He's got 601 home runs, but think of how many Sammy Sosa might have whacked if he played regularly in the bandbox that is Fenway Park. It's a scenario that almost played out, as Sammy came thisclose to being a member of the Boston Red Sox, not once but twice.
With Sammy in Boston this weekend for the Sox-Rangers mash-up, Jeff Goldberg of the Hartford-Courant reminds us that The Sos was actually signed to a free-agent deal by the Sox in early 1995 while baseball was still officially "on strike." But the deal, orchestrated by then-Sox GM Dan Duquette, was kiboshed when MLB struck a new labor deal to end the strike.
His name surfaced again in trade talks in 2000, with rumors flying that the Sox were attempting to swap Trot Nixon for Sammy, but nothing materialized.
Sammy himself said he would've been totally down with playing in Boston.
"This is a great place to play," Sosa said, seated in the visitors dugout at Fenway Park. "I remember one time I almost signed here. I would have had even better numbers."
Considering that Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy once famously referred to Sosa as "Sammy Soosa," that's pretty nice to hear.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-30-2007 @ 10:50PM
Alan Sherman said...
A terrrible loss by a team that is so schizophrenic that they should be written up in the NEJM. The only good news out of this loss to Texas is that we may finally see the end of Julio Lugo. But all blame cannot be laid at the feet of Lugo, Ortiz and Ramirez are ineffective and Varitek is not far behind. The pitching has done its job so far but we need some hitting during the dog days of summer or we will see this huge lead evaporate. The Yankees are dead but Toronto is capable of stringing together a winning streak and putting pressure on the Sox if they don't wake up soon.
Reply