Torre Offers Little About Sosa Talks

With trade rumors involving Sammy Sosa swirling, George Steinbrenner showed up at Yankee Stadium Tuesday and had a closed-door meeting with Joe Torre.

The New York Yankees’ owner talked to Torre for about a half-hour. The manager told few details of the meeting, only to say the Chicago Cub slugger was a topic.

“The name was mentioned,” Torre said. “But it was never mentioned in a ‘What do you think?’ kind of way.”

Torre also said, “The Yankees are interested in helping their club. A guy hits 60 home runs two years in a row, that’s a big deal. He’s the name that seems to be the popular one.”

At Wrigley Field, Sosa tried to slough off the speculation.

“I don’t have any control about my future,” Sosa, who can veto any trade, said before the Cubs played the New York Mets. “I’m still loyal to my fans. I don’t want it to look like I’m a bad guy. I’m just here to play my game.”

Cub General Manager Ed Lynch said he been contacted by a few teams about the three-time All-Star and 1998 National League MVP. The outfielder began the day batting .306 with 19 home runs and 58 RBIs.

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In the ultimate day-night doubleheader, the New York Mets and Yankees will make up a rainout by playing a day game at Shea Stadium on July 8, followed a few hours later by a night game between the same teams, 10 miles away at Yankee Stadium.

It would be the first doubleheader between teams at different ballparks in 97 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball’s statistician.

On Sept. 7, 1903, which was Labor Day, the New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Superbas (the team’s nickname eventually became the Dodgers) in the morning before 9,300 at Washington Park in Brooklyn. In the afternoon, Henry Schmidt’s four-hitter led Brooklyn to a win before 23,623 at the Polo Grounds.

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With his team playing badly and beginning to behave accordingly, Houston Astro General Manager Gerry Hunsicker held a 25-minute meeting before Tuesday night’s game against the Colorado Rockies.

The closed-door session came two days after rookie catcher Mitch Meluskey punched teammate Matt Mieske in the eye during batting practice before Houston’s loss in San Diego.

“This isn’t the first time that members of the same team got into a fight. That in itself wasn’t alarming,” Hunsicker said. “But the fact that it happened out in public, at that point it became a real embarrassment to the team and to the organization.”

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Cleveland reliever Tom Martin, who appeared in 21 games this season, was put on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his left shoulder. . . . The Pittsburgh Pirates put outfielder Adrian Brown on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left hamstring.