Sammy Sosa Officially Outed as Juicer

Sammy Sosa was always suspected of having been a juicer like his ’98 home run rival Mark McGwire, but unlike McGwire, and Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez and many others, very little real evidence had ever surfaced against Sammy, nor had Sammy ever figured prominently in documents like the Mitchell Report, or on failed test lists like the one that reportedly includes A-Rod’s name.  Until now, that is:

"Sammy Sosa is one of the major league baseball players who tested positive for a banned substance in 2003, the New York Times is reporting, citing lawyers who have knowledge of the drug-testing results from that year.That year was the first in which Major League Baseball conducted survey tests to see if mandatory, random drug-testing was needed. There were no penalties for a positive result in 2003.Results from the 2003 surveys were supposed to remain anonymous.ESPNDeportes.com reported in early June that Sosa, 40, was planning on announcing his formal retirement from baseball soon, and would not address allegations of steroid use.“I will calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Don’t I have the numbers to be inducted?” said Sosa, who presently serves the Dominican government as special ambassador for investment opportunities."

So they finally caught up to Sammy.  It was really only a matter of time.  The four or five Cubs fans who were still holding out hope that Sammy’s great years with the team would prove to have been clean can now blow out the candles and end the vigil.  For the rest of us, the Sammy era had long-since been swept under the rug, our fond memories poisoned by Sammy’s behavior toward the end, and our subsequent realization that what we saw was a fraud.  I personally don’t think much of Sammy when I think of the Cubs:  to me the Cubs are about Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Greg Maddux and Harry Caray.  And as far as this year is concerned…well, let’s just say I wouldn’t mind the guys passing around some of whatever Sammy was taking.  They could use it.