Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / Welcome back, Sammy Sosa

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Welcome back, Sammy Sosa · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I'm glad it's over, and I like, I think what
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: was the best part was seeing the reaction online. And
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: I think the timing is weird. None of it. It
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: doesn't make sense to me. Welcome into North Side Territory,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm Sahad Sharma with my
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: partner Patrick Mooney. We are your Cubs beat writers over
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: at the Athletic and Patrick, just when we thought things
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: may slow down for the holidays, the curveball here, Sammy
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Sosa is back in the fold. What does that mean.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: It means that he released the statement altmizing. I think
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: there was a in the statement there was kind of vague.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: He said he did all he could to make sure
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: he could get through one hundred and sixty two game season.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Never did anything illegal, but probably some things that weren't right.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I don't have the exact phrasing and front of me,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: but you know, like he didn't come out and say
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: what he I made mistakes and I apologized and never
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: broke any laws. But behindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: So I think it's I think we know what he's
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: talking about. And Tom Ricketts soon after release the statement
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: that basically said he's welcome to come back to Cubs
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: convention extending that invite. This is a big moment. It's
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: a big moment for Cubs fans. I think that's who
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: it's a big moment for. And I think that it's
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: just for me that it's as simple as that there
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: were a lot of fans from ninety eight to what
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: two thousand and three that became Cubs fans because of
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: him being invited back. I think this is at minimum
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: the first step for what I believe should be more.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: But we'll see what else happens. We can talk about
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: that eventually too.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm kind of this is just me speculating.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: I still like need to see him actually show up
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: at the Sheridan Grand Chicago.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Like there has been so many.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: Missteps during this whole process and kind of urban legends
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: about you know, Sammy doing this interview or that interview,
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: and I think our buddy John Greenberg at The Athletic
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: called it the longest, dumbest running story in Chicago, and
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: that maybe a little extreme, but I get what he's
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: saying of just like, you know, why couldn't this letter
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: and I'm pulling it up here released on the letterhead
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: of Aurora Global Consulting, LLC. Like, why couldn't this have
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: been done earlier? It seemed a little disjointed in terms of,
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: you know, kind of cups you are reaching out saying
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: this letter that's circulating is authentic, and you know the
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: team will be coming out with a statement momentarily just
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: like all of it just kind of weird and awkward,
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: A little bit of a tired story, I would say,
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: from our end.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: But now.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: You know, I'm sure the Cubs marketing department is very
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: happy to get Sosa back in the mix to boost
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: an event that can be very hit.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Or miss, right that aspect, I you know what, I'm
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: not sure, Like this is my bad, but how often
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: do we see Sammy Sosa up on the big board,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: like we see all those like look backs at the
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: like big moments in Cubs history. We don't see him?
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Am I wrong on that? Or do they just do
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: they still do that even though they don't welcome they
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: hadn't welcomed him back. I'm not remembering any But that's
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: that's one aspect. Yeah, their marketing obviously is going to
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: enjoy this. Like so, I mean for those that don't
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: know I grew up a Cubs fan that that fandom
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: was relinquished fifteen years ago. Maybe, but I mean I
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: like I was seventeen in the summer of ninety so
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: a little bit older. I'd already become a fan, but
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: I was about to enter college. Like, I was watching
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: a lot of baseball, and it was hard not to
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: fall in love with that, with baseball in general that
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: summer and just become a Cubs fan. Like it was
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: a fun summer. Obviously, twenty strikeouts for Carrie Wood, the
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Cubs made the playoffs, things that don't happen, and Sammy
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Sosa versus Mark maguire was insane, and like just my
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: personal experience was I love Sammy Sosa. There were some
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: stuff that happened as I got into my twenties that
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: I was like, I didn't I think like that love
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: that fans still have. For Maybe it's because I became
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: a journalist. I don't know, but I don't have that
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: same connection to him that fans that I'm seeing have.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: It just it's not there. I think I remember watching
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: him in the home run derby in Milwaukee, and that
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: was before like anything kind of came out about him
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: likely doing steroids and that watching that, I was just like, ugh,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: this this guy's like about to pop out of this
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: jersey and he's hitting the ball through like whatever it
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: was called Miller Park, Like he's like, I don't know,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: this is natural. And back then, like now, I like,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: literally I'm struggling with what to do with my Hall
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: of Fame vote because I've always back then I was
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: like anti steroids. Then I went through a phase where
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: I'm like, I just don't care, like and put them
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: all in the Hall. And now that I actually have
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: the boat, I'm trying to like I want to be
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: consistent and I want to be one hundred percent sure
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: what I'm going to do. So I'm struggling with that.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: I think I'm going to lean towards voting those people in.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: But it bothered me at the time, like it was
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: like a did I just watch something that wasn't real?
