He was suspicious all along, portraying weird facial features of guilt. Though, suspicion minds followed Sammy Sosa as if he was baseball’s villain and the next juice bust of the "Steroid Era."
As we know, he was baseball’s savor, mending our pastime from deteriorating into nightmarish shadows. The astonishing single-home run chase of Sosa and Mark McGwire enthralled us, hijacking our minds and glimpsed at baseball’s healing process in 1998 after the player strike in 1994.
After many embraced and admired Sosa as an icon as baseball’s sixth-leading home run slugger with over 600 homers recorded, he was busted for juicing. So instead of the 600 club, he’s better joining the juicer’s club.
Now, that he’s guilty of lying and using performance enhancing drugs, it’s a real shame for the game of baseball. Shame on Sosa of denying that he ever used substances to increase performance level, never revealing natural talent when we were convinced it was artistically done.
Once again, we were misled, betrayed and cheated, leery on believing anyone who alleged they are pure. For now, Sosa takes on the name betrayer as everyone will harshly criticize, release anger, and disfavor him on a trip to the Hall of Fame.
After lying to the world, Sosa is the last man whose infamous deeds shouldn’t qualify an appearance to Cooperstown, ruining his creditability caught in a juice scandal after all. We all accused him of infractions, and we were correct. From Chicago to Baltimore to Texas, he tainted and defaced the beautiful and artistic magnitude of a fraudulent sport, exposing shame and corrupt images in a year that has unveiled shameful juice raids.
First, there were revelations of Alex Rodriguez failing a drug test. Then, there was Manny Ramirez, whose infractions reveled through baseball’s drug prevention policy. From there, lies inflamed questions from a mum Ramirez, refusing to address fans of his infamous scandal.
Being deceitful sabotaged the beauty of Mannywood, and infuriated Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. Of late, nothing is positive in the major leagues, and if anything, steroid debacles have diverted indulgence enshrined.
Even though many believe sluggers are pure and consist of national talent, the Steroid Era has disastrously corrupted our game, as some tend to forget. Maybe there are several reasons why it has forgotten or ignores players caught in a steroid controversy.
Perhaps, they don’t condemn of stars using performance enhancer because of the representation their superstar brings. Or maybe denial sets in, giving citizens clarity to condone cheating. Foremost reverencing Sosa or anyone for that matter just means people are soulless of cheating, lies and betrayal. No longer is Sosa accused of suspicion, but reportedly was ratted out as one of the 104 players who tested positive for an unspecified banned substance, according to the New York Times.
He juiced-up an awe-inspiring home-run spree back in the late '90’s that has caught up with him at the age of 40. He now experiences stress of an ordeal that could forge harsh sanctions. Lying and hiding his usage of performance enhancers aren’t the biggest mortifications taunting or mangling high-profiled soul.
If Sosa denies ever using performance-enhancing drugs in front of Congress, he could be facing a federal perjury charge. Ever since it was detected that he used a cork to trick us like an April fools prank, it has been formidable trusting his natural capabilities.
At Capital Hill, Sosa testified in front of the House Government Reform Committee alongside Jose Conseco and McGwire. Before the committee, he denied ever using drugs to enhance hitting productivity. Come to learn that’s a lie, now enough specifics to validate his imposturous hitting as a tremendous sham, consolidating more shame on the apathetic face of commissioner Bud Selig, who hasn’t reacted to baseball’s self-destruction.
Primary bearings should be trying to save the game that was at one point embraced as America’s pastime, before it translated into America’s Shame with players caught manipulating and defrauding pride.
Why does it happen? Well maybe because of insecurity, or not enough dignity for the game.
Less than two weeks ago, Sosa committed on being inducted into the Hall of Fame, inviting himself as if never using a cork or enhancers to upgrade dexterity with a demeanor that he belongs. But numbers shouldn’t impose qualifications to the Hall of Fame.
Instead, it should honor the well-deserving players who always tested clean, never using performance-enhancing drugs to idealize excellence. With Sosa in denial and cocky of being elected to the Hall of Fame, worsen vote ballots. But above all, when he was confronted, he lied about ever benefiting from substances. Lies and cheating don't qualify as a worthy Hall of Famer.
More shocking than his disgraceful allegations are the voting ballots of Sosa and McGwire receiving 25 percent of votes from the electorate in the last two years, requiring 75 percent to imprint name in Cooperstown.
Assuming his numbers, Sosa thinks he deserves votes. “I’ll calmly wait for my induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame,” he said. Shortly before, he asked whether or not the media thought he had the numbers to make him Hall of Fame worthy.
Yes, Sosa has the numbers with 609 homers (sixth all-time), 1,667 RBI’s, .534 slugging percentage and the world’s greatest 66 home runs in ’98. Too bad he was pumping his body with juice. Otherwise he might have earned praise and not criticism.
As far as it goes, Sosa isn’t worthy of the Hall of Fame, and the same goes for McGwire. Each lost their creditability for having a share in damaging reputation, not only for themselves, but the game itself.
When they were questioned in a testimony, excuses were hatched and ensuing lies. Can you recall during the testimony, when McGwire said, “I’m not here to discuss the past…I’m here to be positive?”
Can you flashback to when Sosa denied ever taken steroids, and remind yourselves he insisted steroids and human growth hormones were dangerous to store into the body. “To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs.”
That was a lie.
The entire world should have known Sosa and McGwire weren’t truthful. Like the rest of them, their mental state of the game was to compete by having substances to assist in boosting their game. Shame on them, as the negativity has come back to hurt souls and despoil legacies. All this time, I should have known Sosa was a surreptitious fraud.
I’m only being honest.
