You can credit Wrigley Field, superstation WGN, or just simply being in a big market. But the truth is that the Chicago Cubs would not be nearly as famous as they are today without Sammy Sosa. Even so, the organization has turned its back on him and is public about their lack of support to bring him back to Chicago. Well, the fight may be coming to an end.
It all really centers around the summer of 1998 when Sosa was fighting for the home run title with St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire. Not only was it a race for history, it was between the two biggest stars representing a side of one of the best rivalries in baseball. Sosa and McGwire essentially revived baseball with their slugfest, which McGwire ultimately won.
Then, you know what happened. The steroids, the trials, all the bad things. Sosa also exited the organization on not the best of terms. It was just a sad, bad time. But that was all over twenty years ago now. A lot of the fans who grew up admiring Sosa are adults now, including myself. So it’s weird how childish Tom Ricketts has been acting about bringing Sosa back to Wrigley because “he knows what he did.”
Do you know what he would do? Create more revenue than you could possibly fathom. That’s the language Ricketts likes to talk. And as he looks for more ways to make money, he may be coming around on his opinion.
Sammy Sosa is in Chicago this weekend for the first time in decades to sign autographs at a collectible show. Mike Berman of NBC Chicago tweeted out that Sosa said he and the Cubs are “getting close” to making amends and fixing their abandoned relationship.
Cubs fans have been begging for this for a decade now, and rightfully so. Sosa is such a big part of the history of the organization and a big reason why a lot of us are fans. If they were to announce a “Sammy Sosa Day” at Wrigley Field, it would be the most attended Cubs game in history – even more than the World Series games.
Ryne Sandberg, Fergie Jenkins, and Billy Williams are Cubs legends. They have their numbers retired, statues outside (Sandberg’s coming in June), and they are at the ballpark with the fans on a nightly basis. If you don’t think Sosa would do the same if given the opportunity, you’re wrong. He’s said it over and over again. He wants to come home.
It’s time for Tom Ricketts to do the right thing. It’s time to give Cubs fans what they want and give Sosa what he deserves. Bring Sammy home!
