Does Sammy belong in the Hall of Fame

I think a guy that hits 600 or more homeruns belongs in the hall. I know about his possible steroid use and corked bats but many players have done things like that. I'm not aware of anything severe enough to keep him out.

So anyone suspect shouldn't be eligible for the Hall of Fame? That would eliminate many people and accomplishments. Any way you figure it, 600 homers is a lot. And what do you do with Barry Bonds? Maybe they will implement an asterisk system to denote players from the "Steroid Era."

Roman repsonds: Let's just wait and see what Mitchell's investigation turns up on Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro and Clemens.

Here is my adjusted HR count for Sammy:
- 25 cork HRs
- 320 HGH HRs
Adjusted total = 250 HRS = no Hall of Fame

Circumstantial evidence or not...people get convicted of murder based on circumstantial evidence. Does anyone remember the Rick Riley interview with him in the late 90s? Riley essentially said let's put the rumors to rest by taking a quick test. Sosa completely flipped out because he didn't know it was coming.
I love the argument these supposed baseball experts use to say he belongs in the Hall. "Well, lots of people probably used HGH over the last 15 years". Yeah, ok, that makes it right.
This guy is a complete fraud and known cheater.

Roman responds: I thought Riley was out of line with that.

Did you see the Sosa clips last night from when he was with the Sox? Someone said "who is that"? He was probably 70 pounds lighter than he was in 1998. Last night, he's probably 25 pounds lighter than 1998. Must be water weight.
Saying Sammy cheated is like saying people cheat on their taxes. You'd have to be really slow to think otherwise. Baseball stuck its head in the sand on this issue (Selig) from the mid 90s to 2005.
The best was his performance in front of Congress a few years back. I'm still disappointed that none of the members followed up with a question on his prepared statement on "never taking illegal performance enhancing drugs". That is much different than taking prescribed sterioids or HGH which is infinitely easier in latin america. According to a friend of a friend, this was the original reason baseball asked to see the medical records of all baseball players a few months back. If these players (like Sosa) were taking prescribed steroids/HGH, it is very possible that it would be included in the teams' medical files. At that point, baseball is asking "Why" were they taking these prescribed drugs - what was the condition requiring the drug.

As a Cub fan I never liked his selfishness. But the fans and the media created the monster. And they fed his ego daily. As far as the hall of fame goes, I don't know how you keep him out. When you are in the company of 4 of the greatest ever and have never tested positive for any illegal drug, I don't know how you keep him out. Is suspicion enough? Until Palmeiro tested positive, nobody suspected him. Everybody was wrong about him. So, as long as we weren't suspicious of you , you get in. I just think it is impossible to do. I think it's an era that we just have to live with. I'll handle it this way. When I talk to my grand kids, I'll explain the era and what went on. These guys will never be looked upon as the greats like Aaron, Mays and Ruth. At least that is how I will view it.

I agree - absolutely no doubt he was on something. Look around though and compare the skinny guys in the early 90s, to the bulked up ones, to the ones now breaking down and losing power. I'm guessing there were/are 200-300 guys on something.
I'm a huge sox fan and we have our own set of questionables.

Yes...Sammy gets in and he should get in on the first ballot. I, like many Chicago fans, loved Sammy during the home run years and fell out of love when he couldn't come through with the big homers when we were contenders. When Sammy left early during his last game with the Cubs, and was eventually traded, I could not have cared less.

Now, a few years after all that, I was happy for Sammy when he hit #600. Sammy has never been implicated, in any meaningful way, with the use of steroids. Sammy has never admitted using steroids, he has never tested positive for steroids and he has always denied that he ever used steroids. The suspicions are legitimate, but unless they are proven, Sammy gets in. By the way, steroids were not illegal when Sammy was blasting the homers.

Hank Aaron 755, Barry Bonds 748 and counting, Babe Ruth 714, Willy Mays 660, these are Sammy's peers, he belongs to the most exclusive club in American sports. For Chicago sportswriters to not support Sammy when his name appears on the ballot would be a shame.

P.S. I too am suspicious of Sammy, but you simply cannot overlook the number of home runs.

