And so, barring any last minute freak out by O’s deranged owner Peter Angelos, or a sneezing fit during his physical, Sammy Sosa is no longer a Cub. In a move being celebrated by those who grew to hate him, the Cubs have agreed to send Sammy to Baltimore in exchange for Jerry Hairston, Jr. and a pair of minor leaguers. Those of us who were resigned to the fact that Sammy’s return for 2005 was going to be a distraction at best and a full-scale toxic waste scene at the worst, it doesn’t really matter who the Cubs got in return.
Sometimes, buddy, it’s time to go. Now’s the time.
Buddy.
Dopes like Phil Rogers will express mock indignation that the Cubs couldn’t get more for Sammy, and evil, little, trolls like Jay Mariotti will put down the doughnut to rip Sammy on the way out, but like all things, it was a little more complicated than either has the ability to express.
Mariotti actually wrote, “This puts intense pressure on Nomar Garciaparra to stay healthy and carry the offense with Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, Todd Walker and Michael Barrett.”
That’s right it’s up to Nomar and FOUR other guys (not to mention Corey Patterson) to carry an offense. In an article that was supposed to be written about how Sammy wasn’t a TEAM-mate, how can Mariotti so completely miss the very definition of what a team is?
How will Sammy be remembered?
Well, we’re Cubs fans and since most of us are manic depressives and alcoholics, it’s a crap shoot. But in the past, even the most villified of Cubs’ stars have eventually adopted the amber hued memories saved mostly for Ken Burns documentaries and Cybil Shepherd camera lenses. Ten years from now, Sammy will be remembered as a great player, we’ll see film of him running out to right field to start games and blowing home run kisses to the dugout camera and we won’t immediately have the urge to wretch. Should the Cubs actually win a pennant in the next year or so, the happy memories of Sammy will come back even faster. It’s what time does.
We all have at least one completely psychotic ex-girlfriend, and as time passes you think back and say, “Hey, she wasn’t that bad.” Eventually, Sammy’s legacy will be what we want it to be. Not what it feels like it is right now.
At his peak, Sammy was an offensive force seldom seen in baseball history. Everyone seems astonished that he went from 37 homers in 1997 to 66 in 1998, but he hit 40 in 1996 and a broken hand robbed him of the last six weeks of the season. His peak years weren’t the five years that people seem to think they were from 1998 t0 2002, they lasted for nearly a decade. In his youth, he was an amazing combination of speed, strength and uncontrollably wild swings. His early years with the Rangers and White Sox he looked like Julio Franco…right down to the Jheri curl and the completely funked up batting stance.
In his earliest days with the Cubs he played center field with such reckless abandon that Andre Dawson, to this day yells, “I GOT IT! YOU HEAR THAT MOTHERF—–! I MEAN IT THIS TIME!” when he walks by him. And then he became the slugger that we all know and some of us still love.
He was a great player, probably the best the Cubs have ever had offensively, and did some amazing things. Somewhere in Cooperstown they’ve got a plaque ready for him with the Cubs “C” on it (and it probably has two or three more spots on it for listing the new teams he will have played for before he’s gone).
For me, rooting for Sammy Sosa was a necessity. I was a second-semester freshman at NIU when I heard the shocking news that the Cubs had traded George Bell to the Sox for Ken Patterson and Sammy Sosa. I’d spent my whole first semester making fun of Sammy as a way of frustrating my new Sox fan friends. Now he was a Cub, and I would have to defend him to the end. So I did.
At first, I didn’t have much to work with. “Hey, who was the only player to hit 10 homers, 10 doubles, 10 triples and steal 10 bases in 1991?” Sammy Sosa!
Then he became a 30-30-30 guy. Yeah, in 1993 he hit 33 homers, stole 36 bases and walked 38 times. Yikes.
Then an All-Star.
Then an MVP candidate.
Then he started walking 70 times a year…then 80…then 110. He became a bonafide superstar, not just a wannabe superstar.
The whole 1998 season was just surreal. The 20 homers in June…the three homers in four innings against Cal Eldred…him ending his run as the active player with the most at bats without a grand slam by hitting two against the Diamondbacks in two days.
He threw the 1998 Cubs onto his back and carried them into the playoffs. In 2001 he threw an even worse team onto his back and had a better year and nearly hauled their carcass into the playoffs.
So much of him was an act. The showy entrance, the home run hop, the way he dumped water on his head to cool himself off in the dugout and the kisses to mom into the camera.
But still, Cubs fans ate it up. Baseball fans in general ate it up.
And so much about him wasn’t an act. He worked his ass off. He played hard every day. He insisted on playing every day. There is no such thing as an unselfish star. The two words don’t co-exist. There are people in Sammy’s new town who still think Cal Ripken, Jr. was a selfish prick because he wouldn’t take a day off. Think about that.
