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It’s still hard for me to fathom that a guy who was once the face of the organization, a sure fire Hall of Famer, and a player who was revered by the majority of fans has been non-existent the past 15 years.
The beginning of the end between Sosa and the Cubs came during the final game of the 2004 season. Sosa showed up 70 minutes late for the game and then requested that he be allowed to leave the field just 15 minutes after the first pitch.
“The last day of the season, the last game, I asked (assistant trainer) Sandy Krum to talk to Mr. Dusty Baker and ask him if I could leave early. He said yes, that I could go. That was a mistake by me. I should have stayed there. It was the last game. My intention was to finish my career in Chicago.”
Sosa arrived at the ballpark under the notion that he would not be playing that day so he arrived at Wrigley not in uniform. Sosa then told team officials that he was in the clubhouse until the seventh inning even though security cameras caught him leaving early in the game.
After being fined one-day’s pay by the team, a frustrated Sosa lashed out when asked about the incident and essentially blamed Cubs management for blaming him for the team’s struggles. The ironic thing about this incident is that even Sosa’s agent, Adam Katz, was quoted by the Tribune downplaying the incident that would eventually run Sosa out of town.
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“I fully expect this to be a non-issue within the next several days,” he said.
Whoops.
