CHICAGO — Legendary Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in more than 20 years on Friday before the team’s afternoon game with the Seattle Mariners.
Sosa, who is set to be inducted into the Cubs Hall of Fame this year, arrived at the iconic MLB ballpark on Chicago’s North Side in a black SUV. The 56-year-old from the Dominican Republic was greeted by Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, who embraced him in a hug as he exited the vehicle.
Sosa became the face of the franchise where he played 13 seasons after coming over in a trade from the crosstown White Sox in March 1992. A seven-time MLB All-Star, Sosa hit 545 homers in 1,811 games with the Cubs and hit a franchise-record 66 in 1998, when he was named the National League MVP.
Sosa played his final game with the Cubs at Wrigley on Oct. 2, 2004, when he homered and had two hits in an 8-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves. During his years with the Cubs, Sosa appeared to bulk up drastically and was a headliner in a generation of baseball’s biggest names linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
The Cubs traded him to the Baltimore Orioles with cash in February 2005 for three players.
Sosa appeared to acknowledge using PED use in December when he released a statement saying he was sorry for mistakes, without specifying them.
“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,” he said in the statement. “I never broke any laws. But in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.”
On Friday morning, Sosa posed for photos with rising Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong outside the team’s clubhouse, and a video showed Sosa embracing manager Craig Counsell in his office before the game.
“(Sosa) saw the wind blowing out today and planned this trip around a good day to be here,” Counsell joked. “He asked to be in the lineup because the wind’s blowing out.”
The Cubs honored Sosa with a video tribute on the big screen after the second inning. Sosa waved and bowed to fans from a suite during the presentation.
In Thursday’s 8-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, Crow-Armstrong went deep to set a team record for reaching 20 homers and 20-plus stolen stolen bases the fastest, doing it in 73 games. Sosa had the old mark of 96 games, set in 1994.
Counsell, who faced Sosa as a player, saluted the former slugger for his strength at the plate and long homers, as well as his star power.
“Probably the best thing, Sammy was a true entertainer,” Counsell said. “I think when you’re in this long enough, you realize that’s part of this. We’re also here to entertain, and I think Sammy was great at that.”