The Chicago Cubs didn’t comment yet again with Sammy Sosa falling short of the 75 percent vote necessary for Cooperstown enshrinement.
The Cubs’ falling out with Sosa has been well publicized. The two sides haven’t really been on speaking terms for years, with Sosa finishing out his career with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. His final year in Chicago, 2004, he made the NL All-Star team.
In total with the Cubs, Sosa made seven All-Star teams, won an NL MVP, was a six-time Silver Slugger and won the Home Run Derby. He hit over 500 home runs with the team.
Those accomplishments have earned him much ill will with the organization, in part due to his connection with performance-enhancing drugs.
Yet, Sosa’s connection with PEDs are very similar to that of David Ortiz, who was just elected to Cooperstown and celebrated by his longtime franchise, the Boston Red Sox.
Cubs need to make things right with Sammy Sosa
There’s a little more to it than that, but you get the picture. Sosa is an enigma, and to this day claims he did not take PEDs despite a New York Times report linking him to a random positive test in 2003. It’s the same test that Ortiz reportedly failed, and the same test Rob Manfred claimed fans should ignore when questioning why Big Papi’s PED shortcoming was glossed over.
Ortiz belongs in the Hall, and he will forever have a spot there. It’s only right. But we cannot ignore Cooperstown’s infatuation with keeping the likes of Sosa, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens out in the cold, along with a large number of greats from the steroid era.
Perhaps even more shameful is the Cubs’ mistreatment and downright ignorance of Sosa since his departure. While the Giants and even Pirates have made things right with Bonds since his retirement, the Cubs won’t even acknowledge Sosa.
The Cubs, evidently, want some sort of apology or acknowledgment from Sosa that he knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs before welcoming him back with open arms.
But how do we know this is true about Sosa? Thus far, he has denied the allegations of steroid use at every turn.
The Cubs benefitted from Sosa’s success, whether it be via ticket and merchandise sales or the win column. It’s time to play nice and let bygones be bygones.