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CNN Live Today

Sosa Awaits Word of Possible Suspension

Aired June 05, 2003 - 11:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All lumber, no filler, that's the verdict after baseball officials X-rayed Sammy Sosa's entire inventory of bats and found no further evidence of any cork or any other banned substance there, and that seems to support Sosa's contention that the cork bat that got him ejected Tuesday night was just a fluke. Still, a decision though of any punishment Sosa will face in the wake of that incident Tuesday night.
But our Gary Tuchman is standing by in Chicago. He has got the latest on the Sosa saga from there outside of Wrigley Field -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, hello to you. In three hours from now, the Chicago Cubs take the field against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays here at Wrigley Field and Sammy Sosa will be out there with them but how long will he be out there with them? He could find out today his punishment, his suspension, for using a cork bat which is illegal during a game.

Now yesterday in his first game since the incident, 33,000 fans in the stands for a night game, he received a standing ovation from almost all of them. I heard a few boos but it was almost everyone else clapping and standing. Not everyone standing believed this man's story which is that it was a mistake but he's a hero here and these people want to believe his story.

The incident happened Tuesday night, Sosa up in the first inning hit a ground ball, actually scored a run with this taken off the boards. When he hit the ball his bat broke. The umpires found cork inside the bat and cork is illegal because when you put cork in a bat you make the meat of the bat lighter.

They hollow out the bat and then stick the cork in there to mask the hollow sound. But when you have a lighter bat you can swing it faster and therefore many players think you could hit the ball farther and that's why it's illegal.

Major League Baseball took 76 of Sammy Sosa's bats here at Wrigley Field for analysis. It sounds like a medical procedure but they X-rayed the bats. The X-rays all came back negative but did Major League Baseball have all of Sammy Sosa's bats?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDY ALDERSON, BASEBALL OPERATIONS, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: We are, as I said, confident based on not only the presence of the security in the clubhouse but also the level of cooperation, the record keeping that we reviewed and so forth, that we have all of the bats, so I don't want anyone to misconstrue what I said. It is conceivable because we didn't have physical presence in the clubhouse that we do not have them all but we are very confident that we do.

SAMMY SOSA, CHICAGO CUBS: I'm man enough to take, you know, everything that (unintelligible) and I stood up yesterday like a man and take the blame but you know the media today, you know, they got me out there like I'm a criminal and that's something that really bothered me and hurt me as a man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Now, why did Sammy Sosa have this corked bat? Well, he says he has it because he uses it for batting practice to put on a show for the fans. I asked him how many times he's used it during batting practice and he says three or four times and that raises the question does Major League Baseball have a rule about using corked bats during batting practice?

We asked that question to MLB Vice President Sandy Alderson. He said it's never really been discussed before. There is no such rule. Maybe in the future there will be now -- Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: All right, thanks Gary. I know you have one of those hollowed out bats there. If you want to test it out just try it out on my buddy Dave Steck (ph) OK and get back to me on the results.

TUCHMAN: OK, we'll do that Leon.

HARRIS: All right, take care, see you guys in just a bit.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 5, 2003 - 11:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All lumber, no filler, that's the verdict after baseball officials X-rayed Sammy Sosa's entire inventory of bats and found no further evidence of any cork or any other banned substance there, and that seems to support Sosa's contention that the cork bat that got him ejected Tuesday night was just a fluke. Still, a decision though of any punishment Sosa will face in the wake of that incident Tuesday night.
But our Gary Tuchman is standing by in Chicago. He has got the latest on the Sosa saga from there outside of Wrigley Field -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, hello to you. In three hours from now, the Chicago Cubs take the field against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays here at Wrigley Field and Sammy Sosa will be out there with them but how long will he be out there with them? He could find out today his punishment, his suspension, for using a cork bat which is illegal during a game.

Now yesterday in his first game since the incident, 33,000 fans in the stands for a night game, he received a standing ovation from almost all of them. I heard a few boos but it was almost everyone else clapping and standing. Not everyone standing believed this man's story which is that it was a mistake but he's a hero here and these people want to believe his story.

The incident happened Tuesday night, Sosa up in the first inning hit a ground ball, actually scored a run with this taken off the boards. When he hit the ball his bat broke. The umpires found cork inside the bat and cork is illegal because when you put cork in a bat you make the meat of the bat lighter.

They hollow out the bat and then stick the cork in there to mask the hollow sound. But when you have a lighter bat you can swing it faster and therefore many players think you could hit the ball farther and that's why it's illegal.

Major League Baseball took 76 of Sammy Sosa's bats here at Wrigley Field for analysis. It sounds like a medical procedure but they X-rayed the bats. The X-rays all came back negative but did Major League Baseball have all of Sammy Sosa's bats?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDY ALDERSON, BASEBALL OPERATIONS, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: We are, as I said, confident based on not only the presence of the security in the clubhouse but also the level of cooperation, the record keeping that we reviewed and so forth, that we have all of the bats, so I don't want anyone to misconstrue what I said. It is conceivable because we didn't have physical presence in the clubhouse that we do not have them all but we are very confident that we do.

SAMMY SOSA, CHICAGO CUBS: I'm man enough to take, you know, everything that (unintelligible) and I stood up yesterday like a man and take the blame but you know the media today, you know, they got me out there like I'm a criminal and that's something that really bothered me and hurt me as a man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Now, why did Sammy Sosa have this corked bat? Well, he says he has it because he uses it for batting practice to put on a show for the fans. I asked him how many times he's used it during batting practice and he says three or four times and that raises the question does Major League Baseball have a rule about using corked bats during batting practice?

We asked that question to MLB Vice President Sandy Alderson. He said it's never really been discussed before. There is no such rule. Maybe in the future there will be now -- Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: All right, thanks Gary. I know you have one of those hollowed out bats there. If you want to test it out just try it out on my buddy Dave Steck (ph) OK and get back to me on the results.

TUCHMAN: OK, we'll do that Leon.

HARRIS: All right, take care, see you guys in just a bit.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com