Sammy Sosa Did Nothing Wrong* | Baseball Bits
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
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Sammy Sosa did nothing wrong. It's a strong claim. Between the Sammy Sosa corked bat, Sammy Sosa congress, and Sammy Sosa steroid suspicions, he's gotten a bad reputation. Now a pariah, Sosa appears in baseball contexts and is barred from participating in the Sammy Sosa Cubs organization.
The steroid era in Major League Baseball hasn't been squared away, and possibly never will be, but I believe no player has gotten the short end of the stick more than Sammy Sosa. You can check his Sammy Sosa Hall of Fame ballot performances to be sure of that.
Perhaps it's time to forgive, but perhaps there's nothing to forgive at all. As you'll learn in this episode of Baseball Bits, a Foolish Baseball production, the corked bat was likely an isolated incident, the testifying to Congress has largely been misconstrued (especially with regards to the English language), and the ties to PEDs from the MLB 2003 testing aren't reliable. It's the same connection David Ortiz had.
Finally, yes, he has Sammy Sosa lighter skin. He doesn't quite look like the guy who starred for the Cubs and Sammy Sosa White Sox. But that's not really a baseball issue, right?
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CSPAN Broadcast of Steroid Use In Baseball: • Steroid Use in Basebal...
Soundtrack from Maxo:
/ maxo
maxo.bandcamp.com/ - Sport
So glad that the whole thing about English being Sosa's second language was brought up. Any legal setting is the most important place to not have your words misconstrued, and one of the many, many reasons why lawyers exist is to communicate clearly on behalf of their clients in the dialect of Legal English (which you could make a solid argument is indeed a dialect from a linguistic perspective). Preparing a statement to be read by your legal counsel is fairly common practice in the court of law, and does not make Sosa a shady character as a result. Honestly, this is one of my favorite Baseball Bits so far; it strays from the usual stats-heavy approach (which I love dearly) and in doing so takes some great creative risks that I think paid off!
Especially when we already had a Spanish speaking player get absolutely dragged earlier this year for a mistake he made in an interview where he spoke English, let alone in a congressional inquiry hearing
Mark McGwire got forgiven, at least in part because he eventually admitted to using. But him also being white undoubtedly helped.
@@warlordofbritannia Was he forgiven though? He still ain't in the Hall....
@warlordofbritannia Shut up with that race baiting crap
One could argue any technical/precision language (science, engineering, mathematics, computer programming, even journalism) are dialects. The way language is used in each is far different from how they're used in common communication. There's far less slang and words are usually very precisely defined (hence "precision language") so they often don't follow regular speech. Even so call "proper English" is not as strict as they are.
On the other hand, one could argue they're _anti-languages,_ since a distinguishing feature of language is that it changes very fluidly and without warning due to pop-culture osmosis and other such phenomena. The fact that most technical languages, including legalese, generally don't change much at all over time makes them quite different from "actual" language.
“My beautiful daughter poop love her very much” might be a top 5 athlete tweet
I never got to go on a Sasquatch hunting expedition with him. Maybe there is still time
CTESPN meets roid-age
A list of top 5 athlete tweets is likely identical to a list of top 5 Jose Canseco tweets, to be fair.
@@FoolishBaseballjust don't shoot your fingers off
@@FoolishBaseballIf we’re going to talk about the effects of being struck on the head then Canseco is a prime candidate.
you've convinced me, David Ortiz should be banned from baseball immediately and removed from the HOF
I'm afraid this video has backfired
Yeah!…wait
@FoolishBaseball It hasn’t. True baseball fans with independent thought all agree that Sammy and many others like him belong in the hall. It’s only the bandwagon haters and people who aren’t even baseball fans at all who want to railroad these guys.
@@Restorationshopyt How come you "independent thinkers" all say the same dumb shit?
The true principled stance.
This isnt a video on how the 1963 Giants had Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Orlando Cepeda combined for about 100 HRs and 20 WAR and somehow missed the postseason.
how many teams made it to the playoffs back in the 60s?
The original MV3
@@vumasster1
@@vumassterUntil 1969, only 2. There was only the World Series, nothing else.