And so, his departure was inevitable. Where does it leave the Cubs?
They’ll miss him. They want to act like they won’t, but you can’t just jettison his production and not miss it. They’ll also miss him being the lightning rod. For the past two seasons, starting with the corked bat incident, Sammy was the guy who caught the crap and was the target of the disenchantment from the fans and the media.
But in his departure there’s an opportunity. An opportunity for the offense to evolve. Make more contact, stop being so reliant on the long ball. Play better defense. Run the bases better.
Trading Sammy Sosa for Jerry Hairston, Jr. doesn’t mean the Cubs won’t win the pennant. It just means Sammy Sosa won’t win the pennant as a Cub.
If Nomar Garciaparra’s departure from Boston proved the Ewing Theory that Bill Simmons has long been espousing, Sammy leaving the Cubs could take it out of theory status for ever. Call it the Ewing Fact.
The Cubs have an opportunity now. They can trade for an up and coming young player like Tampa’s Aubrey Huff or Cincinnati’s Austin Kearns, and lord knows they have the prospects to make either trade a reality. They can go after Oakland’s crazy Eric Byrnes and erstwhile closer Octavio Dotel. They can call Magglio Ordonez’s bluff and say, “Do you really want to spend five years in Detroit?”
Or they can go whiter and worse than Sammy and sign re-tread dumbass Jeromy Burnitz. (The ‘o’ in Jeromy stands for 0-5 with four strikeouts).
What’s it gonna be?
As for Sammy’s departure, as one of the few who still like him, I’m glad he’s leaving. I didn’t want to have to watch the guaranteed ugly scene that spring training and the 2005 season were going to be for him. The team didn’t need it, he didn’t need it and I didn’t need it. I hope he goes to Baltimore and hits 100 homers in two seasons. I hope he lights it up.
So long, Sammy. I’ll miss you, buddy.
Jim Hendry says there is no deal on the table, so Sammy will still be our 2005 rightfielder.
Too late Dolan!
I beat Sammy in making the Ewing Theory into Ewing Fact, so HA!
Wow…what a great article…so true
Bravo. Very well said. I’ll miss Sammy dearly, and I hope the does well in Baltimore. He didn’t deserve all the crap he received from the fans and media.
Good call, Seth. I guess corking a bat, doing steroids, walking out on one’s team, playing for one’s self and not the team and being a loser doesn’t warrant “crap” from the fans and media. Go home, troll, you got OWNED!
You’ll have to forgive Carrie, she’s quite the company gal.
But as an aside, I too will miss Sammy. For many of the same reasons. IF we turn this around and aquire a Huff/Kearns/Wilkerson/Dunn player, I will be ecstatic about what this team (GM) has done to get itself through what likely was going to be the biggest season under the microscope. Even moreso than this year’s Yankees. Now, we’ll still be a focus, and if we miss the playoffs and Sammy gets to be the AL MVP, we’ll be criticized over and over again by the same critics that rode Sammy out of town. But aside from that, we can let this season play out, as we had hoped it would.
Bravo? No, you won’t get a Bravo from me. I stuck up for Sammy every day of last season. And then when the news broke about him leaving, I stopped. As a great player, and a friendly (to the public) guy, I let Sammy get away with a lot.
But he does not get away with leaving the game. Part of playing baseball is playing meaningless games in September. Every team does it. Superstars are not exempt.
So, piss off, Sammy. Hope you like your new, chemically enhanced Oriole teammates!
The Ho Ho Kamper
To Hank White, I will my number 21. To Korey Patterson, I will the boos at Wrigley to you. To Dusty Baker, I will you my phrase “buddy”, so you will quit saying dude. To Ron Santo, I will you my flack seed oil. To Jim Hendry, I will you two shitty prospects & Jerry Hairston. To cubs fans, I will you more beer and Jason Dubois. So long buddies.
I will always have fond memories of Sammy. The Great Home Run Race of ’98. All his mannerisms, the hop, the sprint out to right field, blowing kisses to his mom after hitting home runs. But when it comes right down to it, he is a star on the decline. His offensive numbers have halved since 2001, his defense has become a liability, he doesn’t have the cannon of an arm that he used to. His actions on the final day of the 2004 season probably sealed the deal. While his power at the plate will never be replaced, I feel there are many players available who can play a better and smarter defensive right field, bat a little better than .253, drive in more than 80 RBI’s and strike out less than 133 times. The Cubs have launched a likely 1st ballot Hall of Famer and probably improve the team as a whole. Jerry Hairston is not the answer, but Hendry isn’t done yet
Everyone who’s in here acting like they have zero fond memories of Sosa is either lying or not a Cubs fan.
