CHICAGO -- With the game long over, the Chicago Cubs
clubhouse almost empty and a cup of beer in his hand, Sammy Sosa walked into manager Don Baylor's office.
There was no yelling, no screaming, no swearing. Just talking
and, after 15 minutes, a hug.
"We both can go home and sleep tonight," Sosa said afterward.
"There will be no more problems. We agreed man-to-man, one-to-one,
like father like son, we had to put an end to this."
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Wed, June 7
Sammy Sosa has done some marvelous things in the last
few years, with his wonderful smile and effusive personality lighting up ballparks all across America. He has been
great for the game, respectful and caring. That's why his
outburst, right out of right field, is very confusing.
OK, so
Don Baylor said the team might have to trade Sosa to get
better. That is correct. The Cubs are not a good team,
and likely won't be the rest of this year. They need to
get better. Baylor didn't say he wants to trade Sosa. He
didn't say Sammy is the reason the team is losing. Sosa
could bring three useful players. He's one of the few
guys on the team with real value, and one of the few free
agent-eligible players (after 2001).
It's the responsibility of the Cubs
to improve themselves whatever way possible. Trading
Sosa likely would be a last resort. He wants to stay
there. They want him there, but they just can't do
whatever he wants
Sosa says Don Baylor has no class.
That's simply not true. Baylor challenged Sosa in spring
training. That's exactly what he should have done -- Sosa
had become less interested and less effective in right
field and on the bases. Baylor needed him to be more of a
complete player. And he has been this year. But Sosa calling himself a
superstar, and demanding more respect, is a bit
pretentious. That's the way that many players think of
themselves. We didn't expect it from Sammy.
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"This" is a drama that consumed the Cubs for the last two days
and threatened to disrupt an already struggling team. Sosa, unhappy
about what he perceived as negative comments about his playing by
Baylor, lashed out at the manager in the media.
Baylor said after Wednesday's 9-4 victory over the Arizona
Diamondbacks that the two would sit down and talk, and Sosa went to
his office about an hour later.
"I wouldn't say we apologized," Sosa said. "But we agreed we
said some things to the press we shouldn't have. But right now
everything is smooth."
The firestorm started over a column in Sunday's Chicago Tribune
titled, "Swapping Sosa would kick-start Cubs rebuilding." In the
article, a Cubs source identified as someone "other than Baylor"
criticized Sosa's defensive abilities, saying, "Sammy might drive
in 150 runs, but he might let in 45."
That didn't sit well with Sosa, still unhappy with what he
considered disrespectful public remarks by Baylor. The day after
Baylor was hired last fall, he said Sosa needed to become a "more
complete player."
"I deserve more respect," Sosa said before Wednesday's game
and his meeting with Baylor.
"If you have a problem with me, I don't want the fans to read
about it in the paper. If they read that, the fans will turn
against me. I've worked hard to try to make people happy. And I
don't want that relationship with my friends ruined."
Regardless of who said what, Baylor is trying to make Sosa a
better player, particularly defensively. While Sosa has hit 60-plus
homers the last two seasons, he's not exactly a Gold Glover in
right field.
He's had three errors in the last four days, including one
Wednesday that led to a Diamondbacks run.
"The thing you have to ask is this: Is (Baylor) criticizing
Sammy because he doesn't like him? No, it's not that," said Eric Young, the Cubs second baseman.
Young should know, since he took his share of public criticism
from Baylor in their four-plus years together in Colorado. It
angered him at the time, but it also served its purpose.
"I got mad, but when I looked at my baseball card I realized
that when I was mad, I performed," said Young, who had two
.300-plus seasons in Colorado.
"You would read (criticism) in the paper, and then if you were
man enough you would go and talk to him about it and understand his
point of view," Young said. "I realized that when he was doing
that to me, I had my best years."
It might have been a coincidence, but Sosa hit his 18th home run
of the season Wednesday. When he returned to the dugout, Baylor
gave him a congratulatory fist bump.
"These two guys are professionals," Cubs general manager Ed
Lynch said. "I don't think there are any fundamental problems with
their relationship.
"They get frustrated at times. Sammy is a competitor. Don is a
competitor. "I'm really not concerned about it," Lynch added.
"When grown men are around each other seven days a week and you're
struggling, sometimes you get frustrated and things come to the
surface." | |
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Fans speak out on Sosa-Baylor feud
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Sammy Sosa believes he's the scapegoat for the Cubs' problems.
wav: 222 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Don Baylor doesn't want Sosa's comments to affect the team.
wav: 66 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Sammy Sosa wants to put the incident behind him.
wav: 94 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
ESPN's analysis Jayson Starks predicts Sammy Sosa will be traded sometime in July.
wav: 282 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
ESPN's analysis Dave Campbell believes Baylor and Sosa have clashing styles.
wav: 483 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
There's more than smoke in Chicago, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
wav: 316 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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