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Chicago Cubs legend Sammy Sosa issued a public apology to the organization on Thursday for his years of steroid use. Sosa’s apology ends a rift between the two sides that last two decades. But baseball fans aren’t happy about it.
“I left it all on the field for the Cubs and Cubs fans because I wanted to win and make the fans happy,” Sosa said in a statement. “I loved to see the fans at Wrigley in the right field bleachers every home game. I understand why some players in my era don’t always get the recognition that our stats deserve.
“There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games. I never broke any laws, but in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.”
Team owner Tom Ricketts then issued a statement of his own in response.
“We appreciate Sammy releasing his statement and for reaching out. No one played harder or wanted to win more. Nobody’s perfect but we never doubted his passion for the game and the Cubs,” Ricketts wrote.
But herein lies the problem. Sosa did not harm the Cubs. If anything, Sosa made an organization that was renowned for its ineptitude relevant again. That same can be said for what he and Mark McGwire did for the game of baseball. Sosa wasn’t a black eye on the Cubs or Major League Baseball, he was a hero.
The Ricketts family didn’t even own the team when Sosa played there! Why should they receive an apology?
Baseball fans were quick to call out the entire situation as ridiculous.
I don’t accept Sammy Sosa’s apology for taking steroids because I don’t need an apology. Thank you for putting on the show of a lifetime in 1998 and saving baseball.
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) December 19, 2024
It’ll never cease to amaze me that Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds were allowed to cheat to save the game of baseball… then they were thrown under the bus for cheating… and the commissioner who allowed it all to happen… is in the Hall of Fame
— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) December 19, 2024
Any true baseball fan remembers how exciting the Summer of 98 was. Even as a White Sox fan I understood this. The way the Cubs organization (and even some Cubs fans) have treated Sammy Sosa has been absolutely ridiculous. I will happily die on this hill.
— Courtney Finnicum (@courtney883) December 19, 2024
True then and now: Sammy Sosa helped to save the sport and people like the Ricketts family were choking it. Pleased the charade is over or whatever but it bears repeating.
— smilesmorales 🌹 (@mode7heaven) December 19, 2024
Your mileage may vary on whether you want players like Sosa, Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds in the Hall of Fame (they should be). But they unquestionably had a huge, positive effect on the game of baseball. Any apology for that is entirely unwarranted.