Many Sosa artifacts at Cooperstown

Former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa may not gain election to the Hall of Fame, but he certainly has a presence in Cooperstown.

The Hall next Wednesday will announce results of balloting this winter by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Sosa, whose name has been linked to baseball’s so-called Steroid Era (although no formal accusations have come to the fore), is on the ballot for the first time, along with Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has many Sosa artifacts in Cooperstown, many of which have been on display from time to time.

Those artifacts include the bat used by Sosa to hit home runs Nos. 59-62 in 1998 and the Cubs jersey worn by Sosa when he hit those home runs.

The Hall also has the Cubs jersey worn by Sosa when he hit his 400th career homer, the bat he used to hit his 500th career homer and the Texas Rangers jersey and pants he wore when he hit homer No. 600.

And, yes, the Hall still has the bats X-rayed in the wake of corked-bat scandal of 2003, when Sosa was caught using a corked bat.

“All of the bats we X-rayed after the corked-bat incident are still very much a part of our collection,” wrote Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson in an email to the Daily Herald.

“Even if they had been corked, they would have remained in our collection. Sammy donated them to us and as a museum we never dispose of donations, which is why we are so careful selecting what we choose to accept.”