Tom Ricketts On Sammy Sosa, Players Of PED Era: 'Owe Us A Little Honesty'
(CBS) There's no change in the strained relationship between the Cubs and former slugger Sammy Sosa, one of the team's most beloved figures during his playing days while he hit a franchise-record 545 homers.
Sosa has had a nearly non-existent relationship with the organization since the unceremonious ending to his 2004 season, when he left Wrigley Field while the season finale was still going on and then was traded to the Orioles in the offseason. Sosa's alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs has been a dark cloud hanging over his career that has concerned the Cubs and owner Tom Ricketts, who said players of that era such as Sosa "owe us a little bit of honesty."
"For me, Sammy's a great person, he was a great player, obviously one of my favorite players for many years as a Cub, but I just feel like there are certain things that over time should happen before players are welcomed back," Ricketts said in an interview on "Inside the Clubhouse" on 670 The Score on Saturday morning. "I'd just like to see -- not just talking about Sammy -- I'd like to see all of baseball kind of shine some light on everything that happened or didn't happen. I think that would bring more closure.
"But for the time being, I think we'll just leave things (with Sosa) as they are."
On Friday, the Cubs released a list of more than 75 people -- coaches, executives, current players, former players and more -- who will be attending the Cubs Convention next weekend, but Sosa once again wasn't on it.
Sosa also wasn't invited to the Cubs'100-year celebration of Wrigley Field in 2014, which irked him.
For his part, Ricketts is open to forgiveness under the right circumstances.
"I wouldn't judge all these players to harshly," Rickett said. "They're in a unique situation, they have a lot at stake. And I think for all the players that were in that era, we owe them a little bit of understandings. We owe them taking a little time to put ourselves in the context of the moment.
"But I also think they owe us a little bit of honesty. America is all about forgiving people and moving forward, and I kind of believe, I just feel like that's the right answer for everyone from the era, for everyone who might have dabbled in PEDs. I just feel like there's no closure if you don't address it."
Speaking generally about players of the PED era, Ricketts further elaborated.
"It's sad we've never been able to rip the band-aid off, get all the details on the table and move forward, which I think ultimately is a problem that we struggle with," Ricketts said. "I mean, I struggle with it as a fan, I struggle with it as an owner.
"It's not a black-and-white thing. There's probably a lot of guys out there who tried (steroids) for a few months or there's guys who tried it and it didn't help. It's kind of a dark story."
You can listen to the full interview below.
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