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Did I fall in love with something that wasn't real?
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: And at the time it bothered me, So I think
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: that's why I have this. And then the ending of
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: his time in Chicago, everyone remembers that I was again,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: I wasn't a reporter. I think that would have been
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: even harder to cover, Like what a wild way to leave.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: You know that that's not that's not great, But this
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: isn't about that. Like I'm seeing reactions of like people
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: that were like ten, eleven, twelve back in ninety eight,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: and I think that that makes a lot of sense
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: to me. And that's when you like truly fell in
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: love with baseball as like a pre teen, Like yeah,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: like this is a huge moment for you. This is
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: like and it's so it's like that thing that's just
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: like I don't care, Like we like baseball leveraged all
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: that stuff too. It's not like baseball was like tiss
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: from ninety eight on. They didn't do anything about it.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: They let this stuff happen and turned a blind eye
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: to it, and the sport exploded and and like they
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: changed the game. They they like it's a it's a
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: tainted era, but it's I mean, you look back at
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: those numbers, like I try to look back at those numbers.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: I'm like, this is amazing. Like some of this stuff
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: is just crazy. Right, Yes, it's tainted, but it's still
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: pretty damn cool. Like what happened and Sosa was right
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: in the middle of it. Yeah.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: The awkward part is how Sosa seemed to be the
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: only one who had to like wear it to this
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: extent of you know, Barry Bonds is around the San
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: Francisco Giants, Mark McGuire, who did come clean and really,
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: you know, I think show a lot of contrition and
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: benefit from lots of relationships he built throughout the game.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: I mean he had multiple major league coaching jobs. You know,
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Roger Clemens, and his son is in the game, Like.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: He bounces, like comes spring training or like comes that's right, yeah, because.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: His kid, right, his kids, Yeah, exactly, So like if
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: he can go to Mesa.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: And hang out around the batting cage.
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: You know, Andy Pettitt, I think he's like in uniform
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: as a pitching advisor. Like, you know, why why was
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: Sammy the one who was in exile to such an extent.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: I think part of it was, like, you know, he's
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: just not.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: He did not have a lot of allies left in Chicago,
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: meaning how much the organization had turned over. I do
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: think some of that stuff in the clubhouse how it ended,
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: left some ad feelings, but at the same time, it
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: just dragged on to such a degree that it just
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: makes you wonder, you know what sort of advice so
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: so was getting or you know why ownership really seemed
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: to draw a line in the sand on this one,
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: because you know, I would say the Riggotts family and
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: one of the you know, good things they do is
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: that these team teams has a really good relationship with
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: its alumni. And like, think of just about any random
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: fourth outfielder or reliever, and like there's a there's a
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: decent chance they've been to Cubs convention, or they've taken
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: their family to spring training, or you know, we're on
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: the road and we say, hey, who's that guy. That
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: guy looks very Oh yeah, that's so and so and so.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: For a guy who hit six hundred plus home runs
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: to just be, you know, persona non grata is it's
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: just a bizarre, bizarre situation.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, without knowing all the details, you can just look
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: at that and it's silly, right, But I'm glad it's over,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: and I like, I think what was the best part
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: was seeing the reaction online, normally social media. I've been
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: trying to avoid it for a while now, but I did,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: but I did go on there just to see and
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: there was a lot of happy Cubs fans, and I
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: think what's happened, Like the timing is weird, Like I
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: agree with you, and the whole the whole rollout was
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: they have a rollout? Yeah, Like I don't understand the
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: rollout fully and I'd like to get some details on
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: it because why was it not like a like I
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: like more coordinated, right yeah? Yeah? Why were they not
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: done together? Yeah? None of it. It doesn't make sense
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: to me. And like just the releasing of the statement
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: like a little askew the paper. It was like a
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: bad Like when I take a like a PDF picture
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: and I'm and I'm sending in documents for my tax purposes.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: It's like that's like that's what I look like. It
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: was like, or like.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: Filing your expense reports and just doing what I've been thinking,
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: like off Tilter. Yeah, I sent it into our editing
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: desk at the Athletic and I was like, could you
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: show the letter just to so people get a sense
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: of kind of what this was not just the text
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: on our site in you know, the New York Times
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: font and the like, yeah, this is gonna work. And
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: then another editor found Marquis you know, blewed up into
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: a nice statement online with the graphic and it's like,
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: why wasn't that all done on the front hand, or
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: like why wasn't Tom Ricketts statement like yes, Sammy is coming,
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: like we look forward to being part of this panel,
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: of this panel, and not like you know, we know.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: It's late notice, but we hope he can make.
