Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

[dirty]

Associated Press

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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Sammy Sosa, 12 home runs shy of 600, said he wants to return to the big leagues in 2007 after taking a year off and contemplating retirement.
"I feel good physically, and after a year of resting we are optimistic about making a decision soon about returning to baseball," the Dominican slugger told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Sosa, 37, did not play in 2006 after rejecting a non-guaranteed offer of $500,000 from the Washington Nationals. But the outfielder, perhaps best known for his epic home run duel with Mark McGwire in 1998, said he is motivated to return.
"I still have a lot of passion for the game and I'm in shape. I want to get to 600 home runs before saying goodbye," said Sosa.
His agent, Adam Katz, has previously said Sosa probably was headed to retirement.
Sosa, whose last season with the Baltimore Orioles ended with a .221 batting average and 14 home runs, said several teams have shown interest but did not specify which ones. The only player in major league history to have three seasons of at least 60 homers, Sosa testified before a congressional committee looking into steroids use by professional baseball players.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
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ESPN.com - MLB - Rested Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

 

[Jojo-Rex]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

OH MY GOD THERE IS CORK IN MY BAT..HOW`D THAT HAPPEN?? ME NO NO:+signs11-

 

[winkyduck]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

here is how this should be interpretted:

Now that I have been off steroids for around 1 year or so my body will be clean of it and I won't test positive for it and I might now be able to hit the 12 HRs I need to get to 600 and then I can retire because who wants an aging slugger with a slow bat except for the fact my chase for 600 will draw a few people so someone like Tampa Bay or KC can sign me

 

[The Devil]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

SOMEONE WILL TAKE HIM.......PROBABLY AN AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAM WILL DH HIM.......AND THE PRICE SHOULD BE REAL CHEAP.....AND NOT WORTH THE PRICE.......

 

[BowlMeOne]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

here is how this should be interpretted:

Now that I have been off steroids for around 1 year or so my body will be clean of it and I won't test positive for it and I might now be able to hit the 12 HRs I need to get to 600 and then I can retire because who wants an aging slugger with a slow bat except for the fact my chase for 600 will draw a few people so someone like Tampa Bay or KC can sign me

More like....now that I have seen nobody getting busted for HGH, I got back on it, and I'm ready to go.

 

[DrunkHorseplayer]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

He's figured out how to do HGH, for which they don't test, and all the attention will be on Bonds' pursuit of Aaron so he won't have to deal with constant BS.

 

[Shortbus]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

here is how this should be interpretted:

Now that I have been off steroids for around 1 year or so my body will be clean of it and I won't test positive for it and I might now be able to hit the 12 HRs I need to get to 600 and then I can retire because who wants an aging slugger with a slow bat except for the fact my chase for 600 will draw a few people so someone like Tampa Bay or KC can sign me

That or I've had a year to get the roids out and the growth hormone in so that I can say look, NO ROIDS, just like before. See I told you I never did them!

 

[JTGAMBLE]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

who is going to sign Bonds

 

[dirty]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

who is going to sign Bonds

either San Fran or an American League team that needs a still pretty highly respected bat in their lineup to make a push at a title.. maybe Oakland or Anaheim.... I don't think he will come back east...

 

[richman99]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

Anybody that pays more than 100k is absolutely crazy.

 

[Bucsfan67]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

if bonds doesnt resign in SF, i would think he was a lock to play in oakland...would fit right into that lineup, wouldnt have to move, and could retain many of the fans he has out there.....

 

[JTGAMBLE]

Re: Sosa eyes return to big leagues, 600 home runs

<!-- begin pagetitle -->Updated: Nov. 11, 2006, 8:22 PM ET
Report: Sosa denies steroids played part in success


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<!-- begin text11 div --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-TOP: 10px" vAlign=top><!-- begin leftcol --><!-- template inline -->Sammy Sosa, contemplating a return to baseball in 2007, would like to end the speculation that steroid use played a part in his impressive career slugging statistics.
"No question about it," Sosa told the Chicago Tribune on Friday. "I am clean, and I always have been clean. There has been a lot of speculation, but they don't have no evidence. So you take it from there. They haven't been writing a book about me doing this or doing that."
Despite word surfacing the past few months that steroid user Jason Grimsley implicated Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons in a federal probe involving steroid abuse, Sosa's name has yet to surface in any credible report "Because I don't do that," Sosa told the newspaper. "My name would have been in there. Think about it. All of the questions and all the speculation, my name is never there &
"Yeah, everyone is surprised because, you know why? I hit 60 [homers] three times. I put up the numbers. But you know what? I put up those numbers by going to bed at 9 o'clock at night in Chicago because I have to play a day game every day at 1 o'clock. I prepared myself for that.
In 1998, Sosa and Mark McGwire grabbed the nation's attention as they wages and assault on the all-time single-season home run record.
McGwire swatted 70 homers and Sosa hit 66, both eclipsing Roger Maris' 1961 mark of 61.
McGwire is eligible for the Hall of Fame on the next ballot, and voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America have been debating whether to vote for him in light of his refusal to answer questions during a congressional hearing on steroids.
Pressed to talk about the importance of he and McGwire addressing the rampant speculation they had used performance enhancers to achieve their power numbers, Sosa replied to the Chicago Tribune with a bit of agitation.
"I understand your point," he said. "Remember, I am not a writer. I am a baseball player. And no matter what happens, we are family. Mark is part of my family. My opinion is always going to be in a good way when I refer to someone in my family. I am not going to sit here and say, `Do this and don't do that.' Because I am not like that.
"The Hall of Fame means everything, and I think my way to the Hall of Fame is there. There has been a lot of [steroid use] speculation. But I don't think that speculation is going to stop me from going to the Hall.
"And remember, I always treated all of the writers great. I always had time for everybody. I am not saying that's why they should vote for me. [They should vote for me] because the numbers, they are there. That thing don't lie."

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