CHICAGO Sosa still thrives in a whirlwind season
Despite a slow start, he can reach 100 RBIs for the ninth straight season.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Sammy Sosa will remember 2003, for better or for worse.
There's been a taste of just about everything: an injury, a beaning, career milestones, a suspension, a slump, and, of course, a slew of home runs. Oh, yeah, and a pennant race for the slugger and his Chicago Cubs.
It's enough to conjure memories of his magical 1998, the season Sosa and Mark McGwire captivated fans with their pursuit of Roger Maris' single-season home run record.
Sosa lost the homer race to McGwire 70-66 but won the National League's MVP Award and led the Cubs to a playoff berth.
That was the last time the team qualified for the postseason, but Sosa had the Cubs just a half-game out of first place in the NL Central heading into weekend action.
"It's been a tough year," Sosa said. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."
Ups and downs
He hit his 500th homer in April. He survived a scary beaning that month, when a pitch hit so hard it broke his helmet. He went on the disabled list after surgery to remove a bad toenail.
And, on June 3, he was caught using a corked bat in a game. Sosa was suspended for seven games and, when he returned, he was showered with skepticism, criticism and boos.
Sosa had been struggling at the plate when his bat shattered on a ground ball against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He said it was an honest mistake -- that he had picked up a bat he uses for home run displays during batting practice.
There were derisive signs and catcalls nearly everywhere he went, except Wrigley Field, where he still races to right field before each game and salutes the adoring bleacher fans.
Since serving his suspension and returning to the Cubs' lineup June 18, Sosa's game has picked up.
He had batted .299 with 22 homers and 49 RBIs in a 51-game stretch before Friday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Heated race
After hitting two tape-measure homers off the Dodgers' Kevin Brown last Sunday, Sosa went homerless and 2-for-15 against the Houston Astros as the Cubs won three of four games this week to tighten the division race.
But despite a slow start and missing more than three weeks' worth of games, Sosa can reach 100 RBIs for a ninth straight season. He also has hit 28 homers.
Whether his reputation has recovered is open for debate -- and could be for years to come.
"The slow start is just a slow start sometimes, nothing more than that," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.
"He still has a chance, even though he missed something like 24, 25 games, to have over 100 RBIs, and he still has a chance to win the home run title. That's pretty amazing."
Sosa is known for his streaks, including the record 20 homers he hit in June 1998. From 1998 through last season, he had 292 homers, including 60 in a season three times.
It's hard to imagine the Cubs without Sosa, but it's possible.
He has a $72 million, four-year contract that runs through 2005, but he has the right to end the deal after this season and become a free agent.
Intentions
Shortly after hitting his homer No. 500 in April, he said he wanted to finish his career with the Cubs.
But last weekend, when the Cubs played in Los Angeles, Sosa's agent Adam Katz said he expected his client to look at free agency.
"There is no reason for him not to look. We bargained awfully hard" for the escape clause, Katz said.
Sosa won't discuss his contract. If he doesn't leave, he will make $16 million next season and $17 million in 2005.
His current priority, he says, is helping the Cubs get to the playoffs.
"I just want to win every day," Sosa said, "and do the best I can every day."