CHICAGO — Legendary Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in more than 20 years Friday before Chicago’s afternoon game with the Seattle Mariners.
Sosa, who is set to be inducted into the Cubs’ team Hall of Fame this year, arrived at the iconic North Side ballpark in a black SUV. He was greeted by owner Tom Ricketts, who embraced him in a hug as he exited the vehicle.
Sosa became the face of the Cubs franchise where he played 13 seasons after coming in a trade from the crosstown White Sox in March 1992. A seven-time All-Star, Sosa hit 545 homers in 1,811 games with the Cubs and hit a franchise-record 66 in 1998 when he was named the NL’s MVP.
Sosa, now 56, played his final game with the Cubs at Wrigley on Oct. 2, 2004, when he homered and had two hits in an 8-6 loss to Atlanta. During his years with the Cubs, Sosa appeared to bulk up drastically and was a headliner in a generation of baseball’s biggest names linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
The Cubs traded him to Baltimore with cash in February 2005 for three players.
Sosa appeared to acknowledge using performance-enhancing drugs in December when he released a statement saying he was sorry for mistakes, without specifying them.
“There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games,” he said in the statement. “I never broke any laws. But in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.”
On Friday morning, Sosa posed for photos with rising Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong outside the team’s clubhouse and a video showed Sosa embracing manager Craig Counsell in his office before the game.
“(Sosa) saw the wind blowing out today and planned this trip around a good day to be here,” Counsell joked. “He asked to be in the lineup because the wind’s blowing out.”
The Cubs remained mum on any ceremony or event before or during Friday’s game.
In Thursday’s 8-7 loss to Milwaukee, Crow-Armstrong went deep to set a new team record for reaching 20 homers and 20-plus stolen stolen bases the fastest, doing it in 73 games. Sosa had the old mark of 96, set in 1994.
Counsell, who faced Sosa as a player, saluted the former slugger for his strength at the plate and long homers, as well as star power.
“Probably the best thing, Sammy was a true entertainer,” Counsell said. “I think when you’re in this long enough, you realize that’s part of this.
“We’re also here to entertain and I think Sammy was great at that.”