Shawon Dunston and Mark Grace entered the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame on Sunday throughout a pregame ceremony at Wrigley Field, becoming a member of former teammates Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson, amongst others.
Dunston was honored Friday at Wrigley with a video tribute, whereas Grace had his tribute throughout Saturday’s sport.
Dunston stated he was humbled by the distinction, although he didn’t take into account himself in the identical group as Sandberg, Dawson, Grace, Fergie Jenkins and others. Dunston spent 12 years on the North Side and have become a fan favourite for the best way he performed the sport.
“I put it out there every day and tried my hardest,” Dunston stated. “I wasn’t always the best, but I always put the team first, before myself, just like I put my family before myself. I think they appreciate the way I played.”
The subsequent huge query is whether or not Sammy Sosa will make the Class of 2024, which will probably be voted upon after this season. The inductees will probably be introduced on the Cubs Convention in January.
Sosa has not returned to Wrigley Field since leaving the Cubs clubhouse through the ultimate sport of the 2004 season and has been persona non grata because the Ricketts household purchased the workforce from Tribune Co. in 2010.
Overtures from the workforce to deliver Sosa again have failed through the years, principally because of the Cubs’ insistence that Sosa apologize for his alleged use of performance-enhancing medication.
“Players of that era owe us a little bit of honesty too,” Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts stated on the 2018 conference. “I feel like the only way to turn this page is just to put everything on the table. That’s the way I feel.”
Sosa denied ever utilizing PEDs, although widespread allegations have stored him from getting elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, simply as Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds have been denied.
Sosa must be on the upcoming poll for the Cubs Hall of Fame, although his nomination could possibly be delayed till after the 2024 season, relying on what poll the Cubs advertising division presents to Hall voters. Eligibility of gamers for the Class of 2023 was restricted to these whose careers ended earlier than the top of 2000.
The 13-member voting committee consists of eight media members and 5 former gamers within the Cubs Hall of Fame. Sosa would want 10 votes to get inducted.
Sosa’s numbers should not in query. His repute can be the one factor protecting him out.
“That’s a tough one,” stated former Cub Steve Trachsel, who returned to Wrigley to have fun the inductions of Grace and Dunston. “A lot of the really big stuff I heard about happened after I left. But if (Sosa and the Rickettses) can have their Kumbaya moment, why not?”
The San Francisco Giants welcomed Bonds into their household despite his PED previous.
“Well, San Francisco supposedly is a little more tolerant than other cities are supposed to be,” Trachsel stated. “But maybe time helps everything.”
The Cleveland Guardians lately inducted famous PED consumer Manny Ramirez into their Hall of Fame, and Mark McGwire is within the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame. Admitted steroid consumer Alex Rodriguez has been a fixture in nationwide broadcast cubicles with the backing of Major League Baseball.
David Ortiz was inducted within the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 in his first 12 months of eligibility regardless of a 2009 New York Times report citing Ortiz as certainly one of greater than 100 gamers who registered a constructive check throughout spring coaching in 2003.
Former Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, Sosa’s teammate within the early 2000s, nonetheless retains in contact with the retired outfielder, who lives in Miami.
“He should come back, and I know the fans would appreciate that,” Zambrano stated. “Do no matter it takes to get again. Hey, all of us make errors. I made errors. It’d be good for Sammy to return and say ‘I apologize’ for no matter he did.
“Sammy should be here and he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but it’s up to him. I’d like to be the one to bring him back.”
Debate over Sosa’s separation from the Cubs has been an annual a part of the Cubs Convention, and Chairman Tom Ricketts has been requested about it for years. The Cubs reportedly closed the door on a reunion in 2017 after Sosa in contrast himself to being persecuted like Jesus Christ in a 2017 interview.
Whether Sosa would return is anybody’s guess. In 2013, Sosa stated the Cubs ought to retire his No. 21.
“That is something I want to happen,” he stated. “I’m surprised it didn’t happen before, but time will determine everything. When that happens, I would be more comfortable and (happier). I will be there with all my family. This is a good number that I carried for (13) years in Chicago and I represented that number, so that number should have been retired a long time ago.”
Several Cubs have worn No. 21 since, together with Milton Bradley, Luis Valbuena, Joe Mather, Scott Hairston, Junior Lake and Tyler Chatwood.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com