Sammy Sosa Getting No Love and Other Bullets

sammy sosa kissIt would seem a happy day – or at least relief-filled day – for hockey fans, as the NHL and the NHL Player’s Association have tentatively reached an agreement to finally end the lockout, which gobbled up a huge chunk of the season (and, with it, a good chunk of the sport’s relevance). I’ll confess, I’m not a big hockey fan – though it’s a great sport to watch live. Still, I feel for hockey fans who’ve been waiting patiently for this day, and I’m glad you folks will get most of a season. Hopefully the Blackhawks will be a playoff team once again.

  • Hall of Fame voting results are set to be released this week, so the uptick in articles on the subject is understandable. The Chicago Tribune takes a poll of its writers on who they’d be voting for, and each shares thoughts on the subject of voting. You notice a couple things perusing: Sammy Sosa’s name comes up a lot in discussion, but he doesn’t receive a single vote. And that’s from Chicago writers. His goose is cooked. The other thing you notice? Far too many writers have an absurd memory about the caliber of pitcher Jack Morris was. Good pitcher? Yes. Long career? Yes. Hall of Fame career? How is this seriously a discussion?
  • A few fringe Cubs prospects have been released by the organization: pitchers Pete Levitt, Bryce Shafer, and Willengton Cruz. The latter, a lefty, was probably the prospecty-est of the three, having been with the Cubs for four seasons, but never really turned the corner as he reached Low-A ball.
  • Also gone: Alfredo Amezaga. The journeyman utility infielder, 34, spent the 2012 season with the Iowa Cubs, but now moves on to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a minor league deal.
  • More Hall of Fame/steroids/Sammy Sosa literature, this from the New York Times, which you may recall was the first publication to “out” Sosa, formally in a 2009 article, as having failed a drug test. The short version: Sosa has absolutely no chance of making the Hall this year, and probably not ever.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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