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For Chicago Cubs fans who are waiting to see Sammy Sosa welcomed back at Wrigley Field, you might be waiting for a long time. Every time this subject comes up, either if Tom Ricketts is asked about it, or Sosa is, it seems like the chances that the Cubs’ all-time great will be back on the North Side get smaller and smaller.
Every single time Ricketts has brought up the fact that Sosa owes the Cubs an apology and of course that hasn’t happened yet. However, it turns out that in 2014, Sosa agreed to bend the knee to Ricketts, but then he backed out almost immediately.
That was revealed in a great in-depth article about Sosa in Sports Illustrated. Check it out. It’s a good read.
Anyway, here’s how close Cubs fans were to finally seeing a reunion.
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Via SI.
The Cubs’ mark on Sosa, though, hasn’t always been indelible. According to a source close to the club, representatives of the Cubs met with Sosa in 2014, at the behest of Dominican government officials, to discuss a possible homecoming. According to the source, Sosa agreed that he would issue an apology—that is, something to acknowledge malfeasance, but short of a total confession. The next day, Sosa backed out.
Sosa explained the reason he backed out.
Through an email from a spokesperson, Sosa confirms this account: In an effort to put the past behind us I agreed to meet with a PR firm representing the Cubs. Everyone signed confidentiality agreements, so I do not bring this up in interviews. All I will say is that after meeting with this group, I agreed to make a statement that would heal things. Both sides agreed upon this statement. When the time came, I felt like I was being swept up in a PR machine that was moving way too fast and not adhering to the spirit of our agreement, so I pulled out. I never met with anyone from the Cubs and do not hold anything against them. I always wish them well. —Sammy
Well, so much for that.
Personally, I still think it’s complete nonsense that Ricketts is demanding an apology from Sammy. But whatever. Both sides can’t seem to come to any sort of agreement and going by Sosa’s comments it doesn’t appear as though we’re any closer to seeing a homecoming party.
As much as I love Sammy, considering he’s the main reason I became a Cubs fan in the late 90s, he does say some dumb shit. This SI piece included this quote from him.
“I passed Ernie Banks for most home runs in Chicago Cubs history,” he says. “He has a statue, and I don’t have nothing. So, what the f—?”
But still, completely behind Sammy on this bullshit apology thing from Ricketts.
He expresses frustration, too, with the Ricketts family, who insist that they run a values-driven organization and who have publicly maintained a hard line toward Sosa—harder than any other owner of a club that once employed a legend of the steroid era. “They come in and buy the team and they have a mark on me, and I don’t know why,” Sosa says. Of chairman Tom Ricketts, Sosa says, “This guy never was there when I was there.”
Maybe one day Sammy will be back home. Not looking great right now, though.
