Sammy Sosa lost his voice and his neck.
Sosa’s bull neck used to be his most prominent feature. It was huge. You couldn’t miss it. Now you can’t miss its smaller size. Or Sosa’s shrunken body, for that matter. Good thing he’s making $18 million this year. He can afford new clothes.
But Sosa declined to talk Monday, so the question could not be asked: Has he shrunk because he stopped using steroids? Not that there is evidence that Sosa did use steroids, but he has been suspected of it. And he is lumped with other players who are noticeably smaller and/or are having poor seasons.
Sosa, 36 years old, is having a dreadful season. The only player in history to hit 60 or more home runs three times, Sosa is batting .225 for the Orioles and has hit only nine home runs and driven in 26 runs. But Sosa didn’t talk about his putrid performance Monday at Yankee Stadium because he didn’t talk at all.
“I don’t have any time,” Sosa said at 10:21 a.m. as he sat at his locker in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. It was 2 hours 44 minutes before game time.
Rafael Palmeiro, Sosa’s teammate, is not having a good year either (.263, 12 HRs, 41 RBIs), and both players have denied using steroids. But the focus on Palmeiro has been on his impending 3,000th career hit, which will put him in the exclusive company of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray–the only players with 3,000 hits and 500 homers.
Because of offensive inflation, though, it’s questionable whether his 3,000/500 will be as meaningful as that of the others. Palmeiro could benefit from the five-year waiting period for the Hall. If no other players attain the plateau in that time, Palmeiro’s achievements could receive greater acceptance.
Sosa, on the other hand, may lose acceptance if his offensive performance continues to deteriorate in the post-steroids era.
