Chicago Cubs not welcoming Sammy Sosa back any time soon

Despite helping make the Chicago Cubs relevant, Sammy Sosa is still considered a persona non grata to the franchise.

There was a time when the Chicago Cubs were not just the Lovable Losers. They were losers, pure and simple. Fans would head out to the games for the beer and camaraderie, but the product on the field was not worth watching. That was, until Sammy Sosa became a superstar.

Slammin’ Sammy helped revitalize interest in baseball, and the Cubs, with his performance. As he and Mark McGwire each battled to break Roger Maris‘ single season home run record, they brought fans back to the game, drawing interest to a sport that had struggled to bring the fans back after the disastrous strike of 1994. Sosa, meanwhile, became a force with the Cubs, making seven All Star Games, hitting 60 or more homers in a year three times, and taking home the 1998 NL MVP Award.

However, his time with the club ended with a great deal of acrimony. Sosa had been accused of PED use, an allegation that had been unsubstantiated. He left 13 minutes after the first pitch of the final game of the 2004 season, speeding from the parking lot as his teammates played. His teammates smashed his boombox with a bat, and the Cubs traded Sosa to the Orioles four months later. He had worn out his welcome in Chicago, the team having grown tired of his selfish behavior and diva personality.

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To this day, Sosa remains a persona non grata in the Cubs clubhouse. Team owner Tom Ricketts has stated that the former star will not be allowed back to the Cubs unless he apologies for his PED use, saying that it is time that he comes clean. This stance exists even though Sosa never tested positive for PEDs, and was only guilty of using a corked bat in a game.

Sosa, meanwhile, has not exactly done himself any favors in the court of public opinion. He has consistently ripped into the Cubs in his interviews, playing the part of an innocent man wrongly slandered. In his mind, the Cubs need to apologize to how they have treated him.

Forgiveness, especially here, is a two way street. Sosa absolutely should have handled things differently during his time in Chicago, especially his departure in 2004. Meanwhile, the Cubs turned Sosa into their top drawing card, profiting from his power surge as he became a superstar. To ignore his contributions, especially now that the Cubs have finally found postseason success, is truly absurd.

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The Chicago Cubs and Sammy Sosa need to come to terms with one another. This stalemate needs to end.