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: It and you know, we'll see you guys there, Like yeah,
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: I mean maybe it's the perfect ending to this. Yeah
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: that's the only word, right, Yeah, yeah, it's so ridiculous,
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: but it is. It is a semi conclusion in a sense.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: I agree with you, I guess. I like, let's see
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: him there before we really say anything. But he's welcome,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: So that's all. I think that's the big part. If
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: you can't for some reason he's not there this year,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I'm sure when he does finally show up, it'll be
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: a really grandiose event. And I'm kind of curious, like
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: is that the extent of it? Is it? He's welcome
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: to Cubs convention? But what else? Like what else is coming?
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Will he be at Wrigley Field? Like I haven't seen him,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Like I haven't seen him since I went and watched
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: him play at Wrigley So it's been twenty years since
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: I've seen this person in person, and like we're both
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: there all the time. You know, he's not he's not
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: what he doesn't come to Wrigley Field, and like you said,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: we see everyone there like it like spring training, like
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: all these people are back around. Obviously Sammy hasn't been invited.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: I just like, what, what more is coming? Will he
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: throw out a first pitch? Will he sing the stretch?
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Years down the road? Are we going to see Sammy's
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: number retired? Are we gonna see like I think this
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: last one I doubt, but a Sammy statue, Like I.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Don't see that.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: There's a Barry Bond statue, right, there's a very Bond statue.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: I think there's some Mark McGuire statue. Okay, I could
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: be wrong. I couldn't just be completely like I don't
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: I don't go to San Francisco open enough to know.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Well, I was there.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: I think it was twenty twenty three, and I believe
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: it was like Will Clark got his number retired or
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: something like that.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: You know, Barry Bonds was on the field for that.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: And like our colleague Andrew Baggerly has done stories over
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: the years of kind of finding Barry Bonds on the
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: backfields or by the hitting cages and getting you know,
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: some of his thoughts, you know, on the game and
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: current hitters and just the fact that Sosa has just
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: been totally out of this orbit. Think back to twenty sixteen,
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: right of just the players who showed up, I mean
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: Carrie Woods celebrating in the clubhouse after Game seven in Cleveland,
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: you know, during that those playoff years. I'm pretty sure
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: it was twenty sixteen, but like, oh, hey, is that
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: Alfonso's story?
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: I know, like, oh hey, what's up?
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: Story?
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Like just the.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: People who would come out for this and that, you know,
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: Sammy Sosa, just the machine that Wrigley Field is now.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: Sosa played an enormous part in that. And you know,
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: you and I did not cover his time there, So
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: we don't have any sort of you know, animosity towards him.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: We don't have any bad stories. We also don't have
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: a ton of like.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: First hand insight, uh you know, with our eyes and
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: ears of what that kind of circus was like. But
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: I mean, ultimately to your point side of it, just
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: weird that we have. I don't think I've ever seen
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: him in person, and like, I've covered the Cup since
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: twenty ten and you've done it almost as long. So
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: combine the number of years we've spent around this team
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: and you know the amount of people we come across,
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: and Sosa just vanished.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah in good health, someone in good health, someone you know.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: I can easily make it to the park. Yeah, very
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: just a kind of weird. I just looked it up.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: I'm wrong. No, no statue for bonds, No statue for
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: McGuire number retired for bonds. Nothing. I'm not seeing it.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Like this is quick Google searches, so excuse the excuse
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: the inaccuracies. But it doesn't seem like McGuire got his
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: number retired by Oakland or Saint Louis. I didn't see that.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: But that's, like I said, a quick Google search, but
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: I I could see the number retiring happening at some point.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Like a statue is probably a step too far for
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: what like just his history, But that's like just based
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: on what I what I think the thinking is of
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: ownership and the people that make those decisions. That that
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: would be my guess. I think just get getting imagined
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: when he does finally come to Wrigley, whether it's singing,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: the stretcher throwing up.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's the big that's the big one.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Something that I liked that people were saying is like
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: they're celebrating an old right fielder a week after bringing
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: in a new right fielder, and there's a chance that
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: we'll see October baseball. Like imagine that, like for the
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: first time in a while, you and I can say
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: with without laughing heartily that like the okay, maybe I
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: still laugh they maybe we'll see October baseball in the
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: upcoming season. Right, if we do, that would be the
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: perfect time, Like if you're going to bring out a
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: first pitch, that first that first home game, that like
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: that would be nice to see. I think the atmosphere
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: would be insane. And that's the type of thing that
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: generally has been missing, right, Like we've talked about this
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: over the years. I mean, like when when has regally