The ‘63 Giants weren’t even runners-up in the NL, they finished third, 11 games behind the eventual champion Dodgers.
the 1996 rockies also had 3 players hit 40 homers (burks, castilla, Galarraga) and only won 83 games
Dude when I came to the united states my tio would tell me "we speak english and love baseball." we came to chicago at the turn of the century and settled on the south side but man did i love my cubbies. one of my earliest memories was that nlds against the marlins and sammy smacked a double to right field. i just remember my tio looking at me declaring this as the so called year. watching this masterpiece youve crafted is sobering. it nurtures that inner child in me that knew that sammy did nothing wrong. thank you Mr baseball, can you foolish? youre an icon to the space
Thank you for the kind words. I also speak English and love baseball.
@@FoolishBaseballmeanwhile I speak baseball and love English. I suspect I may have gone astray somewhere...
Mr Baseball is the new name of this channel I have decided
@@Roysorb But the question is, “can (he) foolish?” I suspect he can, but the jury is still out.
I am a Canadian. I speak English and French and love baseball.
The craziest thing about the court clips is how old Bernie Sanders is in those clips. He looks almost exactly the same and it’s been twenty years
I wasn't looking for this comment 😂
I literally said out loud, "how long has Bernie looked 100 years old"
@@Qwertyui606 *Bernie voice* "I've been 99 since the 50's, and I'll stay 99 until the 99% get their fair share, at which point, I will dissolve into dust and blow away in the wind"
I have a feeling the MLB won’t leave a comment on this video
They’re checking to see it Bailey is in any way affiliated with any teams so they can ban him too
Or the Cubs.
Sosa should be in the Hall of Fame simply for the fact he got not one, not two, not four, but three 60 home run seasons and didn't lead the league in homers in any of these seasons. That's rough buddy
If there is any chance he's clean, he's not just the single-season home run record holder, he holds has the top 3 seasons.
Idk why but the “not four” part of this cracked me up lol
With a juiced body and a corked bat.
@joebarr725 did you even watch the video or are you just here to hate?
Even better: those are the only three years in history he wouldn’t have led the NL in homers
Only six 60+ homer seasons in NL history, Sosa had three of them but never led the league
You sound like my favorite OOTP Baseball youtuber
Your favorite baseball video essayist and least favorite Oakland A's GM
@@FoolishBaseball I'm ready for the Chris Baker 2032 AL MVP campaign
@@FoolishBaseball#FireFoolish
@@FoolishBaseball We should do an annual check-in for if you had more wins than the real life Athletics
@@FoolishBaseballi know u already learned the meta, and are cooking up an insane run as a follow up
Ever time I’m really starting to miss the feeling of that sweet sweet new baseball bits, Bailey delivers
Slightly larger gap than usual between the last one and this one! Have been busy with travel, but have a little less of that coming up.
"Schilling left the meeting unscathed."
Disappointed that his reputation wasn't dragged through the mud, Curt decided to spend the rest of his life ruining it himself.
He knew what had to be done (video game development in Rhode Island)
'I'll show them who the real asshole is'.
- Curt Schilling, probably.
@@FoolishBaseball
“I like OOTP so much I’ll swindle tens of millions to never complete an inferior version…and also somehow produce one of the most underrated RPGs of the last 15 years”
@@warlordofbritannia haha yes! Kingdoms of Amalur is good!
@@FoolishBaseball
Which probably means it happened in spite of or with no direct involvement from Qurt Shitting 😂
I don't care if he was listed in the private MLBPA investigation, Bobson Dugnutt and his 1,238 HRs should be in the Hall of Fame. Nothing was ever proven!
Okay but how do you deal with Mike Truk then? Surely you believe he's in as well right? No proof on him either, despite what some people say
The thing about Sosa's testimony is that it doesn't mean he didn't use PEDs. His testimony was, “To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs.” “I have not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic.” and “I have been tested as recently as 2004, and I am clean.” All possibly truthful statements, and all consistent with him using PEDs. Steroids were legal within the Dominican Republic at the time. So long as he used in the DR, he wouldn't take illegal PEDs, since they were legal there. He wouldn't break the laws of either country. And by 2004, he was clean and stopped using. All that said, I don't think it should bar him from the Hall of Fame.
You'd be a damn fool if you don't show up with a lawyer to speak to congress when you're not even an American citizen
11:55 Chapman thinking he gave up a homerun and slamming his glove💀💀😂😂
Was good contact, as pitcher it’s the worst feeling leaving one on the plate and someone getting a good smack
I was at that game and it was hilarious. He was in SUCH a slump. Throwing like 1 strike every 12 pitches. He finally puts one in the zone and it felt crushed.
