Sammy Sosa - Drug Test Controversy

Drug Test Controversy

On June 16, 2009 the New York Times reported Sosa was on a list of players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. The paper did not identify the drug. Sosa's agent, Adam Katz, told The Associated Press he had no comment on the report. Rich Levin, commissioner Bud Selig's office spokesman, declined to comment on the situation, claiming that MLB did not have a copy of the test results. Michael Weiner, the union general counsel, also declined comment. The union, while fighting to get the list back from the government, has mostly refused to discuss reports about the list because it does not want to confirm or deny who is on it.

Previously, Sosa sat alongside Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire at a 2005 hearing before Congress. His attorney testified on his behalf, stating "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything. I have not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic. I have been tested as recently as 2004, and I am clean."

In a recent interview with ESPN Deportes, Sosa said he would "calmly wait" for his induction into baseball's Hall of Fame, for which he will become eligible in 2013.

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