Oh, Sammy, while I knew in the back of my mind you may of been guilty I never wanted to believe it. Sosa was reportedly on the list of 104 Major Leaguers who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.
If you read my blogs on a semi-regular basis, you know that I'm a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan, and that I bleed Cubbie blue.
Sosa was a huge fan favorite at Wrigley Field. He owned the city of Chicago for several years when Michael Jordan finally retired from the Chicago Bulls. Sosa electrified the city with three straight 60 home run seasons leading the Cubs to the post-season in 1998 and 2003.
However Sosa left the Cubs under a cloud of suspicion, with a corked bat in one game and then leaving the stadium before the contest was over in the last game of the season and then lying about it later. Sosa said he never left, when the video clearly showed him walking out of Wrigley.
It would be the last time Sosa would ever be in a Cubs uniform. The following season Sosa was shipped to Baltimore and then ended his career with the Rangers on his way to hitting 608 Home Runs.
Sosa is now in the same category as Palmeiro, Canseco, McGwire and Bonds. All sluggers who broke records and in the process broke our hearts knowing they cheated the game that gave them so much. Sosa will eventually get into the Hall of Fame just like Bonds and McGwire and Palmeiro, but it'll take a long time before they're let in if ever.
For all his fans and people who supported him over the years, we cheered and today we wonder, what happened to our heroes? 11 years ago we had that. But not anymore.