By Gary Is
January 20 2018

It seems a little odd that a ballplayer who is a certain club’s all-time home run leader would be persona non grata at the ballpark but that’s exactly what’s happening with Sammy Sosa and the Chicago Cubs.

Sosa hit 545 home runs in his thirteen years (1992-2004) as a Cubs slugger (609 in total) and that record still stands today. He is highly revered among Cubs fans but the one person who really matters doesn’t feel the same way.

Owner Tom Ricketts said on Saturday at the Cubs’ annual fan convention that Sosa needs to “put everything on the table” in regards to his alleged steroid use if he ever wants to be welcomed back by the Cubs.

“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.”

While Sosa’s use of steroids in his career may be harming his chances of joining the hallowed Baseball Hall of Fame (2018 marks his sixth year on the Hall of Fame ballot and he has yet to garner more than 12.5% of the vote) it seems that this isn’t the bone of contention for the Cubs owner.  Case in point is the Cubs’ signing of Manny Ramirez as hitting consultant.  Ramirez retired in 2011 after testing positive for steroid use. Rather the issue seems to be Sosa’s denial of using any performance enhancing drugs.

If Sammy does the honest thing and admits to taking the drugs he may be welcomed back into the arms of the Wrigley Field faithful but in the meantime he’s been told to stay away.