Expect Sosa to strike out in bid to sign on with team

Dec 4, 2006

I'm fairly certain that the Orioles will pass on Sammy Sosa, who said yesterday on ESPN's Outside the Lines that he's rested and ready to resume his major league career.

Can't argue with the rested part. Sosa has been out of the game for a year -- two if you count his performance in Baltimore in 2005. Now, he's eager to come back and continue his quest for 600 home runs, if only some franchise will overlook the fact that he can't hit anymore.

"I'm only 38 years old," he told ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez. "I'm an exciting player and I'm looking for a chance, and if I get that chance, you never know. I might hit you 40 or 50 [home runs], you never know."

It will be interesting to see if anybody even cares enough to find out. Sosa was once one of the most popular players in the game, but the best years of his career were spent under the cloud of steroid suspicion that has tainted -- fairly or not -- many of the top sluggers of his generation.

Sosa never tested positive for a banned substance, but three seasons with 60-plus home runs in four years will get you wondering, especially when there have been only four other 60-homer performances in the past half-century and two of them were by Mark "I don't want to talk about the past" McGwire.

Maybe it was a coincidence that Sosa's performance declined dramatically when baseball started a serious steroid-testing program. Maybe he just needed a year away from the sport to regain his strength, though a big comeback in 2007 probably would set tongues to wagging again.

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if someone in baseball's central office quietly puts the word out to the 30 major league franchises that Sosa is not welcome back in the game, but we'll just have to wait and see.