Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Slammin Sammy

Sammy Sosa was always my favorite Cub when I was a kid, mostly because he was the only good player. Sure there was Mark Grace, but he was pretty flat. Sammy had some flair - he had some personality (a personality that rubbed a lot of Cubs the wrong way). When he was young, he was pretty fast, one of the few young Cubs back then, and he hussled on defense. Sure, everyone made fun of the fact that he always sprinted to the outfield from the dugout, but that showed heart and energy.

But Sammy was run out of town after he seemed to be abandoning his teamwork and hardwork principles for selfishness and loud boomboxes. He was shipped to Baltimore for little more than prospects - players who never really payed off for the Cubs. In Baltimore Sammy quickly lost the fans there too, looking sluggish and hitting poorly. He was kind of run out of Baltimore too.

When Sammy said he wanted to come back and play in the majors, I was a little dubious. The Cubs DID offer Sosa an unguaranteed minor league contract. Sosa turned it down and went to camp with the Rangers, the team he started with in the majors. Back then, the team was owned by GW. Now, Sammy has had a resurgence with the Rangers, proving to be just what they needed (after they lost all of their outfielders), playing with another former Cub, Kenny Lofton.

Now, Sammy is swinging for 600 home runs. With the whole Giambi business and a lot that other crap, I'm suprised there aren't more people whinning about if Sammy deserves it, deserves to be in that elite group because they assume Sammy used steroids. Sure, he had a year when he bulked up, but he was pretty consistent - lots of strike outs, lots of home runs. He IS the only player to ever hit over sixty home runs three seasons in a row. And now, he belongs in the 600 club.

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