Sammy belongs in the hall as much as anyone in their now or in the queue to be elected. Sure there is the possibility Sammy was on the juice and/or amphetamines. Of course MLB had no rules against those PED’s at the time. MLB also didn’t have any rules concerning those drugs when the Babe hit #715 nor when Hank hit #756 nor when Maris hit #61. All records are tainted from the moment Abner Doubleday invented the game. Should we throw out every record and start from scratch? No. If proof comes out that Sammy was cheating more than his peers then he should not be allowed in the hall. Until then the only controversy should be whether Sammy will go in as a Ranger or as a Cub. If nothing else, he was half the pair that saved MLB from its own inept marketing, paving the way for the exciting, if not tainted, Bonds chase of 70/756 HR’s, Maddux and Clemen’s run past 300 wins and the Red and White Sox breaking their respective curses. That is reason enough to celebrate Sammy and all the good times he brought us.

Heck no he doesn't! I noticed that he has lost a lot of size too. Gee, I wonder why? Sammy was fun to watch as a Cubbie until it became apparent that he was a cheater. He, Bonds, McGwire, Palmiero etc. all deserve squat. They tainted basball and should be treated harsher than Pete Rose has been.
By the way, since Sammy has lost some of his size did everyone (and Congress) notice how his English has improved?

Look--I think it's about time we all realize that professional sports are businesses, pure and simple, and that "integrity" in said business is simply a construct of our own quixotic dreams of the glory of a game that never really existed. Regardless of how good a player is, they're going to want to be better. Performance-enhancing substances, while inappropriate on any level, are nonetheless a reality for many athletes at all levels looking to excel. I'd be willing to accept the asterisks next to people's names if it were just they (them?) who were doping--but, if Bonds, Sosa, or McGwire were facing pitchers who were 'roided out (which they probably were more often than people want to admit), then can we not place some of the blame on the system that provokes their actions?

In answer to your original question--I agree with you that Sosa might have to do more to be HoF-worthy. A hundred more homers and a return to his dominant form of years past while at his current size would be a start.

Roman responds: Yeah, that's going to happen.

Come on Romo...just because he grew by 80 pounds in his 30s, took a year off after new steroid rules went into effect, forgot to speak english in front of Congress, used a corked bat.
You're so cynical...

Roman responds: Guilty as charged.

Some individuals might take this post the wrong way, but to me all players who hit 500 or more homers and never were SUSPECTED or CAUGHT using steriods is allowed into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I still believe Pete Rose should be allowed in. I refuse to believe the man betted on a team to lose, especially the one he played for and managed....(But rules are rules and they are not to be broken)...yeah right! Tell George Bush that! (oops...this is not a blog about politics)

Personal note: I do not care who came before or after Mr. Hank Aaron, they cannot touch his record. He did not suit up with armor on his hands, forearms, elbows and legs. Nor did a lot of the other players who have hit 400 homers or more. I will give leniency only to the leg/ankle guard which players wear on the lower feet because of fouling off a baseball.

Babe Ruth, though he played with a short porch at Yankee Stadium and NOT against all the BEST players of his time(segregation), he gets a past from me. Maybe it is the candy bar or something, but the Babe is okay with me. Hell a man who drinked alledgedly like he did and still show up to play ball---Well what the hell, let's us tip our beer cans to him now--- gulp, gulp..

I do not care what any of these other players do and that includes Barry Bonds! He has worn at times enough armor where I thought the dude was part of a SWAT team or something. Give me that much armor, and I can stand in there and take a 90 mph fastball! I might never see it go by or get hit, but damn if I am not well cover by Allstate! --most of you know the jingle--

Sammy and a cork bat! Do I need to say more? But I will and though I liked seeing him hit the home run, do his little skip and hop, that is when he lost me as his fan. I still like the man, but he didn't need a cork bat, especially at Wrigley on a windy day.

He cheated guys! And I know others will say, but the pitchers are doing it too, maybe so, but the hitters are mostly getting caught up in the steriod controversy.

HANK AARON YOU ARE STILL THE MAN!!

