Sammy Sosa basking in rebuilt relationship with Cubs

Life seems to be good for Sammy Sosa. He plays a lot of golf, travels and is firmly back in the Cubs’ good graces.

“It’s like a marriage: sometimes in the marriage you get mad [at] your wife but you come back and love her,” Sosa said of his relationship with the Cubs. “You put everything behind and move forward.

“I feel that the way they treated me… I’m glad that we [came] to conclusion and stayed together and pretty much put our differences [to] the side. Right now, we’re happy.”

For 13 seasons, Sosa and the Cubs were synonymous. In 1993, he became the team’s first player to steal 30 bases and hit 30 home runs in the same season. He exploded to international superstardom in 1998 thanks to his home run race with Mark McGwire and led the Cubs to the National League Wild Card, earning league MVP honors. Five years later, Sosa hit two home runs and batted .308 against the Marlins in the 2003 NLCS, coming within a game of making the World Series.

Then everything came apart at the end of a toxic 2004 season when Sosa left the final game of the year early. Sosa, in decline from his 60-homer days and plagued with speculation around performance enhancing drugs, was traded to the Orioles in January 2005.

The two sides were estranged until Dec. 2024 when Sosa released a statement to apologize for past mistakes but didn’t specify what the errors were. Regardless, he and Cubs ownership reconciled and Sosa was subsequently invited to the 2025 Cubs Convention and inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame.

On Saturday, he was part of the celebration of the Cubs’ 150th National League anniversary. Introduced to the crowd before the game with a group that included 2016 champions and Hall of Famers, Sosa received one of the loudest ovations.

“I’m grateful to be among some of the legends that played before me,” Sosa said. “I’m happy with that.”

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Chicago Sun-Times. Open at source →