Sammy’s gone. Good. Personally, I just couldn’t get “into” that guy the way a lot of North Siders seemed to.
The huge disappointment that was last season has it’s scapegoat, and Sammy is his name-O. Maybe his performance was just a down year, exacerbated by the back injury, or maybe that’s what happens when you can’t use steroids and a corked bat. Who knows? But he’s Baltimore’s problem now. He was a prima donna, and I just couldn’t shake that feeling that Sammy really didn’t care if the Cubs went all the way, just so long as he was the star of Chicago.
I certainly don’t doubt his contribution to the game, or his love of the Wrigley faithful, but what I do doubt was his maturity and ego. He struck me as the type of guy who let both issues get in the way of a single team goal of Championship. He struck me as the type of guy who, if he was having a downer time, he was gonna drag everyone around him down too.
Have fun in Baltimore, thanks for everything. Buh-bye.
[sub]I now must surgically remove “SOSA” from the back of my road jersey, hide my 4 year olds Sammy Sosa figure and convince him that he never existed.[/sub]
Yep. I agree. Sammy was doing this team more harm than good. I got the feeling that Sammy had this “I’m the star” ATTITUDE which Dusty had no time for. Let’s face it: he wasn’t producing either. After the McGuire/Sosa home run derby back in the day, Sammy didn’t do squat, except be a bad right fielder and a strike out king. Hopefully Baltimore will resurrect the old Sammy.
Well, Sammy’s contributions to the Cubs and their fans during his tenure were quite the significant by almost any measure, but I too believe that his time to go had arrived.
Sadly, the Cubs look not to receive much value for him but unloading his drag on the payroll is definitely a future addition.
Many Cubs fans will be saddened by his departure. I wish him well at his new beginning which may be exactly the jump start he needs to resume his career.
My Cubbie faithful co-workers insist they will win the division simply because St Louis and Houston lost more than the Cubs did in the off season.
Unfortunately, I believe the Cubbies are paying out quite a bit, both in terms of a significant portion of his salary and a fair chuck of some incentive bonus cash. I also believe they are writing B’more a check for about $6 mil.
No time to grab a cite now, as I’m running late, but I remember reading it on SI.com yesterday.
As an American League fan who only pays attention to the NL for Roto league purposes, I’ve got to say that Cubs’ fans dislike for Sammy is mystifying. Is he anymore of a jerk now than he was when he hit 66 homers, or is anything less than 50 just too small to bother with. Because having Jeromy Burnitz playing RF for you is nothing to brag about.
Looks like both sides were eager to make this happen.
All in all, I like the way this team is shaping up this year. I just hope Sports Illustrated keeps them off the cover, and leaves them out of any post season predictions.
If the number of injuries stay low, and we get some decent relief/closing on the mound, I’d say we have a pretty good shot. One thing’s for sure - we’re past those “World Series” expectations.
As I said in the OP - I never really got excited about him. Probably because I always figured him to be juiced. Some things are more important than winning.
He’s hit a shitload of homers while a Cub - and it all amounted to exactly squat for the team winning a World Series. He’s done a lot more for the league as a whole than he ever did for the team (HR record chase). Let him do it elsewhere. I’d like someone who doesn’t strike out on 3 straight low and away pitches, and who’s not too proud to bunt.
He hit homeruns, and during the 66 homer year, he kept his average up. I was a fan, then. I thought it would continue. Sadly, it did not. He went back to his free-swinging ways, and, while not Adam Dunn, he struck out. A lot. A hell of a lot. In clutch situations. His defense was, well, let’s just say I’d rather see Hollandsworth (and that continues to this year if he’s still on the roster, that guy tore it up while Sosa was hurt last year!).
I wish they’d have gotten a little more for him. They practically paid Baltimore to get rid of him, as they are still paying something like half his salary next year. All they got was another 2B and a couple prospects. They really needed to get a closeer.
That said, he was done in Chicago. He had developed an attitude and would never have produced for the Cubs again. Hopefully he’ll shape up and produce well for the O’s. I’d like to see him finish his career on a good note, given what he’s done.
I just hope we can still find a closer, or somebody steps up and suprises me with a good year. The Cubs only have enough good pitching to get through the 6th or 7th, and that just ain’t enough, I don’t think. That and they gave up a lot of RBIs with Alou. I think that was a really bad move, but that is a whole different thread.
No no - never again. Last year was the year. I thought for sure they were going all the way. What a huge let down. I’ll never make that mistake again with the Cubs. I’m going back to just being satisfied if they don’t finish in the basement - anything else is just gravy.
Thank God Sosa is gone. Now, I have to decide whether I will ever wear my #21 Sosa jersey in public ever again. Probably not.
The only downside to Sosa leaving is that I will not get a chance to see Sosa booed mightily on opening day (and every other day) at Wrigley. I was relishing the thought of a good 15 minute boo-fest as Sosa sprinted into right field. When’s the next time the AL East is playing the NL Central?
cough, cough.