Woah there, Adam, I have many fond Sosa memories, I am not lying, and I am a Cubs fan. But, I will not say that I am upset he’s going. In fact, I am quite happy he’s going.
As an added bonus, we got more than a bag of balls. Had I been in charge of the deal, it would have happened in October, and we would have got a box, maybe 2, of official Major League Baseballs, probably from the Yankees. They have a lot of balls.
Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that my fond memories, are just that: memories. There is no fondness for Sammy in the present. In the future, who knows?
I’m a Cubs fan, so I look back with fondness on Jose Hernandez, Glenallen Hill, and Ricky Gutierrez. If any of them were on my team now, I’d have three more boxes of balls to throw around.
Now, that would be a LOT of balls!
Hell, I even have fond memories of Doug Dascenzo.
I will really miss the breeze on those hot days, when Sammie strikes out swinging for the fences with two outs and bases loaded. Those were the days, my friend. I thought they’d never end.
Did someone say there was LYING going on???
We’re all going to read a bunch of articles over the next few weeks about Sammy, the trade, and his legacy as a Cub — but none of them will be better than this one.
If Burnitz gets into my outfield, I’m making a comeback.
anyone “happy” to lose 35 homers (during their worst season in a decade) from a lineup that has already lost alou’s 30+ homers is a moron.
nothing that sammy has done earned him the ridiculous boos that some cub fans sent his way last year. those who booed are retarded.
all the lousy cubs that have come and gone who have not delivered up 35 homers in 120+ games – how many of those got booed? and how many of those whalloped over 500 homers for the cubs?
sammy is probably the best cub there ever was and you people rejoice that he’s leaving a mere four years after he had his third 60+ hr season?
you people need a drug test.
ps. enjoy hairston.
dusty says he wants more speed, so you trade sammy sosa for a guy with a broken foot who played 86 games last year and 50 the year before?
f dusty.
that makes three former Chicago greats that have gone to the pasture in the dc/ baltimore area….jordan wit da wiz and al belle to the O’s
Things I will miss:
– The Sosa glare, given to any ump that called a third strike on him. There were 133 such glares last year, and I caught them all. Alou tried his best to do the same, but it was never as good as Sammy’s.
– Derrek Lee’s Air Jordan impression on any ball hit to right with a runner on third. Lee, all 6-foot-whatever of him, would leap gracefully into the air, only to come up empty, as another rainbow toss from Sosa three-hopped it’s way to Barrett somewhere by the Cubs dugout.
– Last year’s Sammy, on the basepaths, forever pushing down his helmet, which was still sized for his 1998 head.
– Sammy in right field, turning to run after a ball hit over his head, and then watching Corey get to it before him.
When he walks into the Spring clubhouse of the Baltimore Orioles, I hope he brings a new boombox, and I hope he wears his biggest smile. I hope he announces to all of Baltimore that he is “In the House.” I hope he does it all a week after he should have been there, just like he did for us.
I also hope he hits 66 home runs again, and hops his little heart out. He won’t though because the guys in front of him will be on base a lot; no chance for solo home-runs.
How many NBA Finals have the Knicks made since I left? How many final fours for the Hoyas? The Cubs going nowhere this year without their “lightning rod!”
Andy, that’s a nice write-up. You certainly made me stop and consider my distaste for Sosa. But his act got old a long time ago. The Cubs didn’t win with him in his prime, so it wasn’ likely to happen now. He’s best off as a DH now anyway.
Happy as I am to see him go, any bar I’m in, if he walks in, he drinks free all night…
Dolan,
I thinked you summed up the Sammy Sosa situation the best you could. You were right on it. It was in the best interest for the Cubs and Sammy Sosa for him to move on. Now we need to move on and win a pennant.
The Ewing Theory was based on the fact that at the end of his career, the Knicks played better and seemed to win every game that Ewing missed because of injury. It pertains to a talented team that has a star that gets all the glory, who gets no chance to win once the star leaves/gets hurt. Prime example: The 2001 Patriots. By the time that Ewing retired the knicks were in the middle of salary cap hell and were a shell of the team they were just a few years earlier. If the cubs can get Huff, they’ve got one of the best top to bottom lineups in the league, plus great starting pitching.
Very well said. Best story i’ve seen written about Sammy so far. Most Cub fans don’t remember the early days of Sammy (some of them to young, most of them have only been fans since 2003) but i do. I was actually on a cruise with some of my High School friends when i picked up the daily news that was put on a single piece of paper and a couple days old. It was a simple sentence that read “White Sox get George Bell for Patterson and versatile Sosa”. That would be the last time Sammy would be second billing ever again and adjectives about him contained within a sentence. I was ecstatic about gettign Sosa, but naturally i never thought he would achieve the things he did.The years he put up inside Wrigleys walls, she will never see again and i will never forget.
adios amigo.
