Sammy Sosa accused of testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003
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Another name has been been leaked. Another player’s career is maligned. Another baseball player of the 104 who allegedly tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 is getting his name dragged through the mud.
Last February Alex Rodriguez’s name was leaked to the press as being one of the many MLB stars who tested positive on a controversial test whose results were supposed to remain anonymous. But like there being no crying in baseball, apparently there’s no secrets either.
Today the New York Times is reporting that anonymous sources are claiming that Sammy Sosa failed the test in 2003, just a few years before he told Congress under oath that he had never put anything ‘like that’ into his body. The Times, or their sources, haven’t mention which drug was found or why Sosa is the sole name that they are leaking today.
The 2003 test that ensnared Sosa was the first such test conducted by Major League Baseball. Under guidelines agreed upon with the players union, the test results were to remain anonymous but would lead to testing with penalties the next year if more than 5 percent of the results were positive.
That is indeed what occurred. But for reasons never made completely clear, the test results were not destroyed by the players union and the 104 positives were subsequently seized by federal agents on the West Coast investigating matters related to the distribution of drugs to athletes.
The union immediately filed court papers alleging that the agents had illegally seized the tests, and over the past six years judges at various levels of the federal court system have been weighing whether the government can keep them. An 11-judge panel in California is preparing to rule in the case, but regardless of its verdict, the losing side is expected to appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
Who’s name will be next? Which pro who was promised that the results would be kept private will have his reputation tarnished? And which is worse: the leaking of the names or the use of the ‘roids?
Chicago Breaking News readers seem non-plussed by the revelation. A commentor named Bob wrote: ‘Really? Scammy used ‘roids? What’s next, we’re told that water is wet????? Will shocking news ever cease?’
-- Tony Pierce
Related: Photo gallery of Sosa over the years (including the Gherri Curl days)
In this June 10, 2003 file photo, fans make their feelings known as Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa bats in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Roberto Borea, File)