Chicago Cubs: Sammy Sosa open to return

Former Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa is ready to return to the organization.

Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts can certainly use a public relations win at this point.

In the midst of larger issues in terms of the scale of the world, Ricketts took that as the perfect time to do an exclusive interview with ESPN Chicago to essentially cry poor while Major League Baseball negotiates with the Major League Baseball Players Association in an attempt to salvage the 2020 season.

This latest PR misstep for Ricketts came after a series of missteps that also included the chairman being booed during the Cubs Convention earlier this year while discussing the launch of the Marquee Network–a network that the majority of Cubs’ fans still do not have access to as they wait for an agreement between Marquee and Comcast.

Needless to say, Ricketts’ approval rating likely is not that high right now.

Fortunately for Ricketts, there is a golden opportunity in front of him. That opportunity exists in the form of former Cubs’ outfielder Sammy Sosa. Sosa will be the topic of many sports conversations this week as ESPN is set to air the latest installment of their “30 for 30” series this upcoming Sunday with an episode titled “Long Gone Summer”. The episode will focus on Sosa’ 1998 home run race with St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire.

Sosa has begun to make the media rounds and spoke with David Kaplan of ESPN Chicago. Most of the interview was Kaplan lobbing hanging curveballs to Sosa with nothing of substance. If there is a takeaway from the interview, it is that Sosa is ready to return to the Cubs’ organization in some capacity and believes that it is something that will happen in time along with his No. 21 being retired.

Of all the issues that are currently on Ricketts’ plate, reconciling with Sosa is the easiest one to resolve.

Ricketts, since his family took ownership of the Cubs, has maintained that Sosa must apologize for his past transgressions before he is welcomed back by the Cubs’ organization. Of course, Ricketts is referring to the accusations of steroid use that has suffocated Sosa’s legacy since 2005. With Sosa not willing to address the accusations, Ricketts has remained firm in his stance but still wants you to watch Sosa highlights on Marquee’s social feed and the network itself.

The issue is that Ricketts is on the wrong side of this battle.

Regardless of whether or not Sosa took steroids, there is no question that for many Cubs fans between the ages of 25 and 40, Sosa is very much the reason they are Cubs fans. While the Cubs were routinely on losing side of games, Sosa was the reason why the turnstiles at Wrigley Field were worked feverishly. Furthermore, the daily question surrounding the Cubs while Sosa was on the team was not if the team had won or loss but, instead, whether or not Sosa hit a home run in the game.

After seeing McGwire be welcomed back by the Cardinals and Barry Bonds be re-embraced by the San Francisco Giants in recent years, Ricketts comes off as a child in his stance on Sosa.

The time has come for Ricketts to put his misguided ego aside and welcome back Sosa to the organization. Imagine the PR goldmine that Ricketts would have if on the first televised live game on the Marquee network, Sosa comes sprinting out of the Cubs’ dugout while gracing the 21 jersey for one final stride across the outfield. Chicago Cubs’ fans deserve that moment, and most importantly, Sosa deserves that moment.