So-So Chicago To Be Sans Sosa For Month Or So

Sammy Sosa faces at least a month without baseball, an agonizing experience for one of the game’s most enthusiastic, productive and heretofore durable players.

The Chicago Cubs confront a difficult proposition of their own - they must now chase a playoff spot without their popular power hitter, who leads the N.L. with 40 homers.

“When you lose a guy like me, it’s a big hole in the lineup. I realize that,” Sosa said Wednesday when X-rays revealed he would miss four to six weeks with a broken bone in his right hand.

“But they can do it. It will be a test. The way I was going, it’s tough to be out of the lineup and not helping out.”

Sosa, who also has 100 RBIs, was struck on the hand by a pitch from Florida’s Mark Hutton in the first inning of Tuesday’s game at Wrigley Field.

The injury ends Sosa’s streak of 304 consecutive games, the third-longest active streak in the majors behind Baltimore’s Cal Ripken and San Francisco’s Barry Bonds. Sosa had played in every game since July 13, 1994.

“We’re still in shock,” Cubs general manager Ed Lynch said, moments after making the announcement.

“He’s a guy we’ve relied on seven days a week since I’ve been here. It’s the most disappointing news I’ve gotten in my professional career.

“You take him for granted. For him not to be out there for one day is surprising, much less a month,” added Lynch.

Sosa had driven in the game-winning run in the Cubs’ final at-bat six times this year, including three times with game-ending homers. He was on pace for 52 homers and 131 RBIs after driving in a career-high 119 last season.

A streaky player, Sosa also led the N.L. with 134 strikeouts, but his performance is one of the main reasons the Cubs began Wednesday’s game just five games out of first in the Central Division, despite their .500 record. The Cubs defeated Florida 8-3 on Wednesday and first-place Houston lost to Pittsburgh 5-2, leaving Chicago four games out.

“It is tough,” Sosa said. “But you’ve got to take it like a man… . It’s the way baseball is.

“I don’t like to be like that because of the situation we’re in, going after the wild card and the playoffs.”

There is an outside chance Sosa could return before the end of the season, but it is not likely. The fractured bone is at the juncture of the wrist and hand.

“It’s too early to tell, it could be four, it could be six,” said Lynch.

“It’s probably six,” Sosa said.

In a cruel twist, Sosa was hit by Hutton with the bases loaded, giving him his 100th RBI. He batted twice more before being removed from the game, grounding out and popping out.

Sosa said he couldn’t sleep Tuesday night because of the pain and knew it would have to be X-rayed.

“There is no replacing, talent-for-talent, a Sammy Sosa-type guy,” said Cubs manager Jim Riggleman. “You lose a fine player who can win a game in a lot of ways, it will have a huge effect on the club.”

Sosa batted .273 in 124 games this season.