I know that Sammy is many Cub fans favorite whipping boy, but I do not follow that hate. I hope that someday soon he can be celebrated by Cub fans again, and that his flag can hang at Wrigley Field among the greats.

Was he a cheater? Most likely yes, but isn't baseball all about trying to get away with cheating? Stealing signs, scuffing the ball, too much pine tar on the bat, etc. it is all about trying to get an edge. You might even say that advanced scouting reports, watching film, and other means of getting an edge fall into the same category.

Do I condone what Sammy may have, or did do? No, but he was a huge part of saving baseball after the strike. He added a lot of excitement to the game, and probably only did what many other players did as well.

He also may have alienated a lot of his teammates, but there are a lot of stars that have also done that. I have heard that Cap Anson also wasn't well liked.

To summarize, I hope that we can forgive Sammy someday and celebrate his career!

Sammy was one of the most popular cubs of all time. It's unfortunate Hendry trashed his reputation.

I agree with everything you said.

Sammy is like Soriano, Cub "fans" just love to hate him.

Fact is, the steroid era saved baseball and Sosa was one of the greatest Cubs of all time.

You the same guy that called Big Z a quitter.....Sammy walked out
on the team, used cork, and most likely roids.... did he bring excitement
to Wrigley, Yes, but does he belong with Williams, Banks.... I don't think so......

Hah! You are to much.

No, I am not any of those people. I have used this name for a long time. I just think that Cub fans seem to turn on the players way too quick. The media loves to feed that fire. The truth is, Sammy was good for baseball and one of the greatest Cubs of all time. Big Z also did a lot of great things for the Cubs. He has even admitted that the things that went wrong were his fault. He has a temper and many times acted first without thinking. I also have no problem with Soriano. I would actually like him to finish his contract as a Cub, instead of us paying most of his salary to play somewhere else.

Nice post.

Bingo! Does not stop with players. read steve stone threads before & after he left, difference is night & day.o
y

The Steroid Era revived.baseball handmade the owners millions. The owners knew and accepted steroids. Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa should be first ballot HOFers.

Most elected in the last 30 years were part of the Uppers Era. Steroid, Uppers, Dead Ball, Live Ball, and most other Eras all had distorting effects on records.

Ryno and Sammy deserve statues as much as Billie and Ronnie. The Hawks learned their mistake with Hull. The Cubs need to do the same. Only Ryno can match Sammy as a Cubs ambassador. Ernie was 40 plus years ago and is now somewhat demented.

Any Chicago writer who votes against Sammy should be fired.

I agree. You may say that Sammy did steroids, but so did the pitchers. You still have to swing the bat, and make contact. Theo and Jed should work on restoring his name.

Hey, that is just human nature.....If the Cubs were to get AJ and
he caught and the team won the world series he would be the greatest....

Are you suggesting that uppers enhanced performance?

Man, I can't imagine trying to play baseball while doing uppers.

But <hell, uppers are everything from caffeine to crystal meth.

Players used to do uppers to wake up after a hard night of drinking and carousing.

"Players used to do uppers to wake up after a hard night of drinking and carousing."

Different than getting all wired up for a game though and I'm pretty sure it would be a terrible idea.

Or after taking two hits of acid before throwing a no hitter...

I'm still a Sosa fan. He came through pretty big in the NLCS and was a big reason the Cubs were exciting to watch for quite a few years. I don't care about steroids, so many people were doing them in that era that it practically wasn't even cheating. In fact, I don't care about steroids now either. I watch the game purely for entertainment reasons, the only reason I'd be worried about what these guys do off the field and to their bodies is how it would effect my fantasy team.

The big difference between the two is Soriano is very humble where as Sosa had an ego bigger than two hot air baloons.