Column: The Sammy Sosa closure continues this baseball era's trend of forgiveness
Sammy Sosa speaks in his return to Wrigley Field after two decades
Sammy Sosa is a beloved Cub. He returned to that status on Friday when he appeared at Wrigley Field for the first time in 21 years. He spoke about the emotions during a press conference.
The only person who would really know how much I practiced the Sammy Sosa hop in my backyard as a kid was my dad.
The worn, blue wiffle ball bat I had might as well have been a pristine Louisville Slugger as I smacked the lights out of the hollow, plastic imitation baseball. How could anyone not want to imitate the hop made famous by the Chicago Cubs icon?
I couldn't be the only one remembering those days long past from a decade that began with a 1 and a 9.
In fact, I know I wasn't.
On a perfect day for a ball game, those backyard home runs were on my mind as Sosa got his welcome back to Wrigley Field for the first time in 21 years. Fans gave a standing ovation, they hollered, yelled and applauded the one-time Cubs star, who triumphantly returned.
There was no awkward mention of the elephants in the bleachers.
There was no remembrance of how Sosa left the Cubs, that one time with a corked bat and the alleged PED use that we still don't know if Sosa apologized for.
No, Friday was about welcoming back a star that helped transform Wrigley Field from a cultural baseball symbol into an entire neighborhood for baseball fans.
Friday was about continuing this era of forgiveness in baseball. It's hard not to like it.
"I’m just happy to be back," Sosa said Friday. "Especially with the ovation the fans gave to me. That touched me. That got me. Everybody standing up, it was an emotional moment for me."
Estranged no more, Chicago Cubs legend Sammy Sosa returns triumphantly to Wrigley Field: 'My house"
On Friday, it became clear that Sammy Sosa is no longer estranged from this organization. He'll be a part of the future of the Cubs organization in the years to come.
But, that's what the benefit of time has on a wound. It does heal all things.
After all, the healing process picked up a bit when Sosa was spotted in Chicago for the first time since 2007 back in March 2024. FOX 32's Lou Canellis was there and when Sosa said it was time to apologize for the mistakes he made, Canellis asked if he was going to apologize for PED use then.
"This is not an interview that I’m really going to sit down with you, for you to come out with that piece right now," Sosa told Canellis in March 2024.
Still, Sosa did issue a vague apology before he made an appearance at the 2025 Cubs Convention back in January. He apologized for mistakes he made, but didn't specify. Considering Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts was always wary of bringing Sosa back because of the PED allegations, something would have to give.
The Tribune's Paul Sullivan asked a pointed question to Cubs manager Craig Counsell if the steroid era has been forgotten.
"I think that era just happened," Counsell said. "History happens."
Counsell didn't owe anyone a massive explanation or thoughtful diatribe as a manager literally 20 years after Sosa testified he didn't take performance-enhancing drugs, but his answer was telling.
That was a time period that some cannot and will not absolve. That's their prerogative. Time will tell if any of those players will be immortalized in Cooperstown, but that's another conversation for another time.
But Sosa's return was eight years after the Cardinals inducted Mark McGwire into their hall of fame in 2017, one year after the Giants inducted Barry Bonds into their hall of fame in 2024.
Just a month ago, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred reinstated Pete Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and over a dozen others into consideration for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Forgiveness has been a theme that's only gotten stronger in baseball in the course of the past year among decision makers. Sosa will be inducted into the Cubs' Hall of Fame later this year.
"The fan base really appreciates guys that pour their heart and soul into this place and give everything they had," Cubs outfielder Ian Happ said. "That’s what makes being a Cub really special."
'He created part of the change': Chicago Cubs relish in Sammy Sosa's return to Wrigley Field
Slammin' Sammy is back at Wrigley Field and will make an appearance with the team for the first time since 2004.
Sosa was special. No one in the history of the MLB has ever had three seasons with 60 or more home runs. Plenty will point out that Sosa's play, namely his participation in the 1998 Major League Baseball home run record chase, is too good to be vilified.
That's why what happens next is on the shoulders of those who remember. The ball is in our court, to borrow a metaphor from a different sport.
It's on the shoulders of those like myself who imitated Sosa as kids and grew up to see his fall from grace. Eventually, we saw his return.
When those who were too young to know about Sosa ask why it took 21 years for him to return, what should we say? It's not like the Cubs are going to put that asterisk after all the lovely publicity Friday brought them.
What should we say? I wouldn't know what I would do. It's hard to see the villainy in all of it when the first thing that comes to my mind are those countless summer days when I practiced that Sosa hop. I'd need to be swayed to think about that time with any sort of cynicism.
That's why it's much easier to side with this era of forgiveness.