It doesn't matter who the player is or how dazzling his stats are, some blunders are just too big to forget.
Think Jose Canseco will ever hear the end of that ball bouncing off his head and over the fence, or Bill Buckner about that grounder going through his legs almost 20 years ago?
How about poor Fred Merkle? As if anyone remembers him for anything but failing to touch second base, ultimately costing the Giants the NL pennant in 1908.
Now there's Sammy Sosa. The US is caught up in the warm-and-fuzzy frenzy of the Chicago Cubs and their best playoff run in almost 60 years. And yet, every time he hits a monstrous home run -- like that one that bounced off the television camera booth way up in the Wrigley Field bleachers Wednesday night -- a four-letter word automatically crosses some people's minds.
Cork.
"Whatever happened to me, I just did what I had to do. I apologized, and we have to put that in the past," Sosa said as the Cubs worked out in preparation for Game 3 of the NLCS against the Florida Marlins. "We've got to move forward."
It's been more than four months since that June night when Sosa's bat split apart, revealing a piece of cork just above the handle. Just about every bat he has touched has been poked and prodded, without any other signs of funny business turning up.
But some people are just never going to let it go.
Sosa was greeted with signs like "Scammy Sosa" and "Got Cork?" in some ballparks this year. White Sox fans chanted "Corky! Corky!" during the crosstown series.
Sosa has been baseball's quintessential good guy recently, a lovable slugger with an infectious smile and a feel-good story. So fans were horrified when cork was found after his bat shattered June 3.
Sosa insisted he accidentally pulled out a bat he uses to put on home run displays for fans in batting practice. But when he returned from a seven-game suspension, he was greeted with skepticism, criticism and boos.
Hitting home runs and taking your team to the playoffs can go a long way toward repairing a tarnished image.
Sosa had just six homers and 24 RBIs when the corked bat was found. He finished with 40 homers and 103 RBIs, becoming the first NL player with six straight 40-homer seasons.
"I have a chance to finish strong," Sosa said. "People said I was finished. I had six home runs when that happened, and I came back and finished with 40.
"Do you want more than that?"
RSS