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Thursday, June 8
Baylor denies slamming Sosa


CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs manager Don Baylor said he will meet with Sammy Sosa to try to resolve a dispute between the two over what the outfielder thinks is negative criticism.

"We'll talk. That's all I'm going to say," Baylor said after the Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 9-4 victory Wednesday. "It's silly. We'll try to get it resolved. We'll talk about it like men, not like children."

Wed, June 7
Sammy Sosa has done some marvelous things in the last few years, with his wonderful smile and effusive personality lighting up ballparks all across America. He has been great for the game, respectful and caring. That's why his outburst, right out of right field, is very confusing.

OK, so Don Baylor said the team might have to trade Sosa to get better. That is correct. The Cubs are not a good team, and likely won't be the rest of this year. They need to get better. Baylor didn't say he wants to trade Sosa. He didn't say Sammy is the reason the team is losing. Sosa could bring three useful players. He's one of the few guys on the team with real value, and one of the few free agent-eligible players (after 2001).

It's the responsibility of the Cubs to improve themselves whatever way possible. Trading Sosa likely would be a last resort. He wants to stay there. They want him there, but they just can't do whatever he wants

Sosa says Don Baylor has no class. That's simply not true. Baylor challenged Sosa in spring training. That's exactly what he should have done -- Sosa had become less interested and less effective in right field and on the bases. Baylor needed him to be more of a complete player. And he has been this year. But Sosa calling himself a superstar, and demanding more respect, is a bit pretentious. That's the way that many players think of themselves. We didn't expect it from Sammy.

Sosa, who hit his 18th home run in the victory, agreed the two should meet.

"We both need to sit down and talk about it like men," Sosa said. "I'm going to apologize. We both made mistakes."

Before Wednesday's game, Sosa said he felt he was unfairly criticized by Baylor since he was named manager in November.

"I've been playing here eight, nine years and I've been playing hard every day," Sosa said. "I've been carrying baseball the last two years. Everything I've been doing in baseball in the city of Chicago -- I don't deserve this."

Sosa first lashed out at Baylor after the Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

"From the first day he got here, he has been saying some negative things about me for no reason," Sosa said in Wednesday's editions of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. "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 said Baylor suggested he try to become a more "complete player" and return to his 30-30 form when he stole 30 bases in 1993 and '95.

"You don't criticize a player who comes here every day and plays hard," Sosa said. "I'm still trying to find the answer why (Baylor criticized him)."

Baylor denied he made any of the comments.

"He got some things off his chest," the manager said of Sosa. "I never said those things."

Although Sosa homered in the Cubs' victory, he also committed a fielding error in the seventh that led to a Diamondbacks run. It was Sosa's third error in four games.

Sosa spoke out after a column in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday, titled "Swapping Sosa would kick-start Cubs rebuilding." In the article, a Cubs source identified as someone "other than Baylor" criticized Sosa's defensive abilities, saying, "Sammy might drive in 150 runs, but he might let in 45."

Cubs general manager Ed Lynch said the relationship between Baylor and Sosa is strong.

"I'm dealing with two guys who are a little frustrated now," he said.

Sosa was asked if there was a misunderstanding between himself and his manager.

"Not on my side," Sosa said. "From Day One, I am the target. I play hard every day. I don't know what else Sammy Sosa can do. I'm never hurt. Why me? I'm innocent."

Baylor said he believes in challenging players to motivate them. "That's me. I'm always pushing players to become better," he said.

Sosa's teammates would also like to see the matter settled.

"Every manager's different," Cubs first baseman Mark Grace said. "I broke in with Don Zimmer who was an in-your-face guy. Sammy's our main guy on the team. Don's our manager. They're both grown men. They need to get on the same page and get on with business.

"It's like a couple of big ol' bulls fighting over territory," Grace said.

Over the weekend, Baylor 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 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."
 


ALSO SEE
Neyer: Ship out Baylor -- and Sosa

Fans speak out on Sosa-Baylor feud

Seething Sosa clouts 500-foot HR in Cubs' 9-4 win



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 Sammy Sosa believes he's the scapegoat for the Cubs' problems.
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 Don Baylor doesn't want Sosa's comments to effect the team.
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 Sammy Sosa wants to put the incident behind him.
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 Mark Grace dismisses the severity of the incident.
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 There's more than smoke in Chicago according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark
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