In a recent article, seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger Award winner Sammy Sosa had some interesting things to say. And while the media world may not have 100-percent agreed with him, Doug Glanville recently came to his defense.
Before we get into Glanville’s words, let’s talk a bit about what the former Cubs star said to make us scratch our heads.
Sosa recently compared himself to the none other than Jesus Christ himself (more on that here).
Chuck Wasserstrom is a Cubs media relations employee and spoke to Sosa, who also said he put the city of Chicago “on the map.”
“My intention was to finish my career in Chicago,” Sosa said, per Wasserstrom. ” I never wanted to leave Chicago. I should have handled that situation differently, yes indeed. I recognize my mistake.”
“If I could have done it again, I would have done it differently. The only thing we cannot do is turn back time. We can’t do that. But hey, we have to move forward. I understand I made a mistake. I regret it, definitely, but I have to move on.”
In Glanville’s piece, he spotlighted how the two formed a friendship during spring training in 1994.
We had a collegiality to our friendship,” said Glanville. “I learned about his first days in the big leagues before his Cubs tenure and some of the difficult adjustments he had to make around relationships, culture, language, currency, fashion, housing, interviews.”
Fast forward to almost a decade later in 2003 and Sosa was “an empire,” as Glanville explains. He had his own personal coach, an assistant who he worked with daily and “he might have been on a private jet or two.”
Glanville sees the now 48-year-old as a player who smiled and loved fans. And even when mentioning the PED allegations and corked bat incident, Glanville says many players from the league dealt with a similar situation and were welcomed back with open arms by their home fans.
“Manny Ramirez failed the drug test twice after the drug policy was in full effect, and he was a hitting coach for the Iowa Cubs,” said Glanville. “Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds had a chance to coach. Jason Giambi apologized himself into good graces. Alex Rodriguez was able to play out his career and is now at Yankees’ spring training as a special adviser. Ryan Braun is seen as a potential key piece to some team’s playoff hopes, if not those of his lifelong organization in Milwaukee.”
Sosa was happy and proud of the city, now that the Cubs are champions, yet he was not invited to be a part of the celebration. And Glanville shields the player who gave us one of the most historic home run displays in baseball history, which will always remain a part of Chicago’s history.