Column: Remembering the ‘Sammy Wars' and other tales from Sosa's long and storied Chicago Cubs career
Closure is something we all crave, whether it's the perfect ending to a favorite TV series or a resolution of a real-life relationship.
The closure of the long-running Sammy Sosa saga felt like a little of both, part 'Breaking Bad' finale and part end of a nearly three-decade story I've covered off and on at the Tribune.
Now that Sosa is back at Wrigley Field, the story is complete.
But how it ever got to this point was somehow overlooked in the Cubs' 'Welcome back, Sammy' production, which ignored his feud with ownership over an admission that was not forthcoming.
For most Cubs fans, Sosa was a star of a long-running series they had watched for years, with some episodes — the corked bat, the great home run race, the sneeze, the final walkout and the destroyed boom box mystery — more memorable than others. For reporters covering the Cubs, Sosa was almost a separate beat, and competition for scoops — on contract extensions, his true feelings about the manager or whatever — was fierce.
The Sammy Wars were a daily thing between the Tribune and Sun-Times for many years, and as much as he helped enrich the Cubs, he also sold a lot of newspapers in this sports-crazed town.
Sosa's mid-career trajectory from serviceable slugger to superstar was dramatic, and by baseball standards, happened almost overnight. Sosa had a combined 22.4 bWAR over his first nine seasons, from 1989-97, with one All-Star appearance in 1995. Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox snubbed him when picking the 1996 and '97 National League reserves, and Sosa begged out of the '98 game with a shoulder bruise after being selected as a reserve despite hitting 20 home runs in June.
On the final weekend of the 1997 season, manager Jim Riggleman alluded to Sosa in a rant to the media about a 'me-first' culture in the Cubs clubhouse. One the final weekend of a lost season, he berated Sosa in the dugout in St. Louis, in front of teammates such as Mark Grace and Ryne Sandberg, for ignoring a sign and getting thrown out on a steal attempt. That was also the weekend that bulked-up Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire went for Roger Maris' seemingly unbreakable home run mark, hitting three off Cubs pitching to finish with 58, three shy of the record.
Sosa was paying attention. A bulked-up Sosa 2.0 showed up for spring training in 1998, and the great home run race with McGwire was about to begin. From 1998-2004, Sosa posted a 37.1 WAR, setting franchise records for home runs and becoming the Sammy Sosa that was feted Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, ending his 20-year exile with the organization.
It was a different Sosa than I remembered covering as a player. Still cocky enough to say he would be able to hit as many home runs onto Waveland Avenue despite the giant video board blocking his power zone but humble enough to act gracious for a chance from Chairman Tom Ricketts to return to what he called his 'home.'
I spoke with Sosa a few weeks ago about his impending visit and told him he should go sit in the right-field bleachers behind Pete Crow-Armstrong, sharing time with his 'people,' the right-field bleacher bums. He laughed and ignored my unsolicited advice. Some things never change.
There was no chance for spontaneity Friday anyway. The Cubs made no announcement of Sosa's return for fans, only to see the news leaked in the morning. This would be a Cubs production, directed by the Cubs for the sole purpose of promoting the Cubs. There was no time for anything that could not be scripted, from the bro hug with Ricketts to the in-game visit to the radio and TV booths to the postgame interview on Marquee Sports Network.
Manager Craig Council gladly trumpeted Sosa's legendary status while reducing the steroids era to two words: 'History happens.'
I thought perhaps Sosa could talk to the players, maybe give them a pregame pep talk before their game against the Seattle Mariners.
'He's not here to talk to the team,' Counsell said. 'He's here to … none of the guys that come in talk to the team.'
Here to what? Why was Sosa here?
'Because we bring Hall of Famers back to Wrigley, and for the fans,' he said. 'You're not aware of that? You should probably do some work.'
The Tribune regrets the error.
Friday also provided closure for Ricketts, who for years demanded an apology/admission from Sosa and thought he had it in 2014 when radio co-hosts David Haugh and David Kaplan were dispatched to Miami for an interview with the former Cub star, who would 'acknowledge malfeasance.'
But Sosa abruptly canceled and later told Sports Illustrated in a 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.'
Ten years later, Sosa's people issued a semi-apology statement for making 'mistakes' by doing things to 'recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games.' He was then invited to the Cubs Convention and elected into the Cubs Hall of Fame.
But at the convention he told the media he wasn't apologizing for any PED stuff but for depriving Cubs fans of his presence during the separation.
The Cubs regret the error.
It was a classic bat-and-switch. But Ricketts, at that point, didn't seem to care. He just wanted it over, like everyone else.
'We kind of inherited this Sammy situation from 2004, and it's always been a goal to put it behind us,' Ricketts told Tribune Cubs writer Meghan Montemurro at the convention. 'And I think that this year, the timing was right, and I think Sammy was in the right place, and it all worked out so I'm just happy.'
Sosa repeated the narrative Friday, saying it was all just a matter of timing.
'I'm here now,' he said.
It was nice to see Sosa back, adding some closure to our relationship, which was hot and cold, depending on whatever controversy was unfolding that day. During the height of the Sammy Wars, he was considered a Sun-Times guy, which the paper smartly used to its advantage, particularly whenever Sosa's contract was up for discussion.
'We're certainly the pro-Sammy newspaper,' former Sun-Time sports editor Bill Adee told the Chicago Reader in 2000. 'Sammy lives in my building. At the end of the night we ride up the elevator together.' Facetiously asked whether Sosa thought the paper was party to a 'corporate conspiracy' by Tribune Co. against him, Adee replied: 'Yeah, I think he does. Sure — which is to our advantage. As you well know, conflicts of interest — perceived or real, it doesn't really matter. When Sammy thinks Tribune Company, he thinks of the newspaper, the whole deal. He doesn't make a distinction.'
Sosa continued to sell newspapers when Adee later moved to the dark side and joined the Tribune as sports editor. Good, bad or ugly, people have always been interested in the Sosa saga.
Someday it'll make a great Netflix series.
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