Cubs' Ricketts: Sosa must come clean before being welcomed back
Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts has drawn a line in the sand for franchise home run leader Sammy Sosa if he wishes to ever be welcomed back by the team.
Ricketts, speaking at the Cubs' annual fan convention Saturday, said Sosa must "put everything on the table" in regards to alleged performance-enhancing drug use during his playing days in order to begin repairing his relationship with the club.
Sosa hasn't been invited back to take part in any official Cubs-related activities since he retired in 2007.
"Players from that era owe us a little bit of honesty," Ricketts said. "The only way to turn that page is to put everything on the table.
"I think we have to be sympathetic to that era ... but the players owe us some honesty, too."
Sosa never officially tested positive for steroids during his career. However, he was one of the players to be listed as testing positive in baseball's 2003 anonymous survey on PED use, the results of which were revealed by the New York Times in 2009.
According to a report from the Chicago Tribune last February, Ricketts and the Cubs closed the door on any potential Sosa reconciliation following comments the slugger made comparing himself to Jesus Christ in an interview with blogger Chuck Wasserstrom. In that same interview, Sosa said he would say yes if the Cubs invited him back.
Sosa hit 545 of his 609 career home runs as a member of the Cubs, where he spent 13 seasons of his 18-year career. The 49-year-old continues to receive little Hall of Fame support, receiving just 8.6 percent of the vote in his fifth year of eligibility in 2017.
--Field Level Media
