Adios Sammy! As most of you are likely aware, it appears as though Sammy Sosa has rejected the one and only contract that was offered to him, a low-base, non-guaranteed, incentive-laden offer from the Washington Montreal National Expos. Can you really blame him? An incentive-based deal usually requires that you make contact at the plate, run the bases and play defense with some semblance of intelligence. I've yet to see a contract where the money increases based on the number of men you leave in scoring position, the number of cut-off men overthrown and the total amount of muscle lost from one's physique in a 6-month period of time. I'll tell you what Sammy...feel free to report late to spring training this year. In fact, why not just hang out and let your mama care for you all summer?
Now that it appears as though Sosa's career has come to a close, it is time to consider his historical significance. To do so, let me take you back through the mists of time to last summer. There I was sitting at a table in Sluggers waiting for the Cubs-Red Sox game with Tom and Joe Chervin, trying to answer the following question: who are the greatest three Chicago Cubs of all time?
Ernie Banks was an immediate and unanimous answer. Billy Williams got a lot of support for the #2 slot. But who is #3? Ryne Sandberg got some love? A couple of hot girls at the next table immediately suggested Mark Grace (I don't think that they realized that we were talking about on-field performance). A smart-ass White Sox fan said Matt Karchner. Ron Santo, Hack Wilson, and Fergie Jenkins were all mentioned. Alas, nobody nominated Damon Berryhill.
My response to who is clearly #3? Sammy Sosa. Yes, his last season was undeniably tumultuous. Yes, his divorce with the Cubs has been bitter. Yes, he was a terrible teammate and a likely steroid abuser.
But look at the production. I know that most Cubs fans no longer like Sammy a whole lot, but one needs to focus on the fact that for a large stretch of the mid-90's, he was the only reason to watch the Cubs (unless you enjoyed the Micah Bowie experiment). Further, his numbers are not just good, they are downright sensational. He remains he only player in the history of the game to have three 60+ home run seasons. He has 588 career home runs and more than 1575 RBIs (I'm conveniently overlooking the six or seven premature hops). Bottom line? In his prime he was one of the most feared baseball players in the game.
Look, I criticized Sammy more than anyone. He hit more meaningless home runs when the Cubs were down 8-2 in the 8th inning than anyone I have ever seen (some may argue that all home runs hit for the Cubs after the month of June were technically meaningless and in some months as early as mid-May). But the Cubs do not exactly have a stable of all-time greats. Lance Johnson and Glenallen Hill simply do not qualify.
I believe that once the dust settles and Sammy's inauspicious departure is to an extent, forgotten, Cubs fans will recognize his greatness and place him at the top of the all-time Cubs greats list. It is where he belongs.
What is your opinion of Sammy? Should he be on the list? Let me know!!
Spring training is now 24-hours old for the Northsiders and Mark Prior amazingly has not reported an injury yet (although it has been 22 minutes since I last checked Cubs.com). Good for him. That said, I'm listing elbow problem at 3-2, shoulder problem at 3-1, pulled groin at 6-1, dropfoot at 20-1, and achy-breaky pelvis at 100-1.
It appears as though the Vikings are shopping Daunte Culpepper around the league. Now I do not imagine that the Vikings would made an intra-division trade in a million years, but even so, let's be completely clear...the Bears should not be interested. They desperately need to concentrate their efforts on making sure that they get the punt returner of their choice (snicker).
Tonight (actually today) is the finals of the men's figure skating competition in Torino. If Clay Aiken and Sean Hayes' character from Will and Grace had a baby, it would be Johnny Weir.
Finally, I suppose I cannot pass up an opportunity to toot my own horn. Not only was my Monday column about Coach-two-feet-out-the-door horribly prophetic, but I also almost nailed the score of last night's game featuring IU and lowly Penn State (where are you Illini fans? A chance to fire back at me after my teasing about Illinois' loss to lowly Penn State and you are going to let it go by? Chervin? Dorfman? You out there?) missing by two measly points. How did I react? Well, I certainly was not wang-chunging last night, but I really was not that upset. Look, the season is over. I say let the Norman Dale* era begin!
*For those of you who are prepared to let this reference get past you TWICE, Norman Dale is the head coach of Hickory High in the all-time classic "Hoosiers"
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5 comments:
1) How did Glenallen Hill not make the list? That boy had power. He hit the longest HR I’ve seen at Wrigley. And he *almost* hit the scoreboard. And where’s the love for “1-Dog” (Lance Johnson). He played some great center. An entirely different question would be “What all time great baseball players passed through (or started with) the Cubs organization”…That would be a long list.
2) A great parallel for Sammy would be Bart Starr. He was great when he played, but a TERRIBLE coach. Green Bay residents actually shot his dog out of their disgust for his coaching ability. 20 years later he is revered as a GOD in GB. Of course, I can make a GB comparison for just about anything.
3) You are starting to scare me with your uncanny knack for predictions. Let me know if you start playing the lottery- I’ll chip in…
Sammy as one of the top 3 Cubs all-time? Nah!
Yes, I will admit that he was a great hitter for some time. However. He was way too one dimensional to be in the top 3. With his speed (several years ago) and his arm he should have been a gold glove OF multiple times.
Solely on the principle that Sammy wasted so much of his potential and Ryno exploited every ounce of his while similarly carrying a team, I put at least Ryno ahead of Sammy, and maybe some of other nominees.
Oh, and has Jimmy Chitwood signed his letter of intent yet?
Chitwood is still trying to get an "academic scholarship to Wabash College and get out of this place."
Never mind Chitwood. The bigger problem is Strap who keeps claiming that his physical brand of basketball is better suited for the Big East. He seems to be waiting to see what happens with Bib Huggins before making a final decision.
Do you think IU would actually allow Shooter to be an assistant coach? I heard it was a dry campus.
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