By: Alex Patt

He brought a boring and dead franchise back to life, he was part of a race that captured the attention of millions, his name was talked about in so many households around the country, he left under controversy and mixed emotions, his legacy is full of gray areas.

The latest #RememberThatCub features Sammy Sosa, the man who was once on top of the Chicago sports world but is now in exile. Sosa spent 13 of his 18 years in the majors on the northside of Chicago. During that time he went from a mediocre player to one of the biggest names in baseball over a span of a decade.

He came over to the Cubs in 1992 when they sent George Bell to the crosstown White Sox in exchange for Sosa and Ken Patterson. His 1991 season with the Sox he hit just .203/.240/.576 with 10 homers in 116 games at the age of 23. He had only three years under his belt and did not seem to make much progress so the Sox threw him in the Bell deal.

In 1992 he only played in 67 games just hitting 8 homers but in 1993 he had his first full season as a Cub and hit 33 home runs with 93 runs batted in along with a .260/.309/.794 slash and career high 36 stolen bases. Sosa would gradually get better as he he made his first all star team in 1995 a season he hit 36 home runs with a .268/.340/.840 slash. In 1996 he reached 40 home runs and 36 in 1997…then came 1998.

The Chase

CubsBearsfan14/via Flickr.com

1998 was one of the most historic years in baseball history and Sosa was right in the center of it. It was the great home run race between him and Cardinals Mark McGwire as they would chase AND pass Roger Maris’ single-season home run record of 61. In a back and fourth battle, Sammy Sosa finished with 66 home runs which lost out to McGuire’s 70. Sosa hit his 61st and 62nd home runs that season at Wrigley Field on September 13th in a dramatic 11–10 win vs. Milwaukee. Though Sosa finished 2nd in homers, he ended up winning the NL MVP award and was part of the Cubs team that clinched the Wild Card in game 163 vs. the Giants. His final stat line that year: .308/.377/1.024 with 66 home runs, 158 RBIs and a 6.4 bWAR. It is interesting to note that McGwire his his 62nd home run in St. Louis against the Cubs on September 8th off Steve Trachsel; Sosa and McGwire embraced each other on the field.

He continued to be a star for another five years or so in a Cubs uniform. He hit 63 home runs in 1999 and 64 in 2001 which gave him three career seasons of 60+ home runs. From 1999–2003 he hit 266 home runs; average roughly 53 per season. One of his other famous home runs was when the Cubs played the Astros in 2001 after 9/11 and he ran around the bases with an American flag.

It was 2003 when things started to go down hill a little bit. His stats were still respectable, .279/.358/.911 with 40 home runs but on June 3rd, 2003 he hit a grounder that splintered his bat which revealed cork inside. It was illegal to modify the bat like that and he was called out and suspended eight games. He claimed he accidentally used his batting practice bat and did not mean to use it in the game. It was somewhat pushed aside by fans later as the Cubs won the division and he hit a big game-tying two-run home run in game one of the NLCS in the 9th inning.

2004 is when things fell apart and when the Sosa era ended. The expectations of that team were so high and they failed to make the playoffs. Sosa had an up and down year which included slumps and an odd injury when he violently sneezed and hurt his back. He finished with 35 homers in 126 games. As the final games of the disappointing 2004 season arrived, Sosa sat out the final game and ended up leaving early. It was his last time he was in Wrigley Field since that day. This angered a lot of the teammates and officials who had enough with him and this lead to Sosa’s end as a Cub.

On Febuary 2nd, 2005 he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Fontenot, Jerry Hairston and Dave Crouthers.

He passed Ernie Banks on the all time Cubs home run list in 2004 and finished with 545 homers as a Cub (Banks had 512). He is second in OPS (.928) and Slugging % (.569) which are both behind Hack Wilson. His 1,414 RBIs were third behind Banks and Cap Anson and third in extra base hits behind Billy Willams and Banks at 873.

He finished his final season in 2007 with the team he began with, the Texas Rangers. He hit his 600th home run against the Cubs, Jason Marquis was pitching, and finished his career with 609 home runs which is 8th all time currently. A final slash of .273/.344/.878 in 2,354 games. With steroid allegations and the corked bat incident he has been denied a plaque in Cooperstown to this point and the controversial moments with the Cubs has left him in exile since 2004.

Looking at it now, Sosa may have had his issues with the team but he was still a savior for the Cubs at the time and made them fun again. He was incredibly entertaining as a fan and considering the franchise is completely different, hard for them to hold a grudge now. It has been over a decade since Sosa was a thing at Wrigley and it may be time to make peace with him.

Do you #RememberThatCub?

Alex Patt is a writer for Wrigley Rapport and other publications and you can follow him on twitter @chifanpatt1