CHICAGO -- An embarrassed Sammy Sosa apologized for using a corked bat, admitting he let down many of his fans with what he claimed was an honest mistake.\nBut how can one of the game's foremost power hitters repair his reputation or silence the doubters?\n"It's going to be tough. Some fans are probably not too happy about it," Sosa said. "I've got to deal with that. ... I know that I lost the fans and they have been great to me. It's a mistake, and I take the blame for it."\nSosa's stunning ejection came early. His bat sheared in half when he hit a ground ball to second in the first inning of Tuesday night's 3-2 win over Tampa Bay.\nUmpire crew chief Tim McClelland, who was working the plate, said he spotted the cork after Tampa Bay catcher Toby Hall flipped the part containing the handle at his feet.\nSosa claimed the bat that shattered and contained cork was one he uses to put on home run displays in batting practice.\n"Just to put on a show for the fans. I like to make people happy and I do that in batting practice," he said.\n"I was just trying to get ready and go out there and get ready for the game, and I just picked the wrong bat. I feel sorry. I just apologize to everybody."\nSosa, who gained national prominence in 1998 during his home-run race with Mark McGwire, apologized to fans, teammates and commissioner Bud Selig. Sosa's other bats were confiscated by security personnel and turned over to major league baseball. Sandy Alderson, executive vice president for baseball operations, headed to Chicago on Wednesday afternoon.\nBut how much will this tarnish Sosa's accomplishments?\nHe is No. 17 on the all-time list with 505 homers. And in a five-year stretch from 1998-2002, Sosa hit an almost mind-boggling 292 home runs.\nSosa has the most 60-homer seasons in major league history, hitting 66 in 1998, 63 in 1999 and 64 in 2001.\n"Deep down in my heart, I truly believe Sammy didn't know that was in there," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "But I just hope that this event, whatever it was, doesn't tarnish his career or take away all that Sammy Sosa's done. For baseball and for Chicago."\nThe Cubs had runners at second and third when Sosa broke his bat with a grounder that at first appeared to drive in a run.\nMcClelland gathered with the other three umpires to examine the handle area of the bat. Baker came out and the umpires showed what was left of the bat to him.\nMark Grudzielanek was sent back to third base, the run was wiped off the board and Sosa was ejected as he stood in the dugout.\nCork inside a wooden bat is thought to help players hit the ball farther and is against baseball rules. Several players have been caught using altered bats in the past, including Albert Belle, Wilton Guerrero, Chris Sabo, Billy Hatcher and Graig Nettles.\nAll were suspended, but none had Sosa's credentials.\nUmpires initially took part of the corked bat into the Cubs' dugout and down the runway toward their clubhouse before security came and took it away about an inning later, McClelland said.
McClelland said he wasn't sure what happened to the other part of the bat that was split away and landed between third and shortstop. But he said a batboy may have picked it up and took it to the dugout, or it may have been tossed into the stands.\nMcClelland also was the umpire who took away a home run from Kansas City's George Brett in 1983 because of excessive pine tar, a decision later reversed by AL president Lee MacPhail.\nThe umpire said the cork in Sosa's was clearly visible.\n"I turned it over and there was a small probably half-dollar size piece of cork in the bat right about halfway down the barrel head, I guess," he said. "It was notched in there. I felt it, and it obviously was cork, so I called the crew together and it was reminiscent of what happened about 20 years ago with me."\nSosa's bat immediately became a big topic around the major leagues.\n"Unfortunately, it's a dirty mark, when you consider all he's accomplished," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "It's really unfortunate for the game. Everybody's scratching their heads right now. ... It's embarrassing. He's too good of a player. It's too bad."\nSosa just came off the disabled Friday after having the nail taken off his big right toe and missing 17 games.\nEntering Tuesday, he was just 2-for-15 in his three games since coming off the DL, including one five-strikeout game in which he also had the game-winning single against Houston.\n"I just hope it doesn't taint what he's done," Seattle second baseman Bret Boone said. "Corked, not corked, he's got as much power as anyone in baseball. He's probably got as much power, outside Mark McGwire, as anyone in history."\nSosa, a six-time All-Star who reached 500 career homers earlier this season, hasn't homered since May 1 and his power numbers have dropped drastically since he was beaned April 20 by the Pirates' Salomon Torres. He has just six homers this season and 24 RBIs, while batting .283.\nChicago won Tuesday's game in the ninth when Al Levine (2-2) threw a wild pitch that allowed Troy O'Leary, who had replaced Sosa, to score from third.
