Sosa sends a warning

BARRY JACKSON

bjackson@herald.com

 

 

On an afternoon when his emotions boiled over, Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa was subdued and soft-spoken after Sunday's 4-0 Marlins win. And apparently, not the least bit worried about the Marlins rallying from a 3-2 deficit to win this National League Championship Series.

 

''Believe me,'' he said. ``We are going to close the deal.''

 

From the way Sosa reacted to Josh Beckett's high-and-tight fourth-inning pitch, you would have thought he was convinced Beckett was throwing at him.

 

Not so.

 

Sosa, who went 0 for 4, conceded after Game 5 that Beckett ''probably was not'' throwing at him, but suggested he responded angrily partly because he was hit in the head twice this season, by Pittsburgh's Solomon Torres and Montreal's Zach Day. He also was suspicious of Beckett's intentions because Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano hit Marlins right fielder Miguel Cabrera in the arm in the previous inning.

 

''I don't like that,'' Sosa said. ``I just let [beckett] know I don't like that.

 

``A lot of people think because I'm a nice guy and I play baseball, they can do some things. But I'm a man. And I'm not scared. I'm not saying that to offend anyone. I have nothing against nobody. But when I don't like something, I'm going to let him know. When I'm mad, I don't care who's out there.''

 

Although Beckett's pitch didn't hit Sosa, it backed him off the plate. Sosa responded angrily, waving his bat at Beckett. He struck out looking to end that at-bat. ''The pitch was a little close, and our guy hits somebody before,'' Sosa said. ``In a different situation, I would probably do nothing. I don't look for trouble. In a situation like that, I'm not going to take it.''

 

Marlins catcher Ivan Rodriguez calmed Sosa down by reassuring him it wasn't intentional. ''He was talking to me very nicely,'' Sosa said. ``But I've been hit in the head a couple of times, and I don't like that no more.''

 

Cubs manager Dusty Baker defended Beckett. ''I'm sure he wasn't trying to do it,'' Baker said. ``All day he was pitching them up.''

 

But Baker said he was also concerned Sosa might get ejected. ''We can't lose Sammy,'' Baker said.

 

In addition to his strikeout, Sosa grounded out three times, including on the game's final play.

 

''You have to give the guy credit,'' Sosa said of Beckett. ``The guy pitched great. I always say good pitching stops good hitting.''

 

But there was a caveat. ''The shadow was tough,'' he said. ``The game starting at [4:40]. It's hard for anybody to pick [the ball] up at [4:40]. You can see the ball better at 7:05.''

 

 

Wow, Sosa sounding a little overconfident. The Cubs in general sound like they are already making their plans for what they are going to do in the World Series. I think they've forgotten about 1984.....GO FIGHTIN' FISH!!!

Oh my God, there was a shadow. I was there, the shadow wasn't bad at all. Just whining cuz they got owned.

Oh my God, there was a shadow. I was there, the shadow wasn't bad at all. Just whining cuz they got owned.

I know, talk about lame excuses. Our Frank Thomas whined about the shadows at Safeco Field during the 2000 NLDS. Thomas failed to record one hit the entire series despite the fact that Comiskey Park doesn't have shadow problems.

Sosa said. ``But I've been hit in the head a couple of times, and I don't like that no more.''

 

 

 

I guess he used to like it??

how about working on that english, eh sammy? i mean you've been a big star in the country for what, 10 years now?

 

(waiting for backlash...)

 

seems like a lot of latin players can't speak much or any english. is it just that they don't need to, so why bother? i guess the same holds true for most countries. a guy like Ichiro will probably play for years here but will likely never bother learning english.

 

Come to think of it, if I went to play a year of baseball in Japan, I probably wouldn't learn the language either....

 

Nevermind.

Sosa said. ``But I've been hit in the head a couple of times, and I don't like that no more.''

 

 

 

I guess he used to like it??

he should've gotten into boxing

how about working on that english, eh sammy? i mean you've been a big star in the country for what, 10 years now?

 

(waiting for backlash...)

