A cryptic Sammy Sosa, saying “if they let me play I’m going to produce,” refused to celebrate reaching the 30-homer plateau for a 10th straight season, something only two others have done.
“Right now is not the time to think about that,” he said before Tuesday’s game with Pittsburgh. “We’re in a situation where we need to concentrate and win some games. No question it’s something I’m proud of, but this is not the right moment to celebrate.
“I have to try to finish strong. So many things have happened in my life. I just have to continue playing, playing, playing, win, win, win. . . . When we win the [wild-card playoff spot], then I can celebrate.”
Despite the achievement, which only Barry Bonds and Jimmie Foxx have accomplished, Sosa is not a happy person these days. It has been a tortuous season for him, from missing a month with a strained back ligament to recent hip bursitis, from criticism over his batting stance to his refusal to change, from media criticism to fans booing.
He has been dropped in the batting order, from his customary third spot to fourth, to fifth and now to sixth.
“If they let me play, I’m going to produce,” he said. “Let me play and I will do the job I always do. Sometimes it’s hard to play with so many distractions. . . . About the only way you can produce and help the team is if you play without distractions on you.”
Asked if his hip was better, Sosa replied: “I don’t want to give all the details, but I’m OK. I suffer with my own pain.”
About playing with pain, he said: “I’ve been playing with pain, but nobody cares about us.”
Sosa declined to get into specifics about “distractions,” and when asked if he was hurt by what has happened, he said: “I’m not going to go through that.”
Sosa’s 30th homer Monday was his first in two weeks and his average has been in the .230s for the last month, part of which he missed with hip problems.
Manager Dusty Baker, who earlier this year joined the criticism of Sosa’s stubbornness at changing his batting stance, is hoping Sosa gets on a hot streak before the season ends.
“He has not surprised me. The guy loves to play, that’s the No. 1 thing,” Baker said. “He’ll do anything to help us get to the postseason and win. As a former batting coach, I can see the swings getting crisper and the timing getting better. I can feel it and believe it.”
