Ortiz: Sammy Sosa didn’t owe an apology

Sammy Sosa, the slugger who helped Mark McGwire save baseball in 1998, has apologized. Now we continue to wait for the Major League Baseball owners who capitalized off inflated home run numbers to atone as well.

Chicks dig the long ball, the famous slogan said. The only ones who loved home runs more than sluggers, though, were the MLB owners who cashed in during the steroids era after the 1994 strike.

For better or worse, Sosa, McGwire and Barry Bonds are seen as the faces of baseball’s steroids era. All three have been denied a place among baseball’s immortals at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Roger Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, has also failed to garner BBWAA support for the Hall.

Yet, Bud Selig, the commissioner who ran the sport during its dirty steroids era, was voted into the Hall. That makes no sense, but many things associated with America’s pastime make no sense.

Unfortunately for Sosa, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts refused to welcome him back into the organization’s good graces until he apologized. Sosa finally bent his knee on Thursday.

‘I apologize’

“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,” Sosa said in a seven-paragraph statement released by a public relations firm. “I never broke any laws but in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.”

Sosa was a seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1998, the year he and McGwire captivated the country and packed stadiums with their home run chase.

McGwire and Sosa both broke Roger Maris’ single-season home run record in 1998. McGwire, who eventually admitted to using steroids, won the 1998 home run chase and set the new record. Bonds set a new single-season home run record in 2001.

Bonds was also using performance-enhancement drugs. Under pressure from Congress, Selig commissioned the Mitchell Report, which linked 89 players to PED use.

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Only Selig would commission a report that would tarnish the legacy of some of the game’s biggest stars. Clemens won an expensive battle to clear his name, eventually testifying under oath that he didn’t use PEDs. The seven-time Cy Young Award winner was indicted by the Justice Department, and he won in court. He was deemed not guilty of lying to Congress, but he never won in the court of public opinion.

Enough members of the BBWAA jury judging Clemens’ Hall of Fame case clearly decided that he used PEDs. Sosa didn’t fight to clear his name as vigorously as Clemens, but he also lost in the court of public opinion and among Hall of Fame voters.

No Hall of Sammy Sosa

Even worse, Sosa was given a penalty by Ricketts. He was banished from the Cubs until he apologized. Bonds, McGwire and Clemens were welcomed back to baseball by the Giants, Cardinals and Astros, respectively, long ago.

They were coaches or special assistants. Meanwhile, Sosa was told he wasn’t welcome until he apologized. Ricketts didn’t buy the Cubs until 2009, so Sosa never played for him or lied to him.

Sosa left the Cubs after the 2004 season. He retired after playing with the Texas Rangers in 2007. Yet, Ricketts punished him unfairly for a sin that was committed by many in baseball.

In 18 years of voting for the Hall of Fame, I’ve never held PED-use allegations against a player unless MLB punished them for testing positive after PED testing was implemented. We don’t know who was using steroids and who wasn’t unless they’ve acknowledged using PEDs.

Unfair Hall snubs

It defies logic to think that no players in the Hall of Fame have used PEDs. Sosa should not have been forced to apologize, but he finally admitted “mistakes.”

A statement and an apology from Sammy Sosa: pic.twitter.com/jthuuULVrh

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) December 19, 2024

“I left it all on the field for the Cubs and Cubs fans because I wanted to win and make fans happy,” Sosa said. “I loved to see the fans at Wrigley in the right field bleachers every home game. I understand why some players in my era don’t always get the recognition that our stats deserve.”

Sosa entertained Cubs fans for 13 years, thrilling them with 545 of his 609 career homers. After his apology, the Cubs invited him back to their popular Cubs Convention next month.

So, yes, the Cubs will now capitalize off Sosa’s popularity.

“We appreciate Sammy releasing his statement and for reaching out,” Ricketts said in a statement. “No one played harder or wanted to win more. Nobody’s perfect, but we never doubted his passion for the game and the Cubs.”

If that’s the case, then why did Ricketts treat Sosa so harshly?