Sammy Sosa, the Chicago Cubs' all-time home run leader, was not invited to the Wrigley Field 100-year celebration Wednesday and believes he should have been.

Through his spokesperson, Sosa offered this response Thursday to the Tribune regarding his exclusion:

“I saw the celebration at Wrigley Field and I thought they did a wonderful job honoring the ballpark. I would have been humbled and delighted to have been included.”

Sosa had stronger words in an interview with ESPN Deportes, saying, "I should have been there; I would have liked to have been there. The Cubs know where to find me, and I hope to have the chance to clear up any misunderstanding.

"It has been 10 years since I played my last game with the Cubs. That's a lot of time to not have had a conversation about this."

Sosa went on to say through his spokesperson that he would “welcome a dialogue with (team Chairman) Mr. (Tom) Ricketts” regarding his estranged relationship with the Cubs organization.

A source who spoke directly with Sosa on Thursday said Sosa sounded “very hurt” by the fact he was not invited to take part in the Wrigley celebration that included many other former Cubs stars.

Ricketts repeatedly has said that he could see the two sides talking eventually, but he is not certain how the fans would respond. He has referred to the relationship as “awkward” and needing time to heal.

Sosa and Mark McGwire waged an entertaining race to break Roger Maris’ single-season home run record in 1998. McGwire wound up with 70 and Sosa banged out 66. Barry Bonds would hit 73 in 2001. All three would be linked to performance-enhancing drugs, although Sosa has not been directly implicated. And all three have fallen short of making the Hall of Fame, despite their prolific power numbers.

McGwire and Bonds have returned to baseball in coaching and roving instructor capacities. But Sosa, who hit 609 career home runs, remains a bit of a pariah with the Cubs organization, for which he hit 545 homers in 13 seasons.

Sosa's last act as a member of the Cubs was leaving Wrigley Field early during the final game of the 2004 season.

Sosa and his wife, Sonia, live in Miami, where they are preparing to welcome their sixth child next Tuesday.

fmitchell@tribune.com

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

If Ricketts is not bringing him back due to a perception that the fans wouldn't welcome him back... I think he's wrong. It's been 10 years. Sosa was a douche, but he was also pretty awesome. I'd love to see him back in Wrigley.

Bucky,love your avatar. I'm still hoping to see that movie but I caught a little cough and head cold. Coughing after getting your chest cracked open is not fun.

I feel the Cubs should have invited him back,too! WGN's Wrigley special showed no Sammy highlights at all. That was sad.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Its been long enough. Time to make amends.

They did a poor job on the event overall. Poorly planned and presented.

Sammy running out into the OF would have been THE HIGHLIGHT.

(Note if you place a pic of him with that skin whitener I will delete it, just because it freaks me out)

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

It's time to bring him back. He was the face of the Cubs, like it or not. Douchebag move, not bringing him back or showing him on your stupid 100 year show. I watched 1/2hr and shut it off. Ricketts can go fuck himself with his, " I met my wife in the bleachers and got a blowjob in the parking lot. I remember when daddy, uh his assistant, brought me to the ballpark as a kid and I got to meet Santo and he gave me a blow job in the parking lot... " bla bla bla! Sell the team before you ruin the next 25yrs.

Man, I bet. It's a great movie... you'll love it whether you see it in the theater or on DVD.



Another thought... it might have actually been better to bring him back for this ceremony. With all the other players, and the rest of the hoopla, it could have taken some of the focus off him.

It really is a shame he wasn't there. Pretty lame on the Cubs part.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Ricketts is a douchy silver spoon fan boy with no balls. Make a decision pussy. Stop worrying about what your fans think or what the "relationship" is like. If you keep it up, you won't have any fans to worry about.

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I really don't like the way the Cubs have treated Sosa. They enabled his behavior for years and when they were done making money off of him they dropped him and they've treated him like shit since then. I personally will always be a fan of Sosa's.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Many have asked me why it was so bad. Haven't had time till now to detail it out.

Tons of people in suits and ties all around home plate for a long time. Not even sure what was going on, but you had a full ball park by 12:30 and trapsed out some people to throw out some pitches.

Yes, a platform with a mic for even 15 seconds of Butkus would be good.

You could only pull together 9 players? and 4 of them live within 5 miles?

