Sammy Sosa and Steroids: Does Anyone Even Care | ATorres00's Blog

(Author's note: This article was originally published at http://www.aarontorres-sports.com/)

It finally happened.

The last big piece of the steroid puzzle fell into place this week, when word was leaked that Sammy Sosa- he of 609 career home runs- failed a drug test in 2003. Like the ending of a gangster movie, the walls closed in and last big Don finally fell, piano music playing quietly in the background.

The information itself had about as much shock value as your mother telling you as a 15-years-old that Santa Claus doesn't exist. Of course at the same time, it's still weird watching her place the presents under the tree for the first time.

Sosa started his career in Texas as a slap hitting speed and singles hitter, and over the better course of the 1990's transformed himself into the Dominican hulk, his body built like a brick house, and neck thicker than a Texas strip steak.

We always wondered- sometimes aloud- validity of his newfound bulk, because lets be honest its not easy to gain 60 lbs. over the course of a few years, especially when it's all muscle. But even as recently as Sosa's official retirement just a few weeks ago, there was still no tangible proof that Sosa did anything more than eat his vegetables and live in the weight room

Sure the circumstantial evidence was there. In 2002, then Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly offered Sosa a phone number and directions to a Chicago area laboratory where he could get tested for free. If Sosa took the test Reilly insisted it'd be good for baseball and the superstar, a big time home run hitter showing the world that his urine was pure as Alaskan waterfall.

Sosa of course reacted about the same way one does when they get the notice that it's time for a colonoscopy. He squirmed and stammered, eventually swearing at Reilly and telling the sportswriter to leave him alone because "You're not my father" (I think it's important to note on this Father's Day weekend, my father made me do a lot of things I wasn't too happy about when I was younger. Getting tested for steroids was never one of them. Love you dad!).

But despite that, what made Sosa such a fascinating case was that throughout this past decade- when he's been watched closer than a teenage girl at a frat party- Sosa remained clear of any wrongdoing. Beyond the previously mentioned circumstantial evidence and a corked bat in 2003, there was no true smoking gun to tie Sosa to. No shady trainers, no saved syringes, no mysterious receipts from far away pharmacies that can't be accounted for.

And in an era where some Hall of Fame voters have said publicly they'd never induct someone with any question of a performance enhancing background, that said a lot. Mark McGwire- the 8^th most prolific home run hitter of all-time- has been on the Hall of Fame ballot three years in a row, and hasn't been inducted. The writers had nothing on Sosa, except for the empty bottle of Flintstones vitamins he claimed gave him his extra pop. If the former Chicago Cubs slugger didn't make it into the Hall of Fame it'd be blasphemy, guilty until proven innocent at its finest.

Of course that all changed this week, with the New York Times report of the leaked positive test result.

If you're scoring at home, let's take a quick look at the all-time home run list and see who we can cross off as a cheater.

(To read the remainder of this article, please click here or visit Aaron at www.aarontorres-sports.com)