Tom Ricketts and Sammy Sosa Need To Kiss And Make Up

This is big news locally but since this is a national website with international acclaim, I'll take it nice slow. Even if Lou Canellis wants to ram a solid steroids question down his throat in partially-vacant Loop lobby. Hope that one goes viral.

For outsiders, Sammy Sosa played for the Cubs. He was fucking awesome. He hit the furthest home runs, set several records for those home runs, and played his dick off every single day. An earnest fan favorite who also happened to be an MVP right fielder. That's how I would describe Sammy as an athlete to any sports fan. 

The guy you loved the most is rarely the best. Even MJ's shine faded on me by 96 for Kerr and Harper. There's something special about finding a player you connect with, and then intentionally following that player more closely. 

Right now to me that's been Kyle Hendricks. I've been so dialed to his career and performance more than any Cubs pitcher I can remember. There's plenty of reasons, none of which are my point: you gravitate to players. Baseball fandom is built on that. 

And like pizza, you can have a favorite and still recognize it's not the best. My favorite Cubs 2nd baseman is Mickey Morandini. Let that marinate for a second and spare me the explanation. I know that's not right. 

But it is what it is. That's how we are as fans. 

And then there's Sammy Sosa - a nearly inexplainable athlete to a younger generation. 

We loved this guy so much I can't even try to find the words because they will ultimately and miserably fail. Even so I'll try. 

It was like cheering for a friend. Like when your buddy's playing football at a D1 school so you watch and follow and care about their games. But then imagine he's playing for your favorite team, and he's their most valuable player and he regularly hits 500 foot home runs. He's a legend and he's your friend. That's the closest I can come to explaining how much everyone collectively loved Sosa. There were no haters. 

Then some shit went down. A couple loose cheating scandals, one that's actually pretty firm and a handful of miscellaneous conduct discrepancies played out over the years. Congress (the federal one) investigated to no avail. Fans started to turn and then the Ricketts (Cubs owners) cut off communication cold turkey. Long story is he cheated and the Ricketts didn't want him around the team. Short story is fuck all that. 

It's been so long since Sammy was at Wrigley. I'm not thumbing through the Paul Sullivan archives but my hunch says maybe 19 years since he's had a warm day there? 

That's pretty fucked up. It always has been since he left. 

We've asked, begged and pleaded but Tom's stayed mostly quiet on the matter. I understand he's said some generic shit he didn't think or write on his own. Something about owning his past transgressions or something like Sammy fucked his ex girlfried - no offense. I didn't get it then and I still don't get it now. 

Alas, I may not need to solve this problem for myself. The Cubs are allegedly talking to Sammy. He's allegedly talking to them. Blah blah blah. Speculation this. Speculation that. 

What I know is that Sammy Sosa looks fucking incredible right now. Hair still slicked. Skin healthy. No cowboy hat and a do I see a FILA quarterzip? Somebody's been a bad boy. 

I've been a very bad boy

It's a big deal because today marks the first step of any notable degree towards a reunion between him and the Cubs. 

As a man of Sammy's career, I'm compelled to say it's been such a long time coming that I've been genuinely upset they haven't done it sooner. It's one of those things you think about randomly and then get instantly upset because it makes zero sense. Why don't the Cubs and Sammy get along? 

It's been like that for nearly two decades. So exhausting that I couldn't care any less right now outside of the fact that they're talking, and that means a non-zero chance of Sammy Sosa Day happening in the future. 

That won't be worth all the trouble, but it would be one hell of a party. Maybe enough to forget all the bullshit if only for a little while. 

Welcome back Sammy. 

We've missed you.