Sammy Sosa's appeal will be held Tuesday in Baltimore at an undisclosed location. How they found out where Dick Cheney is staying, I'll never know. :-)

Sosa's agent, Tom Reich, told Stark that while the eight-game suspension was within range of previous suspensions for this offense, Sosa decided to appeal because they believe the penalty to be "on the high side" of that range. So they will try to get the suspension reduced by a game or two, which would bring it even with most of the other bat-tampering suspensions of the last 15 years.

"But this is not a hostile proceeding," Reich said. "We do believe some of the treatment of Sammy has been hostile -- not just by the media, but in the court of public opinion. But this is not going to be a hostile process. It's simply an opportunity for the union and Sammy to present a fair defense. And that's all we ask."

Reich said Sosa acknowledges that "a mistake was made, and a rule was broken," that there was "no question there was going to be a suspension" and that once a decision is made on the appeal, "everybody will abide by it."

It's likely that in Sosa's apeal, his agents and the union will attempt to contrast his behavior with the behavior of Albert Belle, who was suspended for only six days (but seven games) after having his bat confiscated in 1994. Belle's teammate, Jason Grimsley, has admitted crawling through the ceiling of Jacobs Field to the umpire's room and switching the corked bat with another bat.

I agree that Sosa has handled this much better than Albert Belle did. However, one could argue that if a six-day/seven-game suspension wasn't enough of a deterrent, then uping the days is quite right. They haven't said when the decision will be handed down. I wonder if they'll wait until after interleague play is over so the AL teams hosting the Cubs get the full Sammy attendance effect?