Chicago abuzz with debate over Sosa

CHICAGO (AP) -- John Green wants fans to give Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa the benefit of the doubt. John Manning thinks baseball officials should throw the book at him.

A day after Sosa caused the crack heard 'round the world, the city that has adopted him as a hometown hero was abuzz with talk of his corked bat -- and his reputation.

"I'm going to believe that it was a mistake," said Green, a Chicago bank worker taking a morning coffee break Wednesday near the Chicago River. "He has proven over the years that he is a man of integrity."

Steps away, Manning, a railroad conductor, shared a different view as he sat on a ledge with his co-workers.

"Suspend him for the maximum number of games," Manning said. "This isn't his only time. This is the only time he's been caught, right?"

Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Tuesday night's game between the Cubs and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after umpires found cork in the bat he broke on a grounder to second. It's against the rules to alter a bat with cork, thought to help players hit the ball farther.

An embarrassed Sosa said he accidentally grabbed a bat he uses to put on home run shows for fans during batting practice. A security guard carted away other bats from his locker.

A six-time All-Star, Sosa rose to fame during his 1998 home-run race with Mark McGwire and reached 500 career homers earlier this season. He has the most 60-homer seasons in major league history and has become Chicago's biggest sports hero since Michael Jordan.

"What a devastating thing to have happen to a hero from Chicago," said James Driscoll, a eurodollar options trader who called the news the "huge topic" Wednesday on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

"We all really want to believe that he did make an honest mistake," Driscoll said. "But we're hoping for the best and expecting the worst."

Sosa's youngest fans seemed the most willing to believe his explanation.

Ten-year-old Ben Jones of suburban Carol Stream, decked out in a Cubs hat and shirt, said Sosa has broken plenty of other bats without anyone finding cork in them.

"I hope he wasn't cheating," Jones said. "I'm the best player on my team, and I kind of model myself after him."

Older fans like Jim DeLapp, who supervises beer vendors at Wrigley Field, were more skeptical. He said his gut told him Sosa didn't simply pull the wrong bat.

"It's like Tiger Woods taking out the wrong club. These guys know," DeLapp said.

But while baseball commentators and columnists railed against possible cheating by one of the stars of the game, plenty of Chicagoans held out hope that the likable Sosa would be cleared.

Jason Heilenbach, who runs a restaurant near Wrigley Field, counts himself among the optimists. "Chicago wants to believe him," Heilenbach said.

 

Related information

Stories

Sosa ejected for using corked bat Head2Head: Does this ruin Sosa's image? Cubs rally around Sosa, but others not so sure

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video