Slammin' Sammy Update

Turns out there’s more pathetic news on the Sammy Sosa steroid front. Evidence has come to light suggesting that Sosa requested that the sleeves on his jerseys be tapered to show his increased size. Go back and take a look at some photos of Sosa from 2002-2004 and look for the elastic bands that were sowed into the sleeves. So not only was Sosa likely juicing, he wanted to show it off! He rubbed it in the faces of Chi-city dwellers and ball fans alike.

This type of custom tailoring is not altogether original. Jimmy Fox had his jersey sleeves cut short and so too did Ted Kluszewski of the Big Red Machine. Even Tiger Woods had the left sleeve of his polo shirts shortened to free up his swing. The difference with Sosa is that these other guys altered their attire so as to free up their bodies to perform. Big Klu cut off his sleeves because he couldn’t swing properly: "They [coaches] got pretty upset, but it was either that or change my swing — and I wasn't about to change my swing.” Football runningbacks and receivers have elastic on their jerseys but that’s done to make it harder for wanna-be tacklers to grab hold of something.

Sosa’s move, on the other hand, was outright vainglorious. His alterations weren’t done to make it easier to swing. Rather, he made them tighter so as to show off his growth. It was done with aesthetics in mind, not performance. I’d laugh if it weren’t so blatantly stupid.