Slammin Sammy was by far my favorite player when i moved to Chicago as a kid in '97. One of my treasured core memories is meeting him at the Cubs Convention before the 98 season and then being at his 61+62 game. He made watching baseball FUN!
As someone who grew up in a Hispanic household but predominantly spoke English I can assure you that the Spanish that I know is enough to correctly order my lunch but if I tried to use that same level of Spanish in my job I would be fired because I’m just not fluent enough of a speaker to read and speak at the level my work requires of me. It’s a valid reason for Sosa to have a prepped statement while testifying.
I think the main reason Ortiz and Sosa have been treated so differently is because Sosa's numbers are more suspicious. Ortiz was just a normal good hitter with mid-tier hall of fame numbers and a bunch of very good but not unprecedented seasons. Prior to Judge's 2022, Sosa had 37.5% of all 60+ HR seasons. We more or less know the other 2 guys with 60+ HR seasons in that era were on PEDs and Sosa had as many as them combined. It just feels like he had to be on PEDs to achieve what he did. That's probably not fair, it's basically punishing him for being great, but if we can look at Bonds '01-'04 and say that no clean player could do what he did in those years, I don't think it's too crazy to look at a guy with three 60 HR seasons in 4 years and say it's suspicious. But hey, maybe Judge puts up some more 60 HR seasons and we will have to rethink what we consider realistic. Maybe Sosa really was just that good.
I think it's unfair to Sosa that he got really good in his late-20s and was labeled suspicious, while Ortiz did the same thing and managed to maintain it for a lot longer.
Really, the point in comparing Sosa to Ortiz is not to bring down Ortiz though. I think Ortiz is fine. I have no problem with how he's treated. It's Sosa that's the injustice.
Papi is also a larger than life, gregarious personality. Sosa had a reputation for sullenness. Totally unfair factor, but definitely part of the equation.
McGwire being white helped his eventual rehabilitation. The Rocket isn’t persona non grata to the same degree Bonds is, despite being a comparably awful human being.
@@FoolishBaseball Many of Ortiz's great seasons came after testing was in place and was frequently catching those on the juice. Sosa's career was over before that happened.
@@FoolishBaseball This is a great video and I know it wasn't meant to be exhaustive, but I think it would be fair to include that PED usage does have links to the coveted "bounce back ability" where users do in fact recover quicker than non-users. I don't mean just injuries, but simply that wear and tear is experienced differently. The day in day out nature of baseball and the need for consistently high energy and regeneration is still a major reason why users risk the potential side effects. Yes, this does make it easier to amp up a workout routine, but it makes everything easier in some respect. I'm not here to make this a science debate nor would I be even the 100,000th person on the list of most qualified to speak on this. I'm just saying there is a bit more to it and while we don't have anything perfect to utilize here with hindsight, it does seem more likely than not that Sosa benefited in ways that others did not because of his usage of something that is now banned. Would I even be the least bit upset if he was put in the HOF? Nope. Do I demand an asterisk? Nope. I simply think it's fair to note that PEDs do have some qualities that other things like a great diet and workout routine can't match and it's fair to believe that the PED usage did affect day to day performance in a game that is very much a day to day sport. We don't have to convict him of anything or be upset at him. There's just some things that don't necessarily show up in the box score or from the side by side "oh look he got jacked all of a sudden" photos, and those things are still a big deal for performance and confidence.