 

seems like so many latin players can't speak much or any english. is it just that they don't need to, so why bother?

so what you saying? that latins are to f***ing lazy to learn english? that's some ignorant bulls*** and your a** should be banned

 

i think thats pretty good backlash

 

im kidding for those that dont figure it out

lol, yeah that's what i was saying, just didn't want to be that direct about it.

j/k...

same problem exists in san antonio if you want to go about and make this a language issue.

same problem exists in san antonio if you want to go about and make this a language issue.

lol, i don't.

 

it just seems like it would generally be a good idea to be able to carry out interviews, do TV spots, conduct business dealings or whatever if you're going to be a superstar in a country.

 

Dominic Hasek, the old Buffalo Sabes hockey goalie (i think he's Czech) has been one of the best hockey players for years and years, but the guy can barely manage to put two sentences together.

Sosa needs to get over himself, IMHO. He needs to be smacked around. It sounds to me that his fame has gotten into his head and he thinks he's Mr. Hot s***. Well, I hope that the Fish teach him a lesson and show him who's boss!

 

About the language thing, at least he speaks it, which is more than what I can say for a lot of other folks.

yup-sammy complains way 2 much!

Bring it on, Cupcake!! :angry

lol

I would love to see us win the next 2 games in Chicago just to prove all the pundits wrong and to steal the soul from the Cub fans all across America who do not seem to believe the Marlins are a worthy opponent. Sosa...if it wasnt for that little league field they play in, they wouldnt have scored so many runs against us. I cant wait for tomorrow...

i know this girl that is like my little sister and she goes to school with sammy's kids. one day sammy came to pick them up and a lot of little kids ran up asking him for his autograph. he refused to sign anything and was so outraged that he told the principle and she went on the anouncements the next day chastising the whole school. i'm sorry but can you say c**k sucking arrogant bastard??? (can i say bastard? lol)

 

alex fernandez (marlins pitcher from back in the day, remember him? lol) used to go to my middle school all the time and he had no problem signing autographs. he used to go there as a kid. in fact whenever we asked him to do a charity event and such he always made time. super nice guy. met him in third grade. thats when i first became a fan (93). i miss him. at least he wasnt a pr**k like sammy freaking sosa

sammy is rude.

i know this girl that is like my little sister and she goes to school with sammy's kids. one day sammy came to pick them up and a lot of little kids ran up asking him for his autograph. he refused to sign anything and was so outraged that he told the principle and she went on the anouncements the next day chastising the whole school. i'm sorry but can you say c**k sucking arrogant bastard??? (can i say bastard? lol)

 

alex fernandez (marlins pitcher from back in the day, remember him? lol) used to go to my middle school all the time and he had no problem signing autographs. he used to go there as a kid. in fact whenever we asked him to do a charity event and such he always made time. super nice guy. met him in third grade. thats when i first became a fan (93). i miss him. at least he wasnt a pr**k like sammy freaking sosa

Wow is that true about sosa??? c**k sucker is right!! And hey, that's really cool about alex fernandez....former white sox :thumbup

i cant bel. sammy did that-well actually i can-hes done rude things like this b4-hes just not a nice person.

believe it. in fact i spoke to her a today and i brought it up after i mentioned how beckett owned him lol. she is more of a hockey fan but she follows baseball cuz of me.

she hates sammy after that day.

alot of the very good players do that stuff sometimesk-O WAIT!-sammys only good with a cork!-lol.

believe it. in fact i spoke to her a today and i brought it up after i mentioned how beckett owned him lol. she is more of a hockey fan but she follows baseball cuz of me.

she hates sammy after that day.

Yeah, she shouldn't worry about it, corky isn't worth an autograph. Plus, a lot of players are like that. Once, my brother asked current cub kenny lofton for his autograph (this was at like midnight) because we saw him in the restaurant in our hotel (we were in cincinnati for the game checking out the new stadium.) And Lofton told my brother "you should be in bed kid" and walked away, no autograph. God, athletes like that just piss me off big time.

lol-very very rude.

For some reason, we don't get many people like that on the Marlins. I have never been rejected by a Marlins player when I asked for an autograph.

most of the time when u see a pro. and there arent alot of fans near by they give u an autograph-i once got a basketball players autograph at a restaurant at night-i forgot his name-i guess hes just rude.