Sammy So-unnecessary-sa

Deep down I agree with much of what Mariotti said, but I'm going to play devils advocate for Sammy here. First of all, I don't put Sammy in quite the same category as Bonds or Mc Guire because those guys had stronger links to steroids. With Bonds and BALCO, we pretty much know he did it, regardless of what his silly defenders have to say. With Big Mac, we have the andro-in-the-locker incident and we have published reports of a link between him and a steroid dealer. With Sammy, we have nothing except suspicion. To me this seperates him. The other thing is that I think Sammy has been ufairly skewered for his grand jury testimony. In Mc Guire's case, he plead the fifth, which often implies guilt. In Sammy's case, he denied taking steroids through a translator. I can relate here because I speak a little Spanish as a second language. I know that in my case I would probably feel confident giving a quote to a journalist about a baseball game in Spanish, but if I had to go before the Mexican Grand Jury I would certainly want a translator....these are two different things entirely. Even though my Spanish is OK, I wouldn't want there to be any chance that I could mince words and implicate myself. So until somebody gives me something better on Sammy, I think he has to go to the Hall.

Roman responds: Hey Mike, that's why you have a translator. Why would you be so worried if you didn't do anything?

There is no doubt that Sammy belongs in the Hall of Fame. He was the only attraction for the Cubs for years. Not Ryne Sandberg or Mark Grace but Slamming Sammy. He never tested positive for nothing and besides if he cant get in the hall of fame what about everyone else from that era that has been ignored? What about the great Roger Clemens who is 45 years old still reaching 90MPH on his fast ball and he never did any performance enhancing drugs. I would bet the farm that he did but the press and most baseball people give him a free pass. Cub fans, the Cub organization and people from Chicago should be ashamed for not supporting Sammy for the Hall of Fame because he was the only draw that made money for that club.

Roman responds: I agree 100 percent about Clemens. I have my suspicions about him, too.

When Sosa began his career he weighed in at about 160 lbs; during his home-run boom he was around 230 lbs. A 43% increase in weight and muscle mass coupled with 292 home runs in five years? That alone is profoundly suspicious to me. Add to it the corked bat, quitting on his team, the me-first tantrums...he's never been a clutch player, much less HOF material to me.

Roman responds: Well put.

Clearly with the juiced stats, 500 home runs doesn't mean what it used to, so why should 600? Plenty of ballplayers with big numbers have had the doors of the Hall closed to them. Guys like Shoeless Joe and Pete Rose were kept out because they broke the cardinal rule: don't cheat the game. You can be a complete jerk in most any other way -- look at Ty Cobb, who killed a guy; or Mickey Mantle's destructive alcholism -- but if you cheat at baseball, the baseball gods will not forgive you.

ABSOLUTEY! Never was caught, and steroids were not illegal until recently. Think the NFL is even thinking about that foolishness? Absolutely not. Folks have been spit balling, scuffing, stealing signs, and corking bats forever. Takes more than juice to hit home runs and he is still hitting them. I don't like that high-horse baseball-purist stuff. If they have the stats, enshrine them.

Yes. He's absolutely a HOFer. Its a no-brainer.

Yes, there is nothing sustantial connecting him to steroids or any other form of cheating -that I know of-. He is lumped in with all of "those people" because of the era he's from. McGuire has Conseco's book, Bonds has Balco, Palmero tested positive... Sosa has nothing. Just rumors and speculations. Until something more concerning comes to light I say most sports writers should vote for him. However, there was recently a poll on ESPN.com where 50% said they would not vote for him.
Given he's still playing; there's still quite a bit of time until we see how the newest-member-of-the-600-club's story will unfold. Which brings onther question to mind. By it's time to vote on Sosa, will the rumors and speculations all have faded and leave the writers reverting to just sheer numbers to decide their vote? Does time cure all? It didn't for McGuire the first time.

Roman responds: I think with the investigations going on, evidence will surface against a lot of players. Sammy not knowing how to speak English when he went to the Congressional hearings? Please.

SAMMY SAVED BASEBALL

"By the way, steroids were not illegal when Sammy was blasting the homers."...murder was also not explicitly prohibited by baseball, but like steroids, it was against federal law in the 90s.

Douglas, I'm with you...it kills me to see cheaters like Bonds and Sosa in the same sentence with Aaron, Ruth and Mays.