The japanese video game names in the 2003 steroid testing file was a funny touch
Weeb. 😉
People don't give Mike Truk enough credit he only hits dingers
Does have that Baseball Stars vibe, but we customized all our player names back then so I can't remember the default. :(
I love the fact that Bailey has made multiple videos trying to turn the tides in hall of fame voting. I hope that this one catches
Sadly his time on the writers ballot has passed, but maybe a Veteran's Committee (probably not though)
@@FoolishBaseballI’m not a huge baseball fan (definitely more casual) so idk why the HoF is run the way it is
Why do players only have a certain amount of time to get in? It seems very arbitrary and dumb
@@Shawn_Babcock My best guess is that it would overwhelm voters as every player with a notable career that can be called HoF worthy would be on the ballot, from every decade. Think about it, we have nowadays about 10 to 20 players who have a HoF worthy career, some more than others, and combine that with about the same number of players from the 2000s, 90s, 80s, and so on. Every player who gets on the ballot has 10 years worth of chances, however if you don't receive enough votes to remain relevant you're just dropped off the ballot completely. Despite that, there's always the Veteran's Committe to save the day, as it can put players thought to be "unlucky" or "misinterpreted" on the ballot straight to the HoF, like they did with Fred McGriff on the '23 class, so Sosa might as well have a chance
@@FoolishBaseball it's crazy that a guy with 600 homers, a 10 WAR season, and a major part of one of the greatest seasons in sports history won't be in the hall of fame
Ripken deserves some credit for injecting some life into baseball a few years before the HR race. Fans were pissed at MLB for the lockout and Cal breaking the consecutive games played record was a great story and everyone wanted to see him do it. After all, Cal sacrificed his offense for the sake of playing every game at shortstop, and as a tall shortstop no less. You know there were times throughout that streak where he was not completely healthy.
0:57 I was expecting these guys to have 4, 5 bats tops. 76?? dang
Everyone’s favorite CZcamsr back at it
i can't be stopped. i must defend sammy sosa
WAKE UP EVERYONE, BAILEY JUST DROPPED A BANGER
Original today, aren't we?
banger bailey. that's what they call me
Better than Bump Bailey!
@@user-jv4ro9yp7u Yeah I know right?
i think the main reason why ortiz is given the benefit of the doubt and sosa isn't, is because ortiz wasn't good when there weren't drug tests, but once they started testing people, he was even better. Sosa happened to be good before the tests and once those tests were put in place he just kinda fell off. This is a great video though and I really like this perspective.
I think it's also that people like Ortiz
Sosa should've simply been 27 and entering his prime in 2003 instead of 34 and exiting his prime. Skill issue.
According to the Mitchell Report it’s likely players post test just switched to HGH which is harder to detect
Ortiz did roids lollll
Ortiz tested positive but was well liked by reporters and fans and was forgiven for it.
New bits as I walk out the door to work. You spoil me
It was 39 days in the making
For me the biggest pre-existing notion in my head for his steroid use is him getting physically bigger very quickly during a suggestive era for that.
To be honest, it's probably the best evidence against him, but still not acceptable. Baseball players are allowed to get big muscles and lift big weights.
Sure, but most of the players that get bigger don't also start hitting 60+ HRs a season@@FoolishBaseball
@@denisnevsky3734 Steroids don't make you better at hitting.
@@FoolishBaseball You can make the argument that it could be all circumstantial and that's certainly not impossible but it's very hard to say it's not likely he did use performance enhancing drugs there are just too many coincidences for me.
Obviously Ortiz is in but I don't see that as a precedent from a performance perspective. What helped him greatly I think is that he's well-liked (and I like him too) and he's sort of an icon for the city of Boston. Idk if you can say those things about Sosa, not necessarily because he's not a good or likable guy but we just haven't gotten to know him well enough to form opinions that he is.
The other two guys who hit 60+ at that time were steroid users. Bonds only hit 60+ after he started using. I'm not saying it's the only factor, but it can definitely turn an already great HR hitter into a legendary one.
Also, to be clear, I think that Sosa should be in the HOF, but I also think that bonds and Mcguire should be in there to. I'm merely saying that based on the conglomerate of evidence, I find it very difficult to believe that he wasn't on PEDs.@6393dude
This might be your best ever video. A superb mix of history and beautifully challenging a prexisting narrative. Also aliens + poop.
Agreed! Several real LOL moments for me in this gem.
Thank you!
What sabermetrics were used?
can't say it's his best ever, but i do have to say that this is one of those videos that you're shocked it's already been 15 minutes for
Return of the King
I am the Peter Jackson of video-game themed baseball video essays
Foolish I want a trilogy!
Thank you for making this video. I was a massive Sosa fan when I was a little kid, and it's bothered me for years how he's been treated by fans, media and front office executives. I'm willing to admit there are reasons to be suspicious about those 5 peak seasons, but I hate how he gets lumped in with the guys who tested positive or those who got caught up in other PED related investigations like the Balco scandal or the Mitchell Report. I'd be thrilled if baseball (the Cubs in particular) could find a way to show him a little more respect and gratitude for what he contributed during his career. Hopefully this can move the needle for some fans out there like your video on Larry Walker.
