Konerko: Show me the proof

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CHICAGO -- Sammy Sosa may have been slamming balls with the aid of performance-enhancers, but Chicago White Sox slugger Paul Konerko wasn't quite ready to believe it.

He wants more evidence.

Konerko

Slammin' Sammy became the latest in a line of stars implicated in steroids use when The New York Times reported Tuesday he was among the 104 players who tested positive in baseball's anonymous 2003 survey. The paper cited lawyers with knowledge of the 2003 drug-testing results who spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to publicly discuss material under court seal.

In Konerko's mind, there are "only two ways this becomes a story."

"Put your name behind it," Konerko said before Wednesday's game against the Chicago Cubs. "Put your face out there and tell people who you are. Or, Sammy's going to admit to it and that's what happened in the Alex Rodriguez thing."

Rodriguez admitted using steroids from 2001 to 2003 while he was with Texas, following a report by Sports Illustrated that his name was on the list.

Sosa, who last played in the majors in 2007, also with the Rangers, hit all but 64 of his 609 homers with the Cubs and ranks sixth on baseball's home run list. He denied in a 2005 congressional hearing ever taking "illegal performance-enhancing drugs" but stated carefully: "I have not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic."

The list has been subject to a protracted court fight by the players' association, which maintains federal prosecutors seized it illegally in 2004. The case is currently before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Konerko doesn't think it should be made public.

"When two sides sign a contract, usually you try to uphold it," he said.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

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