Roman, my earlier point is that the Spanish thing may not be a matter of guilt or innocence or having anything to hide. The fact is that if you are not fully fluent in a language, it is very easy to accidently say something like "I DID use steroids" when you actually meant to say "I DID NOT use steroids." Again, I can speak casual Spanish but if I had to go to court, I wouldn't want there to be any chance that I could make a linguistic mistake, even if I knew I was 100% innocent. I would absolutely want a translator. That is why I think his use of the traslator was fair. I've heard Sammy speak English enough to know that he is nowhere close to fully fluent.

Roman responds: But he wasn't on trial. The only thing those clowns had to worry about was perjury.

Stats, Laws, Records are all words that have no place for feelings. Take your emotions out and look at the hard cold facts.

THERE WOULD BE NO BASEBALL RIGHT NOW IF SAMMY HADNT CORKED AND JUICE. IT WOULD BE JUST LIKE HOCKEY RIGHT NOW.

AFTER REINSDORF ALMOST KILLED BASEBALL, SAMMY AND BIG MAC SINGLE HANDEDLY PUT THE FUN BACK INTO AMERCIAS NATIONAL PAST TIME.

SPORTS IS ENTERTAINMENT #1 - WERE YOU ALL NOT ENTERTAINED?

(sorry for the caps, but some of you blow hards go on and on and on, so its hard to read through all your typing!

It's really not a question of whether Sosa did HGH/steroids - I don't think thre's any doubt about that. I've seen murderers convicted on less circumstantial evidence than what Sosa is up against.
Baseball in total ignored it beginning in the early 90s - owners, players and players union, writers. I doubt that we'll ever have documented evidence of the hitters and pitchers who took them and this George Mitchell thing is laughable.
Either declare the mid 90s to 2003 as "the steroid era" and have HoF voters vote to a higher standard or ignore the fact that several hundred players probably took them and vote them in like always.

you people are too much. i'm not a sosa or cubs' fan, but i know that guy energized your losing franchise plus baseball when it needed it the most. there is no proof he has done anything wrong except cork a bat. the city of chicago should send him to the hall of fame with a police escort.....there is a reason you have been losers for 99 years.

With Mitchell's investigation, I'll save you all the suspense: it'll be inconclusive. Very little will be proven, because the guy has no real clout to impose anything or legal standing -- it's all a dog and pony show. Not to mention a clear case of too little, too late. Only a real moron is going to test positive for anything these days, and the players who have admitted to taking performance enhancers aren't HOF material anyway.

And if memory serves, wasn't Shoeless Joe Jackson and company found *not guilty* by a court of law, but still banned from baseball and the HOF?

"Alex Trebek...I'll take baseball for $100 please".

"The answer is.....
Jason Giambi
Gary Sheffield
David Ortiz
Jim Thome
Roger Clemens
Todd Helton
Sammy Sosa
Barry Bonds
Miguel Tejeda
Brian Roberts"

Answer....duhhhh

No. He's absolutely not a HOFer. It's a no-brainer.

Lets get real and be honest here. Sosa has never been directly or indirectly linked to steroid use. That doesn't mean that he didn't do them, but we have no basis to accuse him of doing so just because of guilt by association with those that we know did. Bonds, McGuire, Palmiero, Canseco, Giambi, and Cameniti all admitted to use, were caught using, or were directly accused of using by others involved with steriod use and distribution.

Sosa is as guilty as is Roger Clemens, and nobody ever questions Clemens HOF credentials. Clemens(who is a bigger balloon than Bonds or even Al Gore) decline in his mid 30's and rebirth in his late 30's and well into his 40's mirrors Bonds superhuman performance for their ages. Sosa did his damage in the normal prime years for any athlete/baseball player, so they are somewhat more believeable. Nobody questions Ken Griffey or A-rod, who both have multiple mid 50+ homer seasons accomplished in the prime of their careers. Unless at least a semi-smoking gun shows up Sosa should be a first ballot lock.