As a cubs fan who fights for Sammy Sosa on Twitter basically everyday I appreciate this video. Sosa is probably the most underrated player ever. Over a 5 year span he led the league in homers twice and hit 60 three times those account for all five seasons. He also has 1/3 of all 60 home run seasons ever, that includes Babe Ruth’s!
YEAH BASEBALL BITS LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
LFG
If I had a nickel for every cubs mvp who got knocked in the head and started to play badly, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s sad.
Favorite video of yours so far bailey. Great and noble work here
Great video! I'm bummed. You're my favorite baseball channel, and I have notifications on for your videos, and yet I never get them. I only find out you post after a few days while randomly scrolling. I hope this is just a me thing.
I just can't get on the Rage Train when it comes to PEDs. For two reasons:
1) MLB -- and Bud Seligman, specifically -- sat on its hands for so long. They were content to watch the money pour in and the game grow in popularity again following the disaster that was the 1994 strike. If MLB didn't view it was a problem for as long as it did, then why should I? (Especially since Selig *is* in the Hall of Fame, while so many of the players implicated are not and likely never will be. Does Bud get a pass simply for never using himself?)
2) We don't *truly* know who used and who didn't. Sure, there are guys who popped positive once testing finally came to be. Sure, some guys admitted using today. There are even guys we *think* we know used, but we really don't... and I bet there are a ton of players who used who we would be *shocked* if we ever found out. Remember, before he popped positive, no one on the planet thought Palmeiro was a PED user, and yet... he was. So I don't think we can pick and choose HOFers from that era -- we either let everyone with the credentials in, regardless of PED use, or we let no one from the era in, regardless of PED use. We can't pick and choose without concrete evidence on everyone.
Oh, and who's to say guys aren't using something now? Because anyone who knows anything about this will tell you, the drugs are always ahead of the tests...
let’s go. amazing video and a perspective people should listen to more
Ah, the asterisk. As a baseball purist, I do love a good asterisk
Great breakdown - I was a kid during the '98 home run race and came to love Sammy even though I was a Cardinals fan. He was a fun player to watch and made for one of the most exciting storylines of any baseball season. As someone who lives in Chicago now, would be great to see him get some love from the Cubbies.
I'm ready to hear why, Foolish Baseball. Enlighten me!
have you considered that he has a nice smile
Thx for getting it foolish, i cant believe u and Maxo Kream cook these up together
we were in the studio for weeks
I know it's pretty well-known at this point but my favorite Sammy Sosa factoid ever is that he's the only player in MLB history to have three separate 60 home run seasons, and he was the MLB home run leader in NONE of them. Pure craziness.
Appreciate this video. One of the hardest things to do is give someone the benefit of the doubt, even if they are unpopular or you don’t like them personally. Often forgotten though is that idea is one of the fundamental principles in any just society. Baseball Bits is teaching us about life man! 👍
Ah yes the best sports series on youtube. I love baseball bits ❤
bailey, yet again you have done it. i love you
Jose Canseco has a top 5 twitter account for insane tweets lol
Great video Bailey
I have been waiting so long for a video like this thank you. Sosa doesn’t deserve all the hate he’s gotten the last 20 years and I’ve been citing the same information you have for years
it's a good day when Foolish Baseball drops. It makes for an enjoyable afternoon.
The infamous Sleve McDichael squad makes its sneaky appearance once again.
YOO FOOLISH DROPPED🎉🎉
11:55 when chapman was thinking it was a homer lmaoooo
Alright Mr.Foolish baseball you have changed much of what I previously thought of Sammy Sosa. Thank you for giving him his credit and showing how people have misconstrued his playing days.
This was so well done. As a Cubs fan, thanks man!
My great grandpa passed away around 2012. He was the biggest cubs fan and he loved Sammy Sosa more than any other player he saw in his life and he was watching from the early 50's. He was devistated whenever another cubs fan would talk shit on Sosa and because of him, despite not being a baseball fan until a couple years ago, I loved sosa as well. It's really nice to see someone defend him in this manner because it's incredible hard to find in other areas. I know if he could watch this video he'd adore it.
Honestly one of my favorite baseball bits in a while. I appreciate the journalistic lens you brought to this one. I was vaguely pro Sosa into the Hall before this, but now I'm aggressively pro Sosa in general!
Never understood why Sammy Sosa was always lumped together with those proven steroid guys. Last I heard, the steroid scandal wasnt about corked bats.
