Sammy Sosa said Thursday he was not upset by criticism of his ill-timed home run hop Tuesday night and vowed to continue hopping the rest of his career.
“This is your job, guys, you can write whatever you want,” Sosa said. “I’m the one who plays the game.”
Sosa was thrown out at second after prematurely hopping on what he thought was a home run. He had jogged out of the batter’s box and was thrown out after the ball caromed off the right-field wall. He was credited with an RBI single.
Sosa said he believes criticism of the play was overblown, even though Cubs manager Dusty Baker conceded that “it didn’t look good.”
“You’re taught when you’re young to run and just break it down,” Baker said.
The problem was not so much the hop itself as Sosa’s jog. Sosa said he wouldn’t change a thing.
“I’ve been doing the hop for 14 years,” he said. “You want me to change it now?”
Sosa laughed.
“Like I said, this is my style, and I’m going to keep it, like it or not,” he said.
Sosa wasn’t the first Cub to accuse reporters of addressing such issues to ignite controversy.
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“Forget what people are saying about us,” Sosa said. “Just leave our ballclub alone and let us play baseball. Everything will be OK.”