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Sammy
Sosa explodes to the media, says manager Don Baylor, "Has no class".
 June
7, 2000 -- Latino baseball superstar, Sammy Sosa obviously
bothered by prior comments made by his manager Don Baylor in the past, exploded to the media saying, "Cubs skipper Don Baylor has no
class".
"From the first day he got here, he has been saying some negative things about me for no reason,'' Sosa said.
"He hasn't really treated me the way I'm supposed to be treated. And that's what I'm saying. He has got no class.''
Sosa's comments appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.
As mentioned here at Latino Legends in Sports, ( Big
challenges for Latino slugger Sammy Sosa in 2000.) Baylor's relationship with Sosa got off to a
shaky start in November when, moments after being hired, Baylor said he wanted to make Sosa a more
"complete'' player and said "why is he wearing that number 21 on
his back."
Then in January, Baylor said that when he was manager of the Colorado Rockies and hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves, Sosa's
scouting report about his defense was "not favorable".
"When you have a superstar on your team, with the respect I have for everybody, you should never go and say something
about that guy if you know that guy is going to play hard for you and be there for you every day,'' Sosa said.
"I thought I had been as fair as anyone can,'' Baylor said. "I knew what I was getting into with him. It was meant as
constructive criticism, not ripping him.''
Nevertheless, Baylor's comments obviously upset Sosa, who has been the subject of trade talk recently. Chicago is 24-35,
81/2 games out of first place in the NL Central, and Sosa's contract runs out after next season.
Baylor said he didn't blame Sosa, who is batting .316 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs, for the team's poor
performance this season.
"It's not his fault,'' Baylor said. "When you are losing consistently everybody else talks about breaking up the team. I don't
put him at fault at all. I'm trying to get this team out of last place. He can help me do that.''
But at looking at Sosa's stats - his home run pace has slowed - but since hitting his 13th
home run on May 10, he has four in 24 games and has excelled in virtually every
offensive category. His 53 RBIs was fourth in the National League entering
Tuesday, 6/6, his .315 average is 48 points above his career mark and he has a .311 average with runners in scoring position.
But Baylor hasn't dismissed the possibility of trading Sosa. Over the weekend, the manager said the team would have to
consider a trade if the Cubs fell further out of contention.
"Of course, with any possible trade,'' he said, "you'd want to hear what you could get in return.''
Sosa declined to respond when asked if he believes he might not be with the Cubs for much longer. As a player with 10 years
in the major leagues and five with the same team, Sosa has the right to refuse a trade.
"I don't know what's going to happen,'' Sosa said. "I really want to stay here in Chicago.''
Sosa's agent, Adam Katz wouldn't say how much money or how many years he is
seeking for Sosa's next contract after the 2001 season, but he did drop a hint.
"Sammy is 31 years old and he's going to play for seven, eight or
nine more years," he said. "We want him in the best possible situation to be a productive winning player in an environment where
he's happy and appreciated by management, teammates and fans. That place could be Chicago and we hope it is Chicago."
Sosa added that he is concerned the negative comments might harm his relationship with the fans.
"I come here to play hard for my fans, the people who love me out there,'' he said.
"I don't want those negative comments to get to the people who really love me and care about me, have them turn against me.''
He continued saying, "If I am here, I don't want to keep fighting. I don't want
[Baylor] to keep killing me in the paper for no reason."
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