Chicago Cubs: Should the team welcome Sammy Sosa back?

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Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs (Photo credit should read JOHN ZICH/AFP via Getty Images) /

Should the Chicago Cubs welcome Sammy Sosa back after a tumultuous ending 15 years ago? Our Cubbies Crib writers weigh in.

I still remember the day that the Chicago Cubs traded Sammy Sosa to the Baltimore Orioles back in early 2005. My grandparents came into my work and told me. As soon as they did so, I took my left arm, with my Sosa watch on my wrist, and put it behind my back, embarrassed that I was once a big fan. I took it off when I got home and never wore it again.

I wasn’t surprised that it happened; after all, the last two years had been filled with controversy, including steroid rumors, the corked bat, and the once-beloved slugger leaving the team early at the end of the 2004 season. Yet it felt like a big part of my childhood ended that day.

I was 19 years old at the time. As a teenager, my bedroom was filled with Sammy Sosa posters and my shelves full of my Sosa baseball card collection. I was once a Sosa fanatic, but I had a hard time defending him to critical family and friends after what had happened over the past two seasons. I got rid of all my Sosa posters. I’ve tried to sell my cards on eBay, but I can’t get anything for them.

Since then, I’ve had a hard time picking another favorite player, out of fear that they would break my heart again. We can debate whether Sosa deserves the harsh treatment, yet the way the whole situation ended was still sad. To this day, Sosa has not been invited back to be a part of the Chicago Cubs; there’s been virtually no talk of retiring his number, though he is the team’s all-time home run leader.

Here we are, 15 years later, with new ownership and a whole cast of characters on the field, and Sosa is still on the outside looking in. Of course, it’s mostly up to him to help make amends as well; it’s not just on the team. Assuming Sosa was to reach out and try to return to Wrigley Field, should the Cubs welcome him back?

This is undoubtedly a controversial topic. Let’s hear from some of the Cubbies Crib writers.

Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs AFP PHOTO/John ZICH (Photo by JOHN ZICH / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOHN ZICH/AFP via Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: Our writers weigh in

Brian Johnston: As mentioned above, there’s a big part of me that is still upset about how the Sammy Sosa situation ended. His antics were charming back when he was hitting over 60 home runs in a season, but they got to be annoying towards the end of his time with the team.

That being said, I think it’s time for the two sides to get together and work this out. It seems absurd that the Cubs would just act like a huge part of their history didn’t exist. All controversy aside, the modern Cubs would not be what they are without Sammy Sosa. He was a key part of 1998, 2003, and so many other important moments in Cubs history. Fifteen years later, I’m willing to move past everything that happened and recognize Sosa’s achievements with the team. Just don’t expect me to start collecting his cards again.

Alex Patt: Sammy Sosa is such a controversial subject not only because of the steroid allegations, but the way his tenure ended with the Chicago Cubs. The situation has produced so many mixed feelings among fans and division between the base on whether or not the Cubs should extend the olive branch.

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Me? I think the relationship needs to be mended. This means both sides need to reach peace. What gets me, however, is how that the Ricketts family had nothing to do with the Cubs during the Sosa era, Sam Zell and the Chicago Tribune-owned the Cubs at the time, so it’s a little odd to me why the Ricketts seems to take it so personally. Regardless, Sosa making things right with genuine acts of remorse would feel like a big step. Even with the ugly ending, Sosa brought so much joy and excitement to fans in the late 90s, early 2000s, when the franchise was in a pit of irrelevancy, and the sport of baseball had turned away so many people after the infamous strike of 1994.

It’s time for both sides to get together, mend the relationship, and bring him back to Wrigley Field.

Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs (Photo credit should read DANIEL LIPPITT/AFP via Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: More writers weigh in

Jim Guzior: Sammy Sosa is nothing, if not a Chicago Cub.

If there’s one thing that we’re learning in the “new normal,” it’s certainly that life is too short. To my knowledge, at this time, Sammy Sosa has never admitted to anyone, including Congress, that he took anything illegal. So why not welcome a part of the Cubs legacy back into the fold? Sosa is part of Cubs history and a part of all of us who watched and cheered for him. There has been nothing conclusive proven about Sosa that would change that. Sosa is really nothing, if not a Chicago Cub.

Jake Misener: There’s no question – it’s time the Chicago Cubs and Sammy Sosa bury the hatchet (and not in each other’s backs). For more than a decade, Sosa filled Wrigley Field and the surrounding streets with Cubs faithful, clamoring to see history. Even before his 1998 National League MVP season, this was a guy who was one of the most prodigious offensive threats in the game. He played an indelible role in Cubs’ history and it’s time the organization respects and accepts that.

Next. Three players who may have played their last game at Wrigley. dark

Nicholas D. Blazek: It’s no secret, I don’t want Sosa back. Even if we were captivated by it, I can’t do it. I’ll admit, he saved the game of baseball. Him and Mark McGwire. But he and McGwire are on my ‘Do not vote for the Hall of Fame.’ I appreciate what he did, I do. But I can’t do it.

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Should the Chicago Cubs welcome Sammy Sosa back after a tumultuous ending 15 years ago? Our Cubbies Crib writers weigh in.

Chicago Cubs: Our writers weigh in

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Chicago Cubs: More writers weigh in

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