Sammy Sosa is in Chicago for the first time since his major league career ended in 2007, and the trip isn’t off to a great start.
Sosa is in the Windy City for an autograph session at the Rosemont Convention Center this weekend and met with the media Friday.
The 55-year-old should be a Chicago Cubs legend, but his ties to performance-enhancing drugs left him a villain with the organization.
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The Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa strikes out against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (John Zich/AFP via Getty Images)
Sosa was asked, though, if a door could be open to make amends.
“I’m a mature man. I think it’s a possibility that we could do that. I’m open. I don’t have any problem with that,” he told Fox 32 in Chicago. “Like I said, I had a lot of misunderstandings in the past. I’m a real man, I feel great. So I recognize my mistake. So, hey, why not?”
When Fox 32 reporter Lou Canellis asked if that “mistake” was performance-enhancing drugs, an obvious follow-up, Sosa was somehow stunned.
“This is, um, um, not a question that I expected from you,” he replied. “This is not an interview that I’m really going to sit down and do with you with that piece right now. But, like I said, I feel great. Let’s see what happens.”
Sosa then walked away.
Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs during the Cubs’ 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NLDS at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (Dilip Vishwanat/Sporting News via Getty Images via Getty Images)
Sosa is largely credited with bringing baseball back to life with his own personal home run derby with Mark McGwire in 1998 as they both chased, and shattered, Roger Maris‘ record of 61 homers in a season. McGwire hit 70, and Sosa hit 66.
In 2009, two years after he retired, Sosa was accused of taking steroids and has since been left him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Because of a dispute with Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, he isn’t in the organization’s Hall of Fame, either.
Sosa has continued to deny he took performance-enhancing drugs, including under oath.
Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals, right, and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs laugh during a pregame press conference at Busch Stadium. (Stephen Jaffe/AFP via Getty Images)
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Sosa is the only player to ever have three seasons of 60-plus home runs, and his 609 homers rank ninth all time.
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