Let me preface the following article with this:
I love Sammy Sosa.
Not only do I love Sosa but I also love what he did for Cubs fans during his time with the team from 1992-2004. He arguably saw the worst of times (65-97 in 2000) and the best of times (88-74 in 2003) during his 12 years with the team. I'll always remember the home run chase with Mark McGwire in '98, the MVP, the moon shots he hit onto Waveland, and of course the good ol' pop and hop.
I'd venture to guess that I'd be in the minority of Cubs fans (and probably baseball fans) who who still like Sosa. He left the team on very bad terms in 2004 and seemingly hasn't looked back since. You never see him around the stadium, he's never sung the "7th Inning Stretch," and more importantly, he played no part in helping the team celebrate their first World Series championship in over a century.
A championship that he helped lay the foundation for.
Former Cubs media relations employee Chuck Wasserstrom spoke with Sosa over Skype and documented the conversation in his own personal blog. After reading the conversation, I feel like I understand why neither Sosa or the Cubs have been able to mend what was once a very tight relationship.
It's still hard for me to fathom that a guy who was once the face of the organization, a sure fire Hall of Famer, and a player who was revered by the majority of fans has been non-existent the past 15 years.
The beginning of the end between Sosa and the Cubs came during the final game of the 2004 season. Sosa showed up 70 minutes late for the game and then requested that he be allowed to leave the field just 15 minutes after the first pitch.
You be the judge.[/caption]
After reading that Jesus quote I literally laughed out loud but then I realized that was one of the aspects that I loved about Sosa: his flair, his showmanship, his confidence to say things that most of us would be too scared to say.
And even though he hasn't played in a game since 2007, Sammy showed he still had the same swagger that saw him hit 609 home runs – including a club-record 545 as a Chicago Cub, play in seven All-Star Games, and win six Silver Slugger Awards.
When asked if he'd come back and see the new and improved Wrigley Field, Sosa said he'd have no problem coming back -- only if they invited him.
"The last day of the season, the last game, I asked (assistant trainer) Sandy Krum to talk to Mr. Dusty Baker and ask him if I could leave early. He said yes, that I could go. That was a mistake by me. I should have stayed there. It was the last game. My intention was to finish my career in Chicago."Sosa arrived at the ballpark under the notion that he would not be playing that day so he arrived at Wrigley not in uniform. Sosa then told team officials that he was in the clubhouse until the seventh inning even though security cameras caught him leaving early in the game. After being fined one-day's pay by the team, a frustrated Sosa lashed out when asked about the incident and essentially blamed Cubs management for blaming him for the team's struggles. The ironic thing about this incident is that even Sosa's agent, Adam Katz, was quoted by the Tribune downplaying the incident that would eventually run Sosa out of town.
"I fully expect this to be a non-issue within the next several days," he said.Whoops. Sosa would be traded February 2, 2005 to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Jerry Hairston, Mike Fontenot and Dave Crouthers. The part that frustrates me the most about Sosa's time in Chicago was the amount of shit that he took AFTER he left the team. One of the biggest shit storms Sosa had to face was (and is) his alleged usage of performance enhancing drugs, PEDs. Sosa was quick to shut those down yet again.
"First of all, I’m clean. They don’t have a case on me. I never failed a drug test. Never in my life."Sosa then compared himself to Jesus Christ. Seriously.
"It’s like Jesus Christ when he came to Jerusalem. Everybody thought Jesus Christ was a witch (laughing) – and he was our savior. So if they talk (poop) about Jesus Christ, what about me? Are you kidding me?”Look, I love Sosa but I think everyone can agree he was juicing on something. In the height of baseball's PED era, it's hard to explain to me how a player transforms like this from "hard work." [caption id="attachment_51244" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
You be the judge.[/caption]
After reading that Jesus quote I literally laughed out loud but then I realized that was one of the aspects that I loved about Sosa: his flair, his showmanship, his confidence to say things that most of us would be too scared to say.
And even though he hasn't played in a game since 2007, Sammy showed he still had the same swagger that saw him hit 609 home runs – including a club-record 545 as a Chicago Cub, play in seven All-Star Games, and win six Silver Slugger Awards.
When asked if he'd come back and see the new and improved Wrigley Field, Sosa said he'd have no problem coming back -- only if they invited him.
"This is my house – no matter what happened (at the end). My numbers – nobody is going to take them from me. Not even Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, hit that many home runs. And I did it with style (laughing). But if they invite me, why not? One day, if they invite me, a lot of people will be very happy about it.”If the day comes that they DO invite Sammy back to Wrigley you can bet your ass that I'll be sitting in the right field bleachers starting the famous, "SAM-MY, SAM-MY" chant with the rest of his former fans. Even though there may not be that many left.
