the appropriate sanction."

The Dodgers' Wilton Guerrero received an eight-game ban for a corked bat in June 1997, the Reds' Chris Sabo received seven games for a corked bat in July 1996 and Albert Belle also received seven games for using one in July 1994. In 1987, Billy Hatcher of the Astros received a 10-day suspension for using a corked bat.

Bob Herzog and The Associated Press contributed to this story.