He's lumped in partially because people don't know the facts, and partially because they do know the facts (but choose to ignore the nuance)
There wasn’t a steroid scandal at all. There was merely a malicious railroading of a bunch of players who made the sport incredible amounts of money by getting people to watch, then railroading them and throwing them under the bus when a little backlash started to form. MLB laughed all the way to the bank, then trashed all the guys who helped make their paydays larger. Truly disgusting.
@@Restorationshopyt Truth. Motherfuckers act like everyone wasn't on amphetamines, then cocaine, then 'roids, and now it's probably SARMS, and next week it will be...
@@FoolishBaseball Also, PEDs were allowed, so...
@@Restorationshopytbud they cheated stop defending cheaters who made millions off cheating and keeping non cheaters from the league. I know a guy who was an amazing college baseball player and only did not make the pros because others took steroids when he did not and saw his dream fade away no sympathy for those cheating scumbags
Sosa's doping status is solidly believed because his body changed so drastically.
Well now that having big muscles is illegal, I'll be on my way
@FoolishBaseball 🤣
@@FoolishBaseball No one's ever said that getting big is a crime. But going from skinny to hulking in a very short span of time is reasonable evidence of juicing.
@@user-bz9sj8mh5dit really isn’t hard to build muscle quickly without juicing.
This is really nuanced and well-done. I was born in the mid-90s, and as a result my earliest baseball memories are from the steroid era. I didn't really understand a lot of it as a child; there are many adults who, like you and the pinned comment say, do not get English legalese; but all those guys being accused of cheating really soured the game for me for years, and it wasn't until Ohtani jumped from Nippon to the MLB I started caring about the league again. I hadn't really done the homework to see what really happened, so I appreciate you sharing this. (For what it's worth, I think most the biggest names of that era should be inducted into the Hall, it is clear they would have been excellent even if not on steroids. It will probably take these guys getting really old and dying before the voters take them seriously/the current guys who were working in sports journalism retire/die)
RAHHHH NEW BASEBALL BITS
NEW FOOLISH
Nice. What a great, informative video as always, FB
Thanks!
"Mike Stanton, the Yankees player? Oh yeah, I know him. The one who played for that one NL East team that traded him to that one AL East team"
This is a really great piece of journalism
Just another Bailey banger 😤
An all timer, Foolish. Thanks for this perspective on one of the greatest I've seen in my lifetime
Foolish Baseball Video Drops, my day is instantly made
glad to hear that!
It's always been very suspect that the Mitchell report barely names any current or former Red Sox players. It seems like a huge conflict of interest.
excellent video bailey you’ve done it again
this might be your best work alongside the OOTP series on your main channel 🙏
7:32 made me so happy. one of my favourite youtube videos
You make an excellent case, Bailey.
honestly the book juiced deserves a retrospective of its own
It’s a shame they elected Ivan Rodriguez when canseco literally named him and was right about the other pure favoritism and an embarrassment to the hall pudge is in
As someone from Kansas City, the weather forecast for August is always just mind-meltingly HOT, no need to save and file the forecast.
Great video. I hope Sosa gets his recognition soon.
As a Lifelong cubs fan... his departure from the team was unfortunate in the way he left. Having said that, the cubs franchise welcoming him back is long overdue
7:20 Those file names are pure gold.
i really enjoyed this video!
The file folders at 7:20 lol. Personally, "August in Kansas City weather forecasts" I'm guessing this is related to the Ichiro quote; but it would be a fun video to see if the club plays so much better during that month becuase other teams crumble in the humidity.
I was ten years old and a huge Cubs fan when the 98 home run race was happening. Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, and Ken Griffey Jr are big reasons why I love baseball as much as I do today and Sosa especially was always my favorite player. I appreciate this video a lot more than some might understand
Hello Bailey thank you for contributing to my relentless intent to consume every baseball bits weekly love you ok bye Bailey
Thank you for this video man. So many points in here I've made over and over to Sosa detractors. It's nice to see some vindication for him, growing up as a Cubs fan I loved me some Sammy. I'll always remember going out on Waveland Avenue with my dad trying to catch Sammy homers.
Well shoot I’m sold. You’ve made quite the case here sir. Your skill in litigation is quite evident, and you’d make a great lawyer.. or scientist, or researcher, or engineer, or mathematician, or machinist.. the world needs you sir. More than CZcams does.