Now the facts and just the facts; Sosa reached 600 in fewer games and at bats than anybody not named Ruth. Sosa has the most home runs of any player that has ever played(including Ruth) over a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 year span. McGuire just beats him out for the 2,3,and 4 year records. He averaged nearly 60 for 5 years, and nearly 50 for 10 years, that would make him the dominant slugger not only of his generation, but of all-time for a decade. Dominance of a decade is the criterion that I hear HOF voters site most often when discussing whether a player is worthy of induction. He has the most 60 home runs seasons of any player. He has 3 of the 6 highest home run totals of all time. He is tied for the most 50 home runs season overall and in a row, and if not for a freak collision with his own teammate in 2002 when he hit "only 49" he would have had a record 5th straight 50 home run season. Since he was at 43 in mid August, and on one of his pattented tears(12 homers in the month before the 15th), a record 4th 60 homer season was most likely in the making. He has 6 straight 40 homer seasons, second only to Ruth. He also had three years in the mid 90's cut short by a broken hand on a HBP and the 2 strike years which would all have been 40+ years and at least one would have been 50+, giving him 6 @ 50+, 2 more than Ruth and McGuire. These years would have given him10 40+ homer seasons, again 2 more than Ruth. All three of these years happened before the supposed steroid years starting in 1998. He had two seasons of 60+ homers, 160 RBI, and 160 runs scored with .308 and .328 batting averages. Those are numbers from the Ruth/Gerhig years that not even Bonds has put up. The Cubs never drew 2 million before Sosa, they now regularly draw 3 million plus. He will finish his career in the top 10-20 in both RBI and runs scored despite playing on lousy teams. In 2001 he had 99 more RBI than his next closest teamate, lapping the field for the previous record. In fact that record might last longer than DiMaggio's 56.

Corked bat and last day early shower not withstanding Sosa is a first ballot no brainer

*Sosa
*McGuire
****************Bonds

Can everyone stop using the argument that "PEDs were not banned in baseball in the 90s". They were illegal in a court of law without a prescription...did baseball need to call out rape and murder as well? Sammy apologists are out in force.

Roman responds: Yeah, that's going to happen.

I didn't say it would, nor do I particularly care if it does. I do find your "cheating the game" statement to be accurate, if reflective of an interesting thought--what constitutes "cheating the game" anymore?

Not disagreeing with you; just wondering about paradigm shifts. People take all kinds of steps to maximize their performance--and I guarantee you that, even with all the sophisticated tests, people will just come up with more ways to get around the system. What if we're living in an age where scientifically-advanced super-humans are the athletic norm? Ivan Drago truly has won. *snicker*

In any case, Roman--like I said, I found the comment accurate. However, I think Keith also brings up a valid point in that it takes more than steroids to hit home runs.

I like this topic. It's a good conversation-starter, and it's neither Bears nor Cubs-related!

I don't think that he will, at least not a first ballot candidate.

Based on the vote for Mark McGwire who has the similar questions surrounding his career, the fact is that I think that he is not elected unless he comes clean. While some might argue that Sosa has not been found guilty of any Steroid use, he has been caught cheating with the corked bat which is a mark against him and his integrity.

Its Baseball Writers who make their living writing about steroids who are voting on these players. It's also not a majority but rather 75% which means that he has to be on 3 out of every 4 ballots. Unless the steroid issue becomes a non-issue among writers do I think they are going to be elected. If Baseball Writers care about the game they won't elect (McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, etc.) and they will force the game, (Union, Ownership, Commissioner's Office, etc.) to deal with the issue.

Okay, so 500 homers doesn't mean as much anymore, and maybe you believe 600 doesn't mean much either, but the problem is that stats are the only way to measure someone's success. Steroids have made it impossible to gauge what a guy would have done without taking them. Also, what about the pitchers Sammy has faced in his career? How many homers has he hit off guys who were juiced as well? Those count just the same. You may not be a Sammy fan, but a fan of the game should recognize the accomplishment of hitting 600 home runs over an 18-year career.

If they can somehow create a separate wing in the Hall for the steroid era, then sure, he has performed as well as others like Sheffield, Bonds, McGuire, Rodriguez, Clemens etc.

Yes, Sosa belongs in HOF. He and Big Mac brought baseball back to life in 1998. I have never heard him say he took anything or heard him say I'm not here to talk about me like Mark did. Sosa sold tickets for the cubs. Just because he used a corked bat one time. I believe him too. I have heard of players using bats like that to put on a show during batting pratice. Bonds is a different issue his trainer is in jail because he won't testify. Too me that says he knows something about Bonds and possible other players. If they can prove Sosa used HGH or there drugs in his career then NO he doesn't belong in the HOF. I mean just because he adds muscle in his late 20's and early 30's doesn't mean anything. There are a lot of legal things he could take to do that. All in all these players will have to answer what they have done. Roids will make you pay later on. Look at the guy from that Astro's.

