The American Spectator

I think it entirely possible that Mr. Sosa had more than one doctored bat, and either he or his friends simply removed the others from view as soon as the umpire picked up the broken bat. I would be slightly more convinced if they had checked all bats in the Cubs locker room/clubhouse.

Secondly, baseball (the commissioner, to be more precise), aware that the Yankees-Cubs series was upcoming in three days, decided to “investigate” the incident, cycling 76 bats through a CAT scanner. This process gave them opportunity to delay announcing the penalty for several days.

They should have announced the penalty the next morning, Mr. Sosa’s appeal would then have been announced and adjudicated by Friday, the opening game of the Yankee series. He would undoubtedly have been sitting in the stands, an eventuality unacceptable from a “show” standpoint.

By going slow on the penalty announcement, the timing of the appeal and its adjudication allowed Mr. Sosa to play in all the Yankee games.

Finally, is there much difference between Mr. Sosa’s cheating with a doctored bat and Pete Rose’s potential cheating by betting on baseball games (if that’s what he did). After all, it’s not the bet that is the problem, it’s the possibility of intentionally losing a game to favor the bet that is the problem. The fact of the bet only provides motive for intentionally losing a game. Strong evidence, true, but it is throwing a game that is the real fault in that case. Perhaps a penalty more like that given to Mr. Rose (lifetime ban from baseball) would prevent corked bats.

No proof, of course, of these theories; but clearly the pressure to put on a good “show” comes from both external (media) and internal sources, both individual and organizational.

p>Despite my suspicions, even if correct, I still enjoy baseball as a spectator more than any of the other “major league” sports. They all have their own set of peculiarities. Recall George Carlin’s routine comparing terminology used to describe baseball to that of football. Field vs. stadium. Cap vs. helmet. End zone vs. home plate. He had many more. Similar contrasts can be drawn between baseball and basketball, hockey and other sports. br> — Richard Renken br> Chesterfield, MO /p>