From Wednesday’s Chicago Sun-Times.
Sammy Sosa told a Korean newspaper he’s not retired and might return to action next season, but he nearly ended the interview when asked about steroids.
The former Cubs slugger broke his longtime silence by granting an interview to The Korea Times on Friday in Seoul, where he was accompanying Dominican Republic president Leonel Fernandez.
“I am not retired,” said Sosa, who added that he’s practicing sporadically. “I am waiting for my time, to see if it is a chance for me to come back next year. … I am always ready.”
The paper said Sosa “became angry and taciturn” when he was asked if he used steroids in 1998 during his home-run chase with the St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark McGwire.
“Excuse me, I don’t need to answer that question,” he said.
The thought of Sammy “practicing sporadically” is almost as amusing as Rafael Palmiero’s home batting cage. Still, if there are no big league nor indie league clubs willing to give Sosa another shot, there’s a Senior Men’s League team in L.A. currently looking to replace a big bat in their lineup.
Two of Sammy’s former clubs — albiet two he wasn’t nearly as successful with as the Cubs — are battling at the Cell today, with the White Sox holding a 4-0 advantage over the Orioles. Other than a Javier Lopez double, Jose Contreras has been perfect on the day. On second thought, that might be an overstatement. For instance, I can’t say if he’s a very good listener. Juan Uribe’s hit his 11th HR of the season, a solo shot in the 2nd inning off Rodrigo Lopez.
Amongst the world-class closers DC’s Ryan Zimmerman has victimized late in a game this season : Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner….and Joe Borowski. Uh, never mind.
The Cubs’ Mark Prior had his longest / least sucky outing of 2006 today, throwing 108 pitches in 6 innings of (3 earned runs, 4 hits, 7 K’s, 4 walks) against Houston. Unfortunately for Prior, Andy Pettitte (who has also struggled mightily this year) showed his own dramatic improvement, scattering 7 hits and allowing just one run over 6 innings. The Astros lead, 5-1 in the bottom of the 8th.
Now that PhillyBurbs can no longer sell their rather fetching “Wife Beater” Wife Beaters, the site’s Randy Miller has to settle for landing an interview with the manager of a team 7 games under .500. This afternoon at CBP, Cole Hamels lasted just 2 innings (42 pitches) before being pulled in favor of Ryan Franklin. The Phillies and Padres are tied at 2 in the last of the 4th inning.