Yes, I expected a cavalcade of guys running out onto the field. Where was my Rick Monday, my Rick Reuschel, Kingman, Jose cardenal, manny trillo, Leon Durham, Jody Jody Davis. Give me top 50 still alive, let them take a lap!

Should have had giveaways before the game, during the game, some of the old bricks, chairs, flags, how about some Dutchy caray signed balls, or W Wrigley the 4th, or some W Flags signed by Ernie, Billy, Fergie.

I could go on and on, but they did nothing.

The Flyover by the Bi-Planes was cool, thanks.

The whole thing reminded me of going to Cheli's Chili for the first time. I think it was on Randolph. Lotsa hype. Walk into this warehouse space where Chelis uncle and./or father hit you up int he first 10 seconds with a "you want chili and a dog?" and they have a hot dog cart inside. So, you are at "CHELIS CHILI", you have to try it, it has to be good. Yuck! Terrible.

Keep walking and its just one big warehouse with a DJ and Beer Posters hanging between the 10 feet of empty space on the wall. Just a place with an empty effort to do something.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

I'M NO SOsa fan but id welcome him anywhere long before kerry wood or tom ricketts.

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You're a fan of asshole frauds?

Yup.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

If hitting 60+ homers and driving in 150+ runs makes you an asshole fraud then the Cubs need more asshole frauds.

Turning himself into a science project via steroids and whatever else he could get his hands on makes him a fraud. Him just in general being a complete douchebag is what makes him an asshole.

He's not a fraud. Everybody was on something during the 90's.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Did you watch baseball in the 90's? You make it sound like he was some lone rebel ball player, who fooled the world by taking steriods. Most of the top players where doing it and we loved them for it.

Steriods or no steriods, I will always remember Sammy on the Cubs hitting 60+hrs, running to RF, proud to be a Chicago Cub. If he was a white player or spoke better english, the Cubs wouldn't be treating him this way. You can't market Sammy Sosa and that is the main reason they exclude him from the Cubs.

This. Sosa was always a prick behind closed doors, and when the Cubs were done with him they let all of that come out so the fans would be OK with trading him. And the Sox get shit all the time on here for the way they treat players and fans. Here you have the single greatest hitter in franchise history and the Cusb threw him into the trash as if he were Santo cards or a Wrigley cake. Its really quite pathetic.

Not saying Sosa is 100% innocent, but its up to the Cubs to make amends.

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Sosa and ARam have been my two favorite Cubs the last 20 years hands down. Would have been great to
see Sammy out there. I'll never forget that '98 season. Steroids be damned, him and McGwire had the
entire country tuning in every night to see what they would do next. I don't care if they retire his number
or anything but I certainly think they should recognize his accomplishments.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

You know, this is a funny thing. I would draw a comparison to horse racing. You just can't compete at the top levels racing a horse on hay, oats, and water. Everyone knows it. The horse that wins the Kentucky Derby will be high as a kite. The top respected trainers, most of whom come from long time racing families with pedigrees similar to the horses, have to light 'em up too. Nobody really says much about that. But when you've got some upstart kid with no background in racing who pops onto the scene and is suddenly winning everything in sight, people get upset. It's obvious he's gassing his horses, most likely with EPO or some other heavy shit, but everyone else is doing something too. You can't compete otherwise.

There's something about some guys in racing and some guys in baseball that, even though everyone is doing something, these guys are so blatant and in your face with it, that even the other guys who are juicing are offended by it. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, but I think that's probably why there's more contempt for Sosa than for some other guys. Maybe it's just anger that he was a better juicer than you. I don't know whether Frank Thomas juiced or not. But I do know he was a better ballplayer than Sammy Sosa. And Sammy didn't just juice to make himself better than Frank, he strutted about glorying in it. And he really basked in it like no one else. I think that's what people find so offensive about Sosa.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

2001
.437/.737/1.174

What if you fed him Beefarino?

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Then you don't want to sit behind him.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Does anyone know why the Cubs turned on Sammy? It seems ridiculous to me. Let it go and make up already.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

I wonder how much the corked-bat incident added to the tarnish of his career (i.e., he was a multi-faceted cheater).

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

I loved Sosa when he played for the Sox. Dude had plenty of power, speed, and a canon for an arm...he was the Panther! I remember being at old Comiskey and the outfield was Raines, Johnson, and Sosa. That's a pretty fast outfield!

Anyway, I have no admiration for him at all. Don't hate him though. He did what he did. Nobody cared at the time. He got rich.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest