A Cubs Fan's Perspective: Sammy Sosa

I have been a Cubs fan for as long as I've been alive. I am 28 years old and some of the earliest memories involved my dad and I watching afternoon games on WGN. I remember Jody Davis, Leon Durham, Rick Sutcliffe, and Lee Smith all fighting the Chicago summer heat. The times were special and moments that I wouldn't change at all. The teams were bad and most of the crowd didn't care, and I didn't care too much either. I was a little kid who idolized the players with dreams of one day playing professional baseball too. Those dreams never came true, but I am still a Cubs fan, although I am a little confused of how happy I am about that today.

I was in middle school when the Cubs traded George Bell to the White Sox for a young outfielder, Sammy Sosa. I liked Bell for the few seasons that he was with the Cubs, but I kind of understood that they needed to get younger. I didn't know much about Sosa, other than owning a few of his rookie cards. My lone opinion was that he looked extremely happy. Almost immediately, the trade for Sosa started to pay off. He was stealing bases and hitting more homers than I expected. The first season, I thought that he may be a better version of Shawon Dunston, since he didn't strike out as much, which didn't say much.

The Cubs didn't win many games the first few seasons that Sosa was around. I can still hear Harry Caray yell out Sosa's name after he jacked a 400+ foot home-run. Those moments gave me joy, about as much as an actual Cubs victory. Sosa's home-run total kept creeping up, but the whispers of the ball being juiced calmed my fears of anything fishy going on. It wasn't until the summer of '98 that the homers were getting out of hand. I have to admit, I still didn't care. Mark McGwire was hitting just as many homers as Sosa and he looked noticeably huge. I didn't suspect much about steroid use, the only thing that was written was something new to me called "Andro." I read about it and saw that it wasn't illegal. I didn't think anything was wrong, but I wanted Sosa to beat him. I think most people wanted Sosa to beat McGwire, if not for the fact that he was more likeable.

Every time that Sosa took the field in the first inning, he would run out into right field like a perfectly choreographed play. Everything Sosa did was more of a show for the fans. After 9/11, he hit a homer and ran around the bases with a little American flag.

Sosa's numbers stayed the same as McGwire began to breakdown. Sosa's average took a hit, since he looked like he was wanting to knock it out of the park with every swing. Finally, his behavior the last year with the Cubs was too much for the club to handle. They dealt him to Baltimore for a few young players. Sosa's career was never the same, mainly because the cloud of suspicion was too great. To this day he denies all claims of using PEDs, but the revelation of a failed test in 2003 makes it all clear. Sosa apparently cheated, it doesn't surprise many, but I'm just confused.

I believe that a large number of players used some sort of performance-enhancing drug during the same period of Sosa's career. I believe he wanted an edge and once he had a taste of success, he couldn't leave it alone. If he didn't do it for himself, he did it for the fans. As I said before, my first opinion of Sosa was his smile. He didn't lose his smile until the end of his career. He didn't have his smile when he was testifying in front of Congress. If Sosa's number isn't retired and he doesn't make the Hall of Fame, Sosa may never smile again. A decision to forgive and forget has to be made at some point. Some purists still have a big problem with "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and the Black Sox. I say that we still need to decide on what kind of punishment would suit the crime.

My opinion is for the Baseball Writers of America to have a conference. Everyone should take sides and maybe come to a conclusion. I would like to see all the alleged steroid users, that have Hall of Fame numbers, be inducted in the same class. You would be able to put that on Pay-Per-View and it would have a high buyrate. I don't think it's right that they used PEDs, but enough is enough. I want to move past this. It may take the player's union to allow blood testing, it would be a step in the right direction.

Ibanez's Reaction Is What We Want

Midwest Sports Fans had a story a few days ago that lead to speculation about Raul Ibanez and performance-enhancing drugs. The story was thorough and well thought-out. The writer tried to convey both side of the argument and gave interesting facts that support both sides of the opinion. Jerod Morris, the writer of the post on Midwest Sports Fans, is getting wrongly accused of throwing out accusations that he believes that Ibanez is on something illegal. If people would just read the entire article, and not just snippets, they would leave with the opinion that Morris doesn't know the answer himself, but understands why someone would think something is fishy. This isn't really a story about Ibanez as much as a story about the past ghosts that will continue to haunt Major League Baseball players until they allow blood testing for testing. Until the public have 100% certainty that players are clean, it will always be the elephant in the room.

On the otherhand, I love Ibanez's response to the post. If the alleged accusation was a Stephen Strasburg heater, he hit it out of the park. He is taking the approach that I wish Bonds, McGwire, or any other player should have taken. I do admit that Ibanez's "mother basement" line was out-of-line, but I do acknowledge his passion for proving his innocence. I want him to go a step farther. I would like to see him ignore the player's union and accept an independent drug-test, the kind that would be as strict as the Olympic-testing.

This story is very unique. You don't see a blog causing a stir, unless your Deadspin, let alone this kind of exposure. It proves that bloggers are increasing their reach and gaining more notablity in mainstream media. I love it. I do think that about 85% of sports blogs are poorly written and are just out to slam sports figures, but there are some great ones out there.

Before I finish this post, I would like to submit my opinion on Ibanez. I believe he had something to prove. He has never been on a contender before, most of his career was with Kansas City and Seattle. The motivation to do well and finally win a championship was there this year, more than past seasons. He also knew that he was in a line-up with Utley, Howard, and Rollins, the pressure isn't going to be there, as he has bats around to protect him. My last point would be that he went from the American League to the National League. History tells us that players who take the leap over to the National League do better. I think all these factors add up to Ibanez's hot start to the season. We have to remember that the season isn't even halfway over. Many players have had just as good 2nd-halfs, but it flies under the radar usually, since most fans just look at the season average and totals.

I would like to congratulate Jerod Morris for the great article. The response is a little mixed as a whole, but this will go down as the top blog post of 2009.