CHICAGO — Waltzing into the Cubs spring training clubhouse a couple of decades ago, Sammy Sosa immediately re-introduced himself to teammates and awaiting media.
“Did you miss me?” he asked with a big grin.
TV cameras rolled, and some players rolled their eyes. Sosa’s late arrival and catchphrase became a spring tradition at Fitch Park in Mesa, Ariz., and we dutifully ate it up year after year.
When Sosa was in his prime, there was no better showman in baseball. But he has been out of the spotlight for several years, exiled from Wrigley Field, the place he often referred to as “my house.”
His estrangement from the Cubs comes up in conversation once or twice a year, usually around the team’s winter convention, and then the legend of Sammy Sosa disappears as though it were simply a mirage.
That may change. Whether you’ve missed him or not, Sosa is coming soon to a TV near you in another ESPN “30 for 30” documentary.
No title or release date has been announced, but while America gets its fill of Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Bulls in “The Last Dance,” the saga of Sosa, Mark McGwire and the great home run race of 1998 is waiting on deck.
Sosa may not be welcome yet at Wrigley Field, and perhaps he never will return. But 22 years after his memorable duel with McGwire for the single-season home run record, Cubs fans will get to relive an era when Sosa was just a notch below MJ on the list of popular Chicago athletes.
ESPN teased the documentary in January with an ad during the College Football Playoff. It was originally set to premiere in mid-April at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, but the festival was postponed because of the coronavirus crisis. A spokesman said producers are awaiting word from ESPN on when it will air, upon which further details will be released.
What we do know is that Sosa and McGwire cooperated with the making of the documentary and that the issue of alleged performance-enhancing drug use will not be airbrushed over. McGwire confessed to taking PEDs several years ago when he returned to baseball as a coach.
Despite widespread allegations that he also used steroids, Sosa never has admitted to anything during interviews over the years, including the NBC Sports Chicago documentary “Summer of Sammy,” which aired in 2018 on the 20th anniversary of the home run race.
While the Sosa-McGwire documentary probably won’t have the mass appeal of “The Last Dance,” it should provide enough drama to make it worthwhile viewing for baseball fans, especially in Chicago and St. Louis.
For the uninitiated, Sosa and McGwire engaged in a thrilling home run duel during the summer of ’98 while chasing Roger Maris’ record of 61 home runs that had stood for 37 years. McGwire already was a household name to most baseball fans, but Sosa was only locally famous, an all-or-nothing hitter playing in relative obscurity on bad Cubs teams.
But the addition of rookie pitcher Kerry Wood and closer Rod Beck helped the Cubs turn the corner that spring, and Sosa hit 20 home runs in June, setting a major league record for homers in one month and putting himself in the middle of a home run race with McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr.
In the end, Sosa and McGwire pulled away, leading to a September showdown at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium, where McGwire tied and then broke Maris’ record during a nationally televised Cubs-Cardinals series. McGwire wound up with 70 home runs, while Sosa finished with 66, earning National League Most Valuable Player honors and leading the Cubs to a wild-card spot.
The two were credited with saving baseball a few years after the players strike, but the record didn’t last long. A bulked-up Barry Bonds set a new mark with 73 home runs for the Giants in 2001. All three sluggers’ reputations were smudged after revelations of steroid use in baseball became prevalent, leading to drug testing.
McGwire’s and Sosa’s Hall of Fame chances were sunk by the allegations, and though Bonds became the all-time home run champion, he’s considered a longshot to make the Hall with only two years of eligibility remaining on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. Bonds was named on 60.7% of ballots in this year’s voting, well short of the required 75%, while Sosa received a mere 13.9% of the votes. McGwire’s last year on the ballot was 2016.
Unlike Sosa, both McGwire and Bonds were eventually accepted back by MLB as coaches, and the Giants even retired Bonds’ number in 2018.
But Sosa remains persona non grata at Wrigley Field, never invited back by Cubs ownership, from Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family. He famously walked out of the clubhouse during the final game of the 2004 season, a move that painted him as selfish. The Cubs revealed they had video evidence of his exit after Sosa initially denied it to a reporter, and they traded him to the Orioles in the offseason.
Sosa’s legacy in Chicago remains complicated. He helped make Wrigley Field the place to be in the late ’90s and early 2000s, turning it into a gold mine for the owners. But a corked-bat suspension in 2003, the PED allegations and the ’04 walkout turned many fans against him. The passage of time hasn’t led to a reconciliation with the organization, and Chairman Tom Ricketts won’t even consider it unless Sosa admits to cheating.
Will Sosa’s tarnished image be redeemed by this blast from the past?
We’ll soon find out.
Jordan’s sterling reputation has been enhanced since episodes of “The Last Dance” began airing two weeks ago, and Sosa can only hope ESPN’s documentary on the great home run race can heal his self-inflicted wounds.
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