It’s happened several times this year.
Sammy Sosa takes a hard swing, double-hops out of the batter’s box and begins his trot to first base–only to watch the ball drop into the glove of a waiting outfielder.
During those magical Sammy-Slammin’ years in Chicago, baseballs hit hard by Sosa always seemed to land in the middle of the outstretched arms of Bleacher Bums.
But not this season. Not in Baltimore. Not yet, anyway, his supporters say.
“Every day when we leave the [dugout] tunnel, I have a real good feeling,” Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley said about Sosa. “He has got real good [work] habits, and I think he is on the verge of breaking out.”
When the Orioles traded for Sosa in February, the front office believed he’d fit perfectly into its clubhouse mix, fans would love his energy and the team would benefit from his impressive power. So far, two out of three ain’t bad, but it ain’t particularly good, either.
Not much protection
Brought in to be the team’s cleanup hitter, Sosa is supposed to protect No. 3 hitter Miguel Tejada while having a garden-variety season of 35-plus homers and 100-plus RBIs.
Through his 226 at-bats through Tuesday’s game against the Yankees, however, Sosa is batting just .235 with nine homers and 26 RBIs–putting him sixth on the team in the power categories, which is where Sosa was dropped to in the batting order against New York.
Sosa is on pace to have his worst offensive season since 1992, his first with the Cubs. His home run ratio is one every 25.1 at-bats.
In the clutch, he’s been worse. He is hitting just .213 with runners in scoring position–among the bottom dozen in the American League (50 minimum at-bats).
What’s happened to Sosa?
Some scouts believe age is catching up with the 36-year-old, that his bat speed has slowed considerably. Others question where his legendary strength has gone. Other observers believe he’s had significant trouble adjusting to the AL or that the staph infection that caused him to miss 16 games in May has set him back. Plenty of theories, no real answers.
For now, Sosa doesn’t want to discuss his performance as an Oriole, politely saying he’ll talk “in a few days, not now.”
Those who see him every day are holding out faith that Sosa will slam once again.
“For me, Sammy is a guy that is going to get on a hot streak and he’s one that could really take a lot of this team on his shoulders, too,” manager Lee Mazzilli said. “Sammy has done this for a pretty long time and has been very successful doing it and that’s what I think he will do in the very near future.”
Crowley shakes his head when he hears speculation Sosa’s bat has slowed.
“He’s got plenty of bat speed …” Crowley said. “It’s got nothing to do with bat speed because more often than not he’s a little bit out front.”
Dropped in the order
In a 3-for-27 slump, Sosa got the day off Sunday, the first time he hadn’t started since June 8. Monday night he batted fifth, a spot lower than normal. Tuesday, he moved down another spot.
“I didn’t drop him, I switch around the lineups,” Mazzilli said. “He’s been down there before, we switch it around, it’s not the first time.”
It was the 21st time Sosa batted fifth this season. In his 37 games batting cleanup, Sosa has hit .259 with six homers and 18 RBIs in 147 at-bats.