Did Sammy,Barry,Mark, and Raf...have some kind of super steroid or something....they seem to be the only guys to benefit from alleged steroid use. Was it a special formula administered by baseball for special players? It appears that most of you think Sammy should not be in the hall because of steroids. Then what would be the 'punishment' for guys like Helton, Giambi,and Robert's? I am sure they would be very relieved to find that the punishment for using is banishment from a place they were never going to go to anyway.
Let's get real. Sammy also had a great arm which never lived up to its potential,great speed which was often misused,and an excellent mind that was lost in translation.
From where he came from,to where he is now, is an accomplishment far greater than reaching the hall of fame. To cheat baseball,is to cheat the fans. Sammy never cheated me. Sammy was resilent,and humble at the same time. He always carried himself in a manner that made the hall of fame meaningless to persons of his caliber. His off the field accomplishments will always be greater than what he did on the field. So,to the hall of fame, I say : Who cares.

Sure he does, in the Fred Flintstone wing with all the other cartoon characters.

Sure, as long as he buys a ticket to get in like the rest of us. I have to admit that I was caught up in the excitement of McGuire-Sosa homer binge until it starting getting ridiculous.

It's a shame that Selig didn't have the courage to step in to protect his game when it would've meant something. Aaron, Mays, Ruth, Spahn, etcetc. spent a baseball lifetime amassing their stats but in a few short seasons , their records were blown out of the water by these cheaters. As Steve Stone once said, "If you create a monster, don't be surprised when he comes back to eat the village." Great job, Dr. Bud!

I hope to visit Cooperstown before Bonds, Sosa, McGuire & their ilk start slithering in. It might not be on the first ballot, but you know these circus freaks be enshrined eventually.

Sammy shoulda been kept around as the new Mr. Cub! Its a joke that he is on another team right now.

When sammy and mark were trading homers, I would stop whatever I was doing to tune in to the Cubs games. YOu did too!

Stuck...your post is laughable on so many levels. Romo - can't believe you let the following go by without commenting:

"Sammy was resilent,and humble at the same time". I'm not sure what the word "resilent" means but humble? We must have watched a different player. He was the ultimate self-promoter. His post 9/11 flag waving after his HR was so contrived it was nauseating.

"A great arm which never lived up to its potential"...what in God's name does that mean? Hitting a cut-off man was always a huge accomplishment for him.
"Great speed"? When he was younger and before he added 60 pounds of bulk...sure, he had good speed. If you don't do anything with it, what good is it? How did the Cubs "mis-use" his speed? He was a juiced-up clean-up hitter. How many stolen bases did you want him to have?
Finally, about his "excellent mind"...was that the same mind that forgot how to speak english in front of congress? Was that how it was lost in translation? Funny...he didn't seem to have any problems talking the other night after his 600th.

One of the great mind-numbing posts of all time Stuck...thank you for that!

Roman responds: I get the feeling Stuck likes to be criticized. And I can't respond to every single post.

So, who from this era deserves to be in the Hall of Fame? There is not one player you could point to a say, "I know that guy DIDN'T use steriods." Heck, even Wally Joyner said he tried them. Jason Grimsley, Tampa Bay relief pitcher Juan Salas, New York Mets pitcher Yusaku Iriki, Mets reliever Guillermo Mota. All guilty. All suspended. (And all pitchers, by the way.) It is impossible to say who did what - when. Sosa is certainly under the steriod shroud. But so is every other player. He just happened to put up HOF numbers so he is under a more intense microscope. There is a far far more direct link from Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield, Tejada, Giambi and many other players than Sosa. But with the exception of Bonds (because he's going to break the record) and Giambi (because he keeps yapping away about stuff), Sosa gets far more flack for steriod use than any other active player. Did he use them? Probably, but the whole lot is rotten - so to keep him out, you'll have to keep them ALL out - and since you don't know who they all are - ALL the players would have to be kept out.

