Cubs owner insists Sammy Sosa 'put everything on the table' regarding alleged PED use
We’ve been down this road many times before. Every year, in fact, when the Cubs Convention rolls around in Chicago, fans wonder if this might be the year Sammy Sosa is finally welcomed back into the fold.
Well, Cubs Convention has arrived this weekend, but once again there’s no Sammy Sosa. Based on the latest comments from Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
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According to several reporters on the scene, Ricketts was again asked about Sosa’s status during a fan Q & A session on Saturday morning. In response, Ricketts continued to insist that Sosa and other players from the PED era owed everyone a little honesty, suggesting that Sosa “put everything on the table” regarding his alleged steroid use before he’d ever consider extending an invitation.
Ricketts said he feels players from steroid era need to put all their cards on the table and own up to it.
Reading between the lines: Sammy Sosa should own up to doing PEDs and then can be welcomed back to Cubs Convention.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) January 13, 2018
The response is nothing, if not consistent. At the Cubs Convention in 2016, Ricketts said the following about Sosa:
“For me, Sammy’s a great person, he was a great player, obviously one of my favorite players for many years as a Cub, but I just feel like there are certain things that over time should happen before players are welcomed back. I’d just like to see — not just talking about Sammy — I’d like to see all of baseball kind of shine some light on everything that happened or didn’t happen. I think that would bring more closure.
“But for the time being, I think we’ll just leave things (with Sosa) as they are.”
Ricketts said then that he would be forgiving to past alleged PED users under the right circumstances. What those circumstances are beyond apparently telling Ricketts what he wants to hear, is unknown.
What is known is that a lot of Cubs fans and baseball people in general don’t share the same feelings as Ricketts. They’d like to see Sosa acknowledged for energizing Wrigley Field during times when the Cubs weren’t so good, and when they otherwise had no reason to watch.
They should be thanking Sammy Sosa and McGwire. They saved baseball after the strike BS. Never understood the hate. MLB through them under the bus, IMO
— kjwchicago (@kjw_chicago) January 13, 2018
It's the 1 thing the Cubs have failed at in this new era, treating Sammy Sosa like he didn't elevate this franchise. Lie to yourself if you want but you know that you were cheering for Sammy when he was a Cub. Then you act all indignant now that he allegedly took PEDs, GTFOH https://t.co/YHvwVJblTQ
— Herb Lawrence (@Ecnerwal23) January 13, 2018
you can say what you want about Sammy Sosa but he was the Cubs after Sandberg and Grace left, he put the franchise on his back for almost a decade
— 0expectations (@mathewlyman) January 13, 2018
Others have pointed out the apparent hypocrisy in Ricketts’ statement.
The cubs hired Manny Ramirez, but Sammy Sosa is persona non grata?
— Mike Lox (@mike_lox) January 13, 2018
While others still believe it’s the owners from that generation that owe all of us an explanation for willingly turning a blind eye to it while raking in the money.
The owners from the steroid era need to put all their cards on the table and own up to how much money they made off the backs of players they knew or should have known were on steroids. https://t.co/7UbEbg9Pig
— Ben K. (@benyankee) January 13, 2018
Ricketts, of course, was not around during that era. He’s also entitled to handle his business as he sees fit. But this is one area where the fans aren’t going to back down.
With that in mind, it’s safe to assume both Ricketts and Sosa will continue standing their ground as well. That means we’re looking at a stalemate that will only continue to rob fans of their chance to acknowledge Sosa in a meaningful way, while accomplishing next to nothing beyond that.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Yahoo Sports Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
