You Don't Say: Sammy Sosa Took Steroids

Yet another leak from the fine folks at Major League Baseball or those whose hands are on the supposedly confidential report of players who tested positive for steroids in 2003.

Prominent names were leaked, but none more prominent than Alex Rodriguez until yesterday. That is, until Sammy Sosa joined that list.

Sammy Sosa tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2003, The New York Times reported Tuesday on its Web site, the latest in a string of baseball stars implicated in the sport's steroids scandal of the past decade.

The Times said Sosa is one of 104 players who tested positive in baseball's anonymous 2003 survey, which has been the subject of a protracted court fight. The paper did not identify the drug.

It cited lawyers with knowledge of the 2003 drug-testing results and reported they spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to publicly discuss material under court seal.

Sosa was best known for his run at the single season home run records against Mark McGwire. He hit 60 home runs or more three times, which is something that no other player ever accomplished (McGwire hit 60 home runs or more only twice in his career).

Sosa has retired, so his record is complete. Don't expect him to get into the Hall of Fame, although it depends on how he responds to the allegations. His testimony before Congress will be scrutinized:

Several of the game's biggest stars, including home-run king Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, have been implicated in steroids use.

Miguel Tejada was sentenced to one year of probation for misleading Congress after he pleaded guilty and admitted he withheld information about an ex-teammate's use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez is serving a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy. A-Rod in February admitted using steroids from 2001-03 with Texas following a report by Sports Illustrated that he was among the 104 players on the list.

Sosa sat alongside Palmeiro, Canseco and McGwire at a 2005 hearing before Congress and testified: "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs."

"I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything," he told the House Government Reform Committee on March 17, 2005. "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."

That left open the possibility he used a substance legally in the Dominican Republic that would have been illegal to use in the United States without a prescription.