Roman responds: It is a guessing game, isn't it? And that isn't fair. I'm guessing Frank didn't use, and neither did A-Rod.

As a Sox fan, and someone who had to listen to many Cub fans during the 90's talk about "you guys traded Sosa what a bunch of dummies you are" I find it extremely hypocritical(and typical actually) of anyone who was a regular attendee of Wrigley Field during his years here to say he is not a first ballot hall of famer. Everyone wants to say he was selfish, egotistical, blah blah blah. What sports star isn't? He got special treatment, so what, he was the Cubs in the 90's. He helped everything about the organization, he brought in tons more fans and helped dramatically improve attendance. I mean afterall "ATTENDANCE" is another one of those things that Cub fans hang their hats on day after day. So what's the real problem here? Are the fan's feelings hurt because they might have been doing steroids? Is that what this is all about, hurt feelings? Please.......

I hear on the Score 670 and AM1000 and from the media that it's all about doing things right for the kids. Please. Do the parent's do anything right for the kids? Aren't they the one's screaming and yelling and cursing at the coaches and umpires at little league and AAU basketball games. This is a microcasm of things that are WRONG with America in general. Sports stars are not heroes! So for all the dumbos that want to say "oh I hate Barry Bonds because he sets a bad example for kids" are liars. Kid's don't look at Barry Bonds and say "wow he did steroids and it worked, I will too"....they have the overwhelming pressure to succeed thrust on them by their PARENTS so they decide to do whatever it takes. It doesn't have anything to do with the kids, it's all about the parents and people in general who can't admit the truth.

That fact is, we all cheat. We all will cheat, and we all have gotten away with it and if the oppurtunity arises we will do so again. Maybe some of us don't cheat to the extent that say Barry Bonds has, but who's to say? Look around you people, on the Bus, the Train, in the car next to you on the expressway. Full of Cheaters! How many people have jobs that they didn't EARN? How many people have positions that they were handed because they "KNEW" someone on the inside? How many people have maybe claimed more people on their taxes, or flat out lied about those tips they get, so they don't have to pay taxes on them? How many people have gone through college using other people's term papers and have gone on to have successful careers? A hell of alot of people.

At the end of the day, we justify these things by saying "the ends justify the means". We tell ourselves that it's bad, but people other than us are benefitting as well. Yeah I cheated, but I can send my kid to college. Yeah I cheated a bit on my taxes, but now I can get my graduate a car she deserves. Yeah I got this guy a job, but he was down on his luck and needed a break, even though he leapfrogged someone more deserving in the process. So yes, Bonds, Sosa, Mcguire, Clemens etc may have cheated. But don't act like they are the only one's who have benefitted. The fans, the organizations, families, employees, kids who get tickets for being good students, kids who got to "bring a sports star to work day", charities, sports programs(inner city, Park district), state agencies etc all benefitted.

Get off your soapbox Cub fans......

I am against the use of steroids in baseball, but I would rather wait for the outcome of any future investigation before giving my opinion about Sosa’s use of steroids and his eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

My hat off to each Cubs fan who still remembers the good things Mr. Sosa did to for the team. To the mean spirited ones who stop short of deporting the man to Santo Domingo I ask: Do you remember how delirious and ecstatic you became whenever Sammy leaped after hitting a homer? How you crowded Wrigley Field to watch him wallop the ball out of the park? How intensely you followed him during that season when he broke Roger Maris’ record? Remember all the accolades you gave him? What happened, that you have turned against him? Fans do not easily turn against their productive players. Detroit’s fans have never turned against a certain Ty Cobb. Is there a social isse in Wrigleyland?

Sammy is no longer a Marvel Man to many former followers, or to his former team. He can no longer hit homers for the team, draw folks to the park or entertain the fans with his simple but well-intentioned gestures. I suspect that if he had used a corked bat at some point during the year he hit 66 homers, most of those who now criticize him would have shrugged it off as a small deal. It so happened that he used a corked bat happened at the end of his productive years as a Cub. I surmise that now that Sam is no longer a Cubs star, many folks who formerly praised him would not have this former shoe shiner come close to their manicured lawns

As far as using an interpreter during the Congressional Hearings, hell yes, he did the right thing! The fact that he was “only” answering questions does not take away the possibility of future action against him. And this possibility becomes more of a reality to a person who may easily get lost in the abstract aspects of the English language. Sammy may have the ability to speak in accented Spanish to someone like Hawk Harrelson, but I have big doubts about his ability to provide grammatically correct and accurate responses in English to a congressional panel. Joe Jackson, a man who did not understand the legal system, went down the shaft after he openly testified in a hearing without knowing that he should have brought an attorney with him.

