POP THE CORK: It what has the potential to become a huge, HUGE story, Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of the Cubs' interleague game tonight against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after it was discovered that the superstar was using a corked bat.
Now it's possible that Sosa is telling the truth, that he had mistakenly used a batting practice bat in a game, and that he had no intention of cheating. But what if he's not? Does this tarnish the 505 home runs he's hit in his career? The 66 he hit during his famed battle with Mark McGwire in 1998? McGwire came under fire at the time for using the stimulant Androstenedione- but that drug is neither illegal nor banned by baseball- corking clearly is. It's been a while since we've heard anything about players corking bats (and even longer since we've heard of pitchers scuffing the ball- whatever happened to the Joe Niekro Method?), but now expect it to come to the forefront again- this seriously could be a scandal that makes last season's steroid panic look like nothing.