If the Orioles had sacrificed signing a Delgado, Carlos Beltran, Adrian Beltre or Carl Pavano to take a chance on the controversial Sosa, that would have been ridiculous. But they didn't. By accident, after everybody the Orioles wanted was off the market, Sosa was still there -- going begging.
All the Orioles had to do to get him was run the risk of looking foolish and desperate by trading for a player nobody else in baseball would touch. What's that to the Orioles? After the players, managers and general managers they've driven away, not to mention that announcer -- what's his name -- Miller, you don't have to worry about your dignity any more.
_____From The Post_____
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Sammy Sosa waves his no-trade clause, will become free agent for 2006 season.
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Thomas Boswell: The bottom of the barrel yields big bat for O's.
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Note: This is an unscientific survey of washingtonpost.com readers.
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Sometimes, the truth helps, even as it hurts. As the Cubs dangled Sosa for months, they had to face the truth. No contending team will touch such a risky aging star with so much young, unburdened talent on the market. No bad team would build around a 36-year-old slugger whose stats and durability have dwindled the last three years. And no poor team could afford Sosa's salary, no matter how much of it the Cubs swallowed.
So that left the Orioles, the team that had been shut out all winter in the free agent market and needed to hold its irate fan base against the arriving Washington Nationals.
Of course, savvy Oriole fans are only going to be partially assuaged by acquiring another hitter, even if he fits nicely in a potentially powerful heart of the order that includes Melvin Mora (.340), Miguel Tejada (150 RBI) and Javy Lopez (.316). As one fan moaned on an Orioles Internet site, "Sammy Sosa? I just want a starting pitcher. Is that so wrong?"
It's not wrong. But, for now, it's not possible. So, the Sosa trade becomes a litmus test of fans' ability to "love the one you're with" until, someday, you get the ones you want.
For many years, loving Sosa was one of the easiest jobs in baseball. Can it be so again?
When Sosa sprints to right field in Baltimore, perhaps he should squint his eyes so the scene before him blurs a bit. There's a big old-fashioned clock in center field and the bleachers beyond right field were specifically built to evoke Wrigley Field.
Maybe Sammy can't go home again, back to 60 homers, national adulation and a pristine reputation. But he and the Orioles hope they can concoct a modest replica of that past. Such a thing would surely be in tune with the spirit of Camden Yards.
