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Sosa's appeal to be heard today in Baltimore
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ESPN.com news services
Sammy Sosa's appeal of his eight-game suspension for using a corked bat will be heard Tuesday in Baltimore an an undisclosed location, the Chicago Cubs announced.
Major League Baseball's chief operating officer, Bob DuPuy, will hear the appeal. The Cubs said that a decision regarding the appeal is not expected on Tuesday.
The Cubs begin a three-game series against the Orioles at Camden Yards starting Tuesday night. Sosa read a statement about his appeal Tuesday afternoon at Camden Yards and apologized again for his actions. The Cubs said it would be the only time Sosa will comment during the series.
Sosa was suspended for eight games Friday by Bob Watson, baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, but the appeal allows him to play until he has a hearing and a ruling is made.
He was ejected from a game against Tampa Bay on June 3 when his bat shattered after hitting a ground ball and umpires discovered cork halfway up the handle of the bat.
Tests on 76 bats taken from Sosa's locker and five more of his at the Hall of Fame found no foreign substances. Sosa claims he mistakenly grabbed a bat he uses for batting practice and used it in the game.
"We support him in his appeal," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "We have no reason to believe it was anything more than a one-time incident as he described it. We will support him and his rights that he exercises to appeal, and hopefully have his suspension reduced."
Sosa's agent, Tom Reich, told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark that while the eight-game suspension was within range of previous suspensions for this offense, Sosa decided to appeal because they believe the penalty to be "on the high side" of that range. So they will try to get the suspension reduced by a game or two, which would bring it even with most of the other bat-tampering suspensions of the last 15 years.
"But this is not a hostile proceeding," Reich said. "We do believe some of the treatment of Sammy has been hostile -- not just by the media, but in the court of public opinion. But this is not going to be a hostile process. It's simply an opportunity for the union and Sammy to present a fair defense. And that's all we ask."
Reich said Sosa acknowledges that "a mistake was made, and a rule was broken," that there was "no question there was going to be a suspension" and that once a decision is made on the appeal, "everybody will abide by it."
It's likely that in Sosa's appeal, his agents and the union will attempt to contrast his behavior with the behavior of Albert Belle, who was suspended for only six days (but seven games) after having his bat confiscated in 1994. Belle's teammate, Jason Grimsley, has admitted crawling through the ceiling of Jacobs Field to the umpire's room and switching the corked bat with another bat.
Sosa's side will certainly be pointing out that at least Sosa immediately admitted he'd broken a rule and apologized, even though he contended he'd picked up the corked bat by mistake.
"We just want to make sure that everybody is on the same page with the evidence," Reich said, "and we want to make sure the evidence is viewed in context with previous (bat-tampering) incidents."