June 5, 2003 [LINK]
Sammy, Sammy, Sammy
At first the news that Sammy Sosa used a cork-filled bat came as a terribly disheartening shock. After all, he is one of the most genuine baseball heroes of recent years, and one of the friendliest faces on the diamond -- unlike, say, Pete Rose. X-rays of all the bats he is known to have used have come up negative, though, so his lame-sounding claim that it was just a bat he used in batting practice may be true after all. Most studies indicate that corked bats have little if any benefit to hitters, and it may just be a psychological "placebo" effect. The point is, however, that any such sneaky adulteration of game equipment cannot be tolerated. Just before this mini-scandal erupted, coincidentally, USA Today had a dramatic front-page photo of Sosa's helmet shattering after being hit by a pitched ball. That's gotta hurt!
Diamondbacks' ace pitcher Curt Schilling was fined about $15,000 for deliberately destroying a special camera used to evaluate umpires' calls. Naughty, naughty. Plus stupid. The very next day X-rays showed that he had broken two bones in his hand after being hit twice by line drives last Friday. That's really gotta hurt! He will miss at least a few weeks of games, joining Randy Johnson on the disabled list. Better wait till next year, Phoenicians!