Baseball: Authorities strike out in Sosa's corked bat hunt

Baseball officials have found no signs of cork in X-ray examinations of 76 bats confiscated from Sammy Sosa after the Chicago Cubs player had been barred from a game for using a corked bat.

Major League Baseball's vice president of on-field operations, Bob Watson, went to Chicago to interview the 34-year-old power hitter and his Chicago Cubs team-mates yesterday and then returned to New York, and he will decide on any suspension.

The bats were taken from the Cubs' locker room during the game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Tuesday night after cork had been found in Sosa's bat when it shattered in the first innings of the Cubs' 3-2 victory. Sosa said that he had accidentally pulled out a bat he uses in displays for fans during practice.

Sandy Alderson, executive vice-president of baseball operations, said: "The bats were clean. That is consistent with Sammy's explanation."

Sosa, who has had dozens of bats break in recent years with nothing suspicious found, was in the Cubs' line-up against the Devil Rays on Wednesday and was cheered when he did his traditional sprint to right field before the game. He got an ovation when he came to the plate in the first innings.

"They know I am an innocent person," Sosa said after Chicago's 5-2 defeat.