Let’s hold our judgment until MLB makes is able to make a clear determination on this issue based on any pertinent investigations. We would then be able to tell whether Sam and others should go in the HOF.

Sammy deserves a spot in the Hall...in the freak show section.

Yes Sosa belongs in the Hall of Fame. My arguement with roid issue is: first, should we punish every Cub who gets the chance to play half their games at Wrigley?; second, many of the pitcher friendly ballparks of the past were replaced with homer friendly parks; and third, I believe that he took steroids or hgh, but I know of no study that shows me how performance enhancing benefits a ball player in terms of hitting a baseball. I believe many players have taken roids or hgh in the last twenty years (hitters and pitchers), but not all of the them are Hall of Famers. Roids were around in the sixties and seventies as well.

Sosa belongs. He is the only baseall player I have ever turned on the TV to watch. He played hard and accomplished much. He attempted to do good through charity and nearly always had a smile for the camera. For a time he embodied the joy of the game. While what we believe he did was wrong sports is full of wrongs- not sure I see the line. Steroids were not against the rules and probably not illegal in the Dominican where he may have gotten them. Many players have taken uppers. Many have taken pain killers that have allowed them to play when they otherwise would not have. Where's the line? When I first began to pay attention to sports Gaylord Perry was getting into the hall and discussing all the ways he cheated. Where's the line?I have problems with all records obtained under segregation. Where's the line? When I grew up there was a saying, "if you are not cheating you are not trying". We just finished the age of cheats. Sosa was one of the best. Put him in

yes sammy should be in the HOF has everyone forgotten that he is the only one in major league history to hit 60 or more home runs three times?

Roman responds: No, Claude, no one has forgotten that he went from 36 to 66 in one season during the steroid era, or that as the focus on steroids increased his power decreased to the point he hit 14 in over 100 games in '05. And then when toughened steroid rules were put in place, he didn't play last year. No one has forgotten.

Yes, and so does Pete Rose.

That is not a joke.

Everyone is so quick to judge people, it's disgusting. Is Sammy Sosa a human being? Yes. Did Sammy Sosa hit 600 HR? Yes. End of discussion.

Is Pete Rose a human being? Yes. Is Pete Rose the ALL-TIME HITS LEADER? Yes. End of discussion.

I really find this whole culture of casting judgement pathetic. Get a life.

Roman your response is weak as you want us to belive that he(Sosa)went from 66 to just 14 in 05 what happened to the other two 60 plus seasons? or did you forgot to put the totals in? But as the sayings go you're not guilty until proof is shown that you are and theres no proof that Sammy is guilty until theres proof as an old cub fan from (Jack Brickhouse)days I still think he should be in the HOF P.S.Babe Ruth never hit 60 again.....

I just want to mention to the people who continually say that steroids weren't illegal in baseball until recently, so that technically, they didn't break any rules.
Steroids have been banned by baseball since the early '90s, they were illegal.
But with the collective bargaining agreement with the players union, there was no testing or punishment for them.
Another way that baseball was all messed up and the players union had too much power for its' own good.
But, technically, yes, steroids have been illegal in baseball for pretty much the whole era under suspicion.

The only thing accomplished from this thread, is that it has been clearly established that we can no longer accuse the sox 'fans' for having a lack of loyalty. They have no idea what loyalty is.
The reason why we didn't realize it before? You can't go to 'corporate sell-out' U.S. Cellular to study their behavior. You have to go to Wrigley! That's where they apparently spend most of their time. Thanks, but we do not need your opinion on the Cubs or Sammy Sosa. It is both irrational and meaningless.
Go CUBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBIES!
Please bring the city of Chicago a 'meaningful' world World Series Crown.It's amazing that 9 out of 10 people in Illinois can't tell you who won the World Series (lowest rated in history by the way) in '05.