Cubs News: Sammy Sosa gives the fans what he wants with huge announcement

It's official. After being invited to Cubs Convention by team owner and chairman Tom Ricketts earlier this month, Sammy Sosa accepted the invite and will be in attendance at the annual fan fest next month.

It marks Sosa's first official Cubs-related appearance in more than two decades after his 13-year run with the North Side ended dramatically at the end of the 2004 season. Once the Ricketts family purchased the iconic franchise, they made it clear that Sosa would have to apologize for his long-suspected PED usage before being welcomed back into the fold.

After several close calls over the years, Sosa finally caved, giving ownership what they wanted via a statement earlier in December and setting the stage for what's sure to be an emotional reunion at the Sheraton on Jan. 17-19.

“There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games,” Sosa wrote in his apology on social media. “I never broke any laws. But in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.”

For an entire generation of fans, Sosa was Chicago Cubs baseball. He is the franchise leader in home runs (545), and ranks second in slugging percentage (.569) and OPS (.928) - and he's in the top 10 in several other notable categories. His four-year run from 1998 to 2001 is one of the most remarkable stretches by any player in baseball history - and that unforgettable '98 campaign and the Home Run Chase between Sosa and Mark McGwire is credited, by many, with saving baseball.

Fans will, at long last, get the chance to welcome Sosa back in a few short weeks. Cubs Convention's opening ceremonies feature a ballroom packed with fans at a fever pitch, excited to mark the unofficial start of another season - but with Kyle Tucker and, now Sosa, set to make appearances, the 2025 iteration has all the makings of something truly remarkable.