Um, when did the Andy Dolan Admiration Society start reading this site? When did Baker Basher return? When did Baker Basher learn to post without labeling at least six members of the Cubs a pussy?
I’d love it if the Cubs could get Huff, and I’d be happy if they could get Ordonez signed to a sensible contract, but I really don’t think a subpar outfield of Hairston, Patterson and “Dubois/Hollandsworth) equals a bad team.
Hairston can lead off, and adds speed to the lineup. You can bat Walker No. 2, Nomar No. 3, Ramirez No.4, Lee No. 5, Patterson No. 6, Hollandsworth/Dubois No. 7, and Barrett No. 8. Still a formidable lineup, and if right field turns out to be a problem, you have the luxury of adding a bat during the midseason firesale.
Getting a closer, not a rightfielder, is priority No. 1 now.
Basher’s gone soft, he’s such a pussy! Just like Dusty Baker is. This is Dusty’s fault, if he’d actually grown a scrotum he’d have told fat Sam to shut up and keep hitting homers, f@#$ing pussy. Don’t even get me started on Jim Hendry trading a Hall of Famer for nothing, because we all know that Hendry’s a pussy, too. How many is that, three? Sosa, a pussy! Andy MacPhail, a pussy! And…uh…Ronnie Woo Woo, a pussy!
There.
Good article, Andy.
Adios, Peralta.
Let’s Go Cubs.
T.J. Brown,
Glad to hear that you enjoy my presence still. Actually, Hendry did get rid of some of the deadest weight we had last year. I have to applaud him waking up from over the past two years to discover we had some major waste on the team. No more Gabor Bako, Mony Martinez, Tom “Useless Gooseless” Goodwin, Kent ” The Bitch” Mercker, Wavin Wendell, and finally the Gladiator, Samuel Peltra Sosa.
There is however a couple pieces of shit he forgot to drop off in the toilet. This would include none other then Capt. Tightpants himself, Kyle “The Farnsworthless” Farnsworth and also the biggest bitch of them all Dusty Baker. I’m sure we’ll find a reason throughout the season or at the end of the season to get rid of these two.
The others that will not be able to slide under the radar for their performance this year will be both Korey Patterson and Kerry “Mr. DL” Wood. These two need to start performing with all this so called hype they’ve had the past so many years after joining the Cubs. Wood has done somethings very well over the years, but it is time for him to finally have a Cy Young year and be a leader. Patterson needs to stop swatting at flies and just start getting on base so he can actually use his best talent which is speed to steal bases.
It should be an interesting year and I’m looking forward to it. Nothing could be as bad as last year. Please God, go easy on us this year.
GOD BLESS THIS 2005 CUBS TEAM!
Very nicely put, Mr. Dolan. I remember watching Sammy whack the crap out of the ball, whenever he made contact. He wasn’t the ultimate Cub, but he sure filled in well during his stay in Chicago. Even though I desperately wanted to see him leave (for the betterment of the team), I will surely miss him. Good luck in Baltimore, Sammy.
Hairston will only be valuable to this team with his versatility. Subbing for Walker, subbing for Dubois and even subbing for CPat. If he is the starting Left Fielder for the Cubs it would be a diasaster. If Hairston is the starting LF or RF that would mean more of Macias. I really don’t see that happening though. Magglio is not in the Cubs plans (especially now that the Cubs seem willing to pick up $12.5) and they will pick up another OF via trade, most likely Eric Byrnes.
If Hairston turns out to be the Cubs main utility player, that deepens the team and i would be comftorable with that.
In the ordinary, everyday understandings of the words involved, to say that someone survived death is to contradict yourself; while to assert that all of us live forever is to assert a manifest falsehood, the flat contrary of a universally known truth: namely, the truth that all human beings are mortal. For when, after some disaster, the ‘dead’ and the ‘survivors’ have both been listed, what logical space remains for a third category? by poker
One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny. by cheap viagra
Popular psychology is a mass of cant, of slush and of superstition worthy of the most flourishing days of the medicine man. by starluck casino
Nowadays we all give too much thought to the material blessings or evils that science has brought with it, and too little to its power to liberate us from the confinements of ignorance and superstition. The greatest liberation of thought achieved by the scientific revolution was to have given human beings a sense of future in this world. by cialis
play online poker I don’t think we should have an arrangement by which parents decide what children they want. That would not be a happy state of affairs because the rich would have magnificant babies and the poor would have to put up with what God sends.
online casino Great indebtedness does not make men grateful, but vengeful; and if a little charity is not forgotten, it turns into a gnawing worm.
online poker One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.
world series of poker From infancy, almost, the average girl is told that marriage is her ultimate goal; therefore her training and education must be directed towards that end. Like the mute beast fattened for slaughter, she is prepared for that.
buy viagra Yet it moves.