Latest news with #CubsHallOfFame
CTV News
5 hours ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Cubs legend Sammy Sosa returns to Wrigley Field after 20-plus year hiatus
Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell talks to the media before a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks) CHICAGO — Legendary Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in more than 20 years on Friday before Chicago's afternoon game with the Seattle Mariners. Sosa, who is set to be inducted into the Cubs' team Hall of Fame this year, arrived at the iconic North Side ballpark in a black SUV. He was greeted by owner Tom Ricketts, who embraced him in a hug as he exited the vehicle. Sosa became the face of the Cubs franchise where he played 13 seasons after coming in a trade from the crosstown White Sox in March 1992. A seven-time All-Star, Sosa hit 545 homers in 1,811 games with the Cubs and hit a franchise-record 66 in 1998 when he was named the NL's MVP. Sosa, now 56, played his final game with the Cubs at Wrigley on Oct. 2, 2004, when he homered and had two hits in an 8-6 loss to Atlanta. During his years with the Cubs, Sosa appeared to bulk up drastically and was a headliner in a generation of baseball's biggest names linked to performance-enhancing drugs. The Cubs traded him to Baltimore with cash in February 2005 for three players. Sosa appeared to acknowledge using performance-enhancing drugs in December when he released a statement saying he was sorry for mistakes, without specifying them. '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,' he said in the statement. 'I never broke any laws. But in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.' On Friday morning, Sosa posed for photos with rising Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong outside the team's clubhouse and a video showed Sosa embracing manager Craig Counsell in his office before the game. The Cubs remained mum, however, on any ceremony or event before or during Friday's game. In Thursday's 8-7 loss to Milwaukee, Crow-Armstrong went deep to set a new team record for reaching 20 homers and 20-plus stolen stolen bases the fastest, doing it in 73 games. Sosa had the old mark of 96, set in 1994. Matt Carlson, The Associated Press
Washington Post
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Cubs legend Sammy Sosa returns to Wrigley Field after 20-plus year hiatus
CHICAGO — Legendary Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in more than 20 years on Friday before Chicago's afternoon game with the Seattle Mariners. Sosa, who is set to be inducted into the Cubs' team Hall of Fame this year, arrived at the iconic North Side ballpark in a black SUV. He was greeted by owner Tom Ricketts, who embraced him in a hug as he exited the vehicle.
New York Times
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Sammy Sosa returns to Wrigley Field for first official appearance with Cubs since 2004
CHICAGO — Sammy Sosa's long-awaited return to Wrigley Field is finally happening. An iconic yet reclusive figure around the Chicago Cubs, Sosa is expected to be part of the festivities surrounding Friday's game against the Seattle Mariners at the Friendly Confines. On Friday morning, the club posted a video of Sosa hugging Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, a moment that marked the evolution of their complicated relationship. Sammy's home. — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 20, 2025 The Cubs invited Sosa back to their annual fan convention last winter after he released an open letter apologizing for 'mistakes' he made in the past. The Cubs, in turn, announced that Sosa would be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame this year. Sosa subsequently made an appearance as a guest instructor during spring training in Arizona. Advertisement This continues the thaw in the cold war between Sosa and the organization. During the 2018 Cubs Convention, Ricketts referenced baseball's 'Steroid Era' and his belief that 'players from that era owe us a little bit of honesty.' Per a 2009 New York Times report, Sosa was among the players who tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug during what was designed to be an anonymous process in 2003. At a 2005 Congressional hearing, an attorney read a sworn statement on Sosa's behalf that said: 'To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs.' Until this past offseason, Sosa, 56, had been largely estranged from the Cubs, a franchise that has almost completely turned over since his last game on the North Side in 2004. Given Sosa's enormous role in building the Wrigley Field machine, the cheers on Friday are expected to be thunderous. This story will be updated later. (Photo of Sosa at spring training: Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
