If it isn’t apparent by now that Tom Ricketts desires no a part of a Sammy Sosa reunion, I don’t know what else the Chicago Cubs chairman can say to finish the dialogue.
Except maybe by shouting: “No Sammy now. No Sammy ever.”
The Sosa conundrum by no means will go away till Ricketts definitively says “not on my watch.” Because his household has no intention of promoting the Cubs, I can envision his children answering the identical questions on Sosa’s standing on the 2043 Cubs Convention in Arlington Heights.
Instead, Ricketts retains leaving the door open as if it’s completely out of his management. He even stated Saturday on the Cubs Convention that maybe the Cubs and Sosa sometime would “find a way that works for everyone.”
The Sammy-in-exile saga, which misplaced steam in the course of the pandemic because of the cancellation of the Cubs Convention in 2021 and ‘22, was entrance and heart once more this weekend on the resumption of the annual fan fest.
On Friday, Ricketts was on stage introducing the latest members of the group’s Hall of Fame, teasing the followers with out saying their names to assist construct suspense. Some followers started chanting, “Sam-my, Sam-my.”
“Not Sammy,” an aggravated Ricketts replied. “He’s not even eligible yet.”
That’s true. According to these concerned within the voting course of, Sosa gained’t be eligible till 2024 due to an arbitrary deadline the Cubs set. Why they needed to maintain kicking the can down the highway on Sosa’s eligibility is a query solely the Cubs can reply.
Anyway, Ricketts then introduced the brand new Cubs Hall of Famers, Mark Grace and Shawon Dunston, each of whom have been Sosa’s teammates within the Nineties. Dunston retired after the 2002 season and Grace retired after 2003. Sosa final performed for the Cubs in 2004 and retired after 2007.
Ricketts was requested Saturday throughout a question-and-answer session along with his sister, Laura, “What’s the problem with Sammy?” He answered that he sees “both sides” of the talk however had “nothing new to report at the end of the day.”
It was a meandering approach of claiming, “Not happening, dude.”
Later, one other fan pointedly informed Ricketts that the explanation he turned a Cubs fan was “watching Sammy Sosa,” not due to the present house owners. Ricketts answered that the Baseball Hall of Fame voters have a difficulty with Sosa, who hasn’t come near being elected. He made no point out of performance-enhancing medicine, but it surely was apparent what that situation was.
Ricketts added that he desires to be “thoughtful” about ending the Cubs’ lengthy separation with Sosa and that the story isn’t over.
“I don’t think the final chapter is written on this,” he stated.
Apparently the ultimate chapter will probably be written when Sosa turns into eligible for the Cubs Hall of Fame subsequent yr. Will he get in, forcing the Cubs to honor him with a plaque and an invite to the ceremony?
I later requested Ryne Sandberg, who could have a statue erected in 2024, how he felt about Sosa being honored at Wrigley Field.
“Yeah, if that can get all worked out and if both sides can come together on that and do it rightfully and professionally,” he replied. “If there are issues to (repair), generally to fix one thing there must be apologies and issues like that.
“That’s how relationships work. So it’s about the relationship. I really don’t know, but I think that’s kind of what it takes.”
That appeared like Sandberg was in favor of a reunion, assuming Sosa apologized. But Sandberg then talked about the necessity to play the sport “the right way” and talked about that he stated “respect the game” or play it “the right way” 28 occasions throughout his Baseball Hall of Fame speech.
“There was a little problem there with the way Sammy played the game,” he stated. “And if that’s a roadblock, that’s a roadblock.”
Virtually nobody believes Sosa will admit to utilizing PEDs at this level, a lot much less apologize for it. That roadblock by no means will probably be eliminated.
He has given interviews suggesting he feels scapegoated by the sport for the so-called “steroid era,” which has seen alleged PED customers admitted to the Hall of Fame during the last decade.
He has seen Alex Rodriguez, an admitted PED consumer who was suspended by MLB, be welcomed by the sport and given a outstanding position as a Fox Sports analyst.
He has seen one other PED offender, Manny Ramirez, be employed as a participant and minor-league hitting coach by the identical Cubs proprietor now demanding an apology from Sosa.
And he has watched Barry Bonds have his quantity retired in San Francisco in entrance of an adoring crowd despite his transgressions.
This lengthy, tedious dance over a Sosa reunion gained’t finish quickly. Sosa’s Cubs profession will probably be highlighted once more this summer season, the twentieth anniversary of the memorable 2003 season that included Sosa’s corked bat episode in June.
MLB was complicit in that one, permitting a 10-minute interval for Sosa’s different bats to be faraway from the Cubs clubhouse earlier than a search was carried out, giving him the excuse he merely was utilizing a batting apply bat as an alternative of getting a number of corked bats.
Despite that incident — and the PED allegations and the final-day walkout in 2004 — a vocal phase of Cubs followers nonetheless is keen to forgive and neglect, hoping to provide Sosa one final tribute at Wrigley. But the ultimate say could also be within the palms of the Cubs Hall of Fame voters.
Most of these voters are pals and media colleagues I’ve recognized for a few years. I’ve spoken to fairly just a few of them in latest months, and except they’ve a change of coronary heart, I’d be shocked if Sosa musters sufficient assist to get inducted in 2024.
The members of the voting committee, chosen by Cubs executives, gained’t should reveal their decisions, as most baseball writers do on the Baseball Hall of Fame poll. But I hope they do clarify their votes on Sosa for the sake of transparency. After all these years of debating Sosa, Cubs followers deserve that.
Maybe the voters will shock me and elect him, leaving it as much as Sosa whether or not he would settle for the glory and return to Wrigley.
Could Sammy presumably ghost the house owners at his personal Cubs Hall of Fame induction?
That may be the right ending to this story.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com
