Sammy hits 600. But will he go to the Hall?
Tonight, Sammy Sosa hit his 600th home run, joining a very select club. Sosa became only the fifth player to hit 600, along with Aaron, Bonds, Ruth and Mays.
In honor of Sammy’s milestone, ESPN.com asked their baseball “experts” to weigh in on whether or not Sosa should be in the Hall of Fame. Let’s take a look at some of their responses, and make snarky comments about each.
Enrique Rojas says YES.
So as long as Sosa isn’t found guilty of charge for violating any established rules, then his numbers should be the sole argument to consider in order to open wide for him the doors of Cooperstown.
Actually, Enrique, Sosa was found guilty of violating an established rule. Remember that whole corked bat thing? Yeah, there was a rule against that.
Steve Philips says YES.
“He has never failed a drug test. In fact, consider that Sosa did get busted for corking a bat during his playing days. Why would a player on steroids cork his bat? He wouldn’t.”
That’s interesting logic, Steve. Sosa corked his bat, so he must not have been on steroids. Honestly, where’s Harold Reynolds when we need him?
Jim Caple says YES.
At this point, it’s hard to see me not voting for him, though I can’t say I’m as enthusiastic about him as I have been about others. Not because of any steroid allegations but because his numbers were inflated by the era in which he played (unlike McGwire, who had his first monster year before the explosion in offense, when 49 home runs was still a lot).
Jim, McGwire was ahead of the curve. He started putting up monster numbers before everybody else because he started using steroids before everybody else. If you’re going to penalize Sosa for being a steroids follower instead of a steroids pioneer, that’s your business. But there are better reasons to penalize him. Like that time he went before the US Congress…
Tim Kurkjian says YES.
Sammy Sosa is a Hall of Famer. There is no definitive proof about his alleged steroid involvement, so, in the absence of hard evidence, his numbers are what we go by, and they are of Cooperstown quality.
There’s little doubt that Sosa’s numbers are Hall worthy. But when Congress asked Sosa about his drug use, he claimed he couldn’t speak English. And while that was ballsy and brilliant, if it didn’t convince you of Sosa’s guilt, then nothing short of a confession will.
Jerry Crasnick says NO.
I want the Mitchell investigation and the surrounding uncertainty to play out before I commit to players with red flags.
That’s a little wishy washy for my tastes, but since Crasnick’s the only ESPN talking head who says he wouldn’t vote for Sosa, I’ll cut him some slack. Congrats, Jerry, on being the only ESPN baseball guy with principles.
Last winter ESPN surveyed Hall of Fame voters and found that only 20.4 percent would have voted for Sammy Sosa if he’d been eligible. Since then, Sosa has hit 12 home runs. Apparently, that was enough to change some peoples’ minds. Did it change yours?
June 21st, 2007 at 8:02 am
Wait a minute…what\’s the evidence that Sosa used steroids again? He got bigger as he got older? He hit a lot of home runs? I know he was called in front of Congress, but that was because he was one of the biggest names in the sport, not because they actually had any proof that he did steroids. How can you keep him out of the Hall?
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June 21st, 2007 at 10:59 am
…mediocre slugger before the steroid era, hit an ungodly amount of homeruns during the steroid era, production drastically dropped at the end of the steroid era, body subsequently broke down, all but admitted guilt at the congressional hearings…Kevin, would you like to see the vial? Good grief.
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June 21st, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Actually, 1987 ( When McGwire hit his 49) WAS considered an unusual year of high homeruns, the “‘juiced ball”, etc.
That was the year when many rookies and singles hitters hit 20-30 or more homeruns ( before this was common). I think even Wade Boggs hit 24 and Ricky was in the high 20s. Matt Nokes, Larry Sheets, anyone? Kevin Seitzer and Wally Joyner as sluggers? MCGwire, George Bell and Dawson in the 40s,etc.
AND, Sosa’s career ( peak anyway) was a lot better than McGwire if you look at more all-around stats like RBI, AVG, MVP performances, etc. Mcgwire’s career numbers look like Dave Kingman in the steroid era. Sosa’s performance was a lot broader.
McGwire had all his huge HR years in the same years when lots of people were hitting HRs. He was no Babe Ruth.
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June 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
McGwire was also plagued by back problems. He might have put up better career numbers than Sosa if he had been able to stay healthy.
Regardless, the point is that Sosa and McGwire both used steroids. There’s simply no doubt. And as such neither belongs in the Hall.
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June 22nd, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Okay then…do you put Bagwell in the Hall? He could have just as easily used steroids - he fell apart in the last couple years too - but since he wasn’t such a big name, he wasn’t called in front of Congress, so he doesn’t get ripped the way Sosa and McGwire do.
I do think Sosa used steroids, as did most other players from the era. But because we don’t have proof of who did and didn’t use, we really can’t keep someone out of the Hall just because their name happened to be one of the ones that came up as guilty.
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June 22nd, 2007 at 11:43 pm
I would have no problem keeping Bagwell out. He was a power hitter in the steroid era, and 450 HRs is good, but not Hall of Fame good.
But more to the point, Bagwell has never done anything to disgrace himself the way Sosa did lying to Congress. Frankly, I have less of a problem with Sosa’s steroid use — or even his corked bat, for that matter — than I do with the fact that he told Congress he COULDN’T SPEAK ENGLISH! I’m sorry, but on that day he flushed his credibility straight down the toilet. And his claim to a spot in the Hall, as far as I’m concerned.
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