Most controversial scandals in MLB history: #26. Sammy Sosa caught red handed with a corked bat
In the case of some of these controversies, a player or team for that matter, could build a plausible case surrounding their innocence. Although they were often still found guilty, in the back of the mind of fans, they held out hope that their childhood hero or favorite team was simply the recipient of a bad break. In the case of Sammy Sosa in 2003, he was caught cheating in front of the entire world.
Sosa was an all-time great player. But, like all of the greats, he was in the midst of an awful slump. On most occasions, the ball simply flew right off his bat and into the stands but for approximately a month, Sosa simply couldn’t track the ball.
As Sosa stepped up to the plate on a hot summer day against the Devil Rays with the bases loaded, Sosa finally registered a hit. In an unfortunate situation for Sosa, the bat immediately shattered. Not thinking anything of it, the Umpire simply picked up the pieces to clear the field so that the game could continue. While doing so, a cork was noticed inside the bat, a banned object which is used to give hitters an unfair advantage.
Seemingly caught red handed, Sosa still attempted to lie as he said he used that bat during batting practice and merely grabbed the wrong one for the start of the game. Major League Baseball, of course, wasn’t falling for it as they suspended him for eight games. Ironically enough, the stats of Sosa took a nose dive every year since then, bringing into question just how long was he corking his bat?