Sammy Sosa: the only player in MLB history to hit 60 home runs in multiple different seasons and not lead the league in any of them. Thank you, SecretBase. And thank you, BaseballBits.
7:29 - LOL@ The names. Straight out of a typical 1980's NES baseball game.
Thanks for making this video. As a cubs fan who actually watched Sosa on TV and IRL I can say this…cut the guy a break. It’s human nature to deny til you die, we all do it for self preservation. I’m not saying he’s free of any wrongdoing but cut him a break. HE almost single-handedly brought baseball back from the brink of extinction. It was him, as you pointed out in this video, that was the hype man for the HR race of 98. How many tickets did he help sell? How many jerseys? The Cubs and MLB weren’t not accepting of his contributions to their pocketbooks then but it’s easy for them to shun him now. And for Ricketts to say what he said, I’m sure he has stuff that he’s not putting out on the table as well. That just sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. Overall, SOSA did way more good than he did bad, and it’s time to allow him to come back to the Cubs family. But then again this is just my opinion. I’m just one guy.
I see a new Foolish Baseball video, I click like. It's that simple.
That's all I ask!
Great video.
Great video
I dare say this is the most important video you've ever made. More than an embarrassment, this treatment of Sosa has been utterly reprehensible.
Oh my god, thank you for this video.
My first year appreciating baseball was 1998, where I was 8 years old and living on the northside of Chicago (yes, the city and NOT one of those damn suburbs that claim to be "Chicago")--Kerry Wood's 20k game was actually BEFORE my appreciation of the sport of baseball. If it were not for Slammin' Sammy, I would never have become the kind of baseball enthusiast who learned that Prince Fielder and Cecil Fielder each retired with the same number of homers. Oof, Sammy was my favorite by a long shot. When he hit homers, he hit them in bunches.
June, 1998: 20 home runs in a 30-day month.
Maybe it's because I was 8 years old and home runs were the best measure of senastionalism, but--BUT--I think the best player on PLANET EARTH from 1998-2001 was Sammy Sosa.
1998: 66 HR
1999: 63 HR
2000: 50 HR
2001: 64 HR
These are all from memory. I was present in 2002 when Sammy hit his 49th HR of the season on the 29th of September (my mom's birthday--we sat in the pre-Bartman seats, and she oohed and aahed over Kyle Farnsworth's physique as he warmed up in the playable bullpen that often changed the outcome of generally-routine outfield chances). Sr. Sosa was about 5 feet shy of getting a 50th homer in the 5th consecutive season, which I believe has never been accomplished to this day. Flyout to the warning track.
Anyway, thank you for this video. Sammy is the reason why baseball holds a piece of my heart forever (even though the rate of Tommy John is skyrocketing and MiLB is being punished for no apparent reason), and I will always have a depleted box of Slammin' Sammy's Frosted Flakes in my possession. I ate every one of those damn flakes. Dammit.
edit: Salomon Torres of the Pittsburgh Pirates beaned Sammy in the head that day in 2003, and I'll never forgive him.
Also, on the head trauma front, Hee Seop Choi was dealt a devastating blow in 2003 when fielding an infield popup when the Yankees played at Wrigley. I was such a fan of his, and he was never EVER the same after that collision with Kerry Wood.
“Now, to be clear I look like this.”
That one got me.
cant say i was like a die hard cubs fan but i tuned in to baseball because of sosa. i still remember lots of his teammates back then because i watched way too many cubs games. that hop after he hit a long fly ball is just unforgettable. im an angel fan btw
Really powerful message and video
Love the Fighting Baseball bames 😆
This was great!
This is the best video on Sosa. Thank you.
One of your best videos ever.
7:21 "conspiracies against the New York Mets" why you gotta do my team like that 😭😭😭
I’m sold.
Solid points made and great summation. I’m a Cubs fan, and unfortunately he doesn’t come up often, but I will make a case for him because of this video - and even more so if I ever end up having a conversation with Ricketts.
I am one of the people who was younger when sammy was at his prime ( in high school ) and I have never re-evaluated my position on him. You've convinced me that at the very least he was dealt a really raw deal, and that I should at the very least do some more reading on his legacy and reserve judgement.
Like always, great work, this all well reasoned and thought provoking. But why he look like he ready to drop mambo #6 on us now?