MLB security confiscated 76 of Sosa's other bats after Tuesday's game in which he was caught using a corked bat. The bats were X-rayed and found to be untainted. Of the bat from Tuesday's game, Sandy Alderson, executive vice president of baseball operations for Major League Baseball, said "there was a foreign substance in it." Alderson would not say whether that substance was cork.

"I said (Tuesday) that I used the bat for BP," Sosa said before Wednesday's game. "They took 76 of my bats and everything came out clean. I'm still going to take the blame. I apologize. I'm just going to go out there and play baseball."

Alderson said MLB official Bob Watson was in Chicago, but had not talked to Sosa and completed his investigation. Watson will have to go to New York before issuing a ruling, which means Sosa will be able to play Thursday and most likely will hear about his fate before Friday's Interleague game against the New York Yankees.

"Sammy has been very forthcoming," Alderson said. "We think the investigation will corroborate what he told us. There's no reason to believe his explanation is not accurate."

Sosa said Wednesday he didn't notice the difference in the batting practice bat, which was a "Tuff Bat" model, from his regular gameday bats.

"If I would've known, I wouldn't have picked the bat," Sosa said. "I was so focused on the game. I picked the wrong bat.

"I'm man enough to take everything that I've done. I take the blame."

Cubs president and CEO Andy MacPhail said Wednesday he did not feel Sosa's accomplishments were tainted by the incident.

"The one thing I'd like to start with is the facts in this episode are not in dispute," MacPhail said. "Everyone agrees there was cork in the bat. Everyone agrees it was Sammy's bat. Everyone agrees where the bat came from.

"I think in testimony to Sammy, he faced the music, he took questions, he made his apologies and he made his explanations."

Sosa said he occasionally used the tainted bat during batting practice. He accidentally grabbed it by mistake, he said, during the first inning Tuesday. When he grounded out to second, the bat split. Tampa Bay catcher Toby Hall picked up the bat and showed it to home plate umpire Tim McClelland, who had all the umpires verify that it was cork.

Sosa said he used the lighter bat to entertain the fans during batting practice. "The club's view is that we do not approve of this type of activity for anybody," MacPhail said. MacPhail said it's been shown that corking a bat does not necessarily help a hitter. "You take all the moral issues and put those aside and look at it practically," MacPhail said. "The mounting evidence for some time is that there's not appreciable benefit to doing this."

Of course, Sosa is the Cubs' marquee player and losing him for any length of time will be tough for the team. He had just returned from a three-week stint on the disabled list because of a sore toe and the Cubs went 10-7 in his absence.

Major League Baseball security was in Chicago in anticipation of the Cubs Interleague series against the New York Yankees and were able to act quickly, MacPhail said.

"It would be my hope and expectation," MacPhail said, "that if those bats come out clean and there's no indication of any tampering in the 76 bats that they took out of his locker, it would be my hope and expectation that the penalty would be less severe."

Players have been penalized up to 10 days for using a corked bat.

"I think we all acknowledge that with other episodes with other corked bats, whether it be Albert Belle or Billy Hatcher, it's not something that you can reasonably expect will go away," MacPhail said. "It may fade away over time but it will be something that we'll all remember."

MacPhail said anyone who would want to take away from Sosa's accomplishments, including becoming the 18th member of the 500 home run club on April 4, would be incorrect.

"I do think that any objective analysis is going to indicate it should not detract from his achievements," MacPhail said. "I've seen a lot of broken bats over the 8 1/3 years that I've been with the Chicago Cubs from Sammy Sosa and that's the first time I've ever seen cork come out of one." However, MacPhail does acknowledge that Sosa will have to deal with his detractors. "(The incident) is going to have legs," MacPhail said. "It's a distraction. My experience in baseball teaches me that if you are the type of person who can be distracted, you can be distracted. If you're focused on what your job is, it will not be an issue."

Cubs manager Dusty Baker agreed he thought his team could handle any potential for distraction. "Our job is to come out here and play the game and win the game," Baker said. "That's first and foremost as far as the team right now is concerned." Sosa said he mistakenly picked up the corked bat. Couldn't he tell the difference? "(The bats) are supposed to feel the same if you order them the same," Baker said. "You can't tell between one bat or another bat unless it's your favorite bat. When you're struggling and you're not hitting too good, you don't really have a favorite bat." Sosa had been struggling, going 2-for-15 since coming off the disabled list Friday. His last home run was May 1 off San Francisco's Tim Worrell.

A sign in a the window of the Sportsworld store across the street from Wrigley Field at the corner of Clark and Addison showed its support for Sosa, saying "We love you Sammy."

Sosa was 1-4 in Wednesday night's game against Tampa Bay.

The Sosa Corking Controversy...

6-4-03 - The Strizz

With Sammy Sosa's recent turn of events on the diamond in yesterdays game with the Devil Rays, spectators have had reason to doubt whether or not it actually was a mistake that he picked up the corked bat, 1 out of 77 others that he could have used. Earlier today, Major League Baseball "tested" Sosa's other 76 bats and they all "tested" negative for corking or any other illegal means. The reason I am saying "tested" is because it's been brought to my attention that this could infact be some kind of cover up "scandal" by the MLB to ensure it's fan base and make it seem that every thing is ok. I'm not taking sides...yet, but I do find it very suspicious that the Cubs slugger just happened to pick up his one corked bat out of his other 77 that he had in his locker, even if he infact uses it in batting practice for the fans. "Baseball players are so up tight about there about keeping their bats in tact and together, and keeping those good 12 or so on them, its almost impossible to get them mixed up like that, all I want is for Sosa to admit he cheated and used a corked bat, and apologize" - Espn BBTN Analyst

With that said, I'd like to go ahead and ask everyone out there what they actully think of all this, check out the poll:

Corking... intentional or unintentional?

Do you think Sosa was intentionally using the corked bat in June 3rd's Contest? Yes- Fine and suspend him No- Let the Officials handle it Not sure Yet Current Results

Sosa will be gearing up for tonight's game in Chicago.