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: really been buzzing of late, like the first the first ballgame,
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: full ball game, full attendance, full capacity, that's the word
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: I was looking for, a full capacity And Rizzo hit
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: that home run like that was electric. There was something
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: recent I know that there was a game after a
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: long winning streak or something like that on the road
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: one of these past two years where they were kind
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: of you know, they've made those two mini comebacks. Outside
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: of that, it's just not been there and there's no
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: reason for it to be there. This could finally like that,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: I think takes it up a notch beyond you know,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: actually making the playoffs and going into getting like making
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: a run, just like Sandy Sosa throwing out the first
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: pitch before a playoff game or a big game, whatever
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: it may be. Like that's that's the type of thing
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: that you can look forward to and be excited for
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: as a Cubs fan, and frankly like it brings like
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: there's an energy that it gives all of us that
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: when you're in the ballpark and you feel that, and
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: that's been lacking it.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: Maybe Sammy's been away so long that he will appreciate
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: Cubs Convention more. But as you know, it's not the
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: most like glamorous event. It always seems to fall on
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: the coldest weekend of the winter, or at least or
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: at least until we leave for spring training. I'm sure
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: it's cold in Chicago and February we're usually gone though,
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: but like, you know, it's a hotel River North, you
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: know whatever. But obviously to get back to Wrigley Field,
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: forty thousand fans to kind of soak all that in.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: I'd imagine that is kind of the big moment that
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: that he'd been waiting for. I'd have to look it up.
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: But in order to have your number retired, you have
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: to be a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: Is that sort of the loose criteria. But there's a
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: cover for the club or for the Cubs.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I don't know that.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: I'd imagine because Santo, because Santo, remember, wasn't in the
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. He said he was still alive at
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: the time. That's right, right, yeah, you.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: Got to cut now.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: But I think we have the newest member of the
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: Comes All of Fame, right, I mean, not liked him
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: into the Comes Hall of Fame. After this it's just.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: You know, awkward is the word that you know.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: I sort of get it from Ricket's perspective of like,
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: look like we didn't on the team, then you're kind
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: of walking into this of like but also like when
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: you buy the team, you get all the history and
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: some of this felt a little sanctimonious, like like this
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: is the one kind of like you know, clear bright
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: line that we're not uh going to cross. And I
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: always thought the easiest thing was just to bring him
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: back and just have him do twenty minute session in
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: the dugout in the old dungeon, the new interview room,
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: the Dungeon interview room basically utility closet in the pre
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: renovation era at Wrigley Field, and just you know, give
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: people heads up. All the TV stations can be there, ESPN,
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: you know Marquee now you know the Marquees precursors as well,
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: and just have him to sit there and then you
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: can answer whatever he wants, whatever he doesn't. Then it's
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: just done, you know, Like I just like that just
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: seemed pretty similar to me, and in staid it became
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: these like you know, behind the scenes negotiations and trying
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: to you know, get it to a place where everyone
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: you know, felt comfortable to come out with it, and
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: then we had yesterday Thursday's awkward rollouts.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: So right, it's gonna be interesting, you know what I mean.
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: Like it's like, all right, like let's let's see what
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: happens here.
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: I think I think we could have a couple entertaining
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: stories come our way aside.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I agree. I don't think this is the
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: end of things with when it comes to the comes
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: in Sammy Sosa And you're right, like those those pressors,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: like I'm going back in my mind and I like
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: remember that like in succession, like had it, uh, Jason Giambi,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Mark McGuire so awkward, Like it was all awkward when
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: it happened and we all moved on, and that's.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, like asked and answered, you know, like you can't
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: go up to someone all the time and ask them
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: the same exact thing. It's like just you know, address
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: whatever it is. And you know, it did seem like
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: he had public sets been on his side. I think
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: there was kind of a softening of like, look, enough
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: time has passed, like this is kind of ridiculous. And
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: I don't know, as John Greenberg wrote, like this guy
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: might have made more money for the Cubs than anyone,
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: more than Harry Carey theoepscene. I'm not sure about that,
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: but certainly among the just you know figures who made
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: Wrigley Field what it is now, Yeah, you know, thumping ballpark,
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: just a thriving neighborhood. You know the scene that WGN
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: and National TV blasted out to the entire country, Like
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: you know, Buster Posey said it when he took over
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: the Giants, like they're in the memory making business, and
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: Sammy Sosa did that over and over and over again.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there are images that you know, are just implanted
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: in your brain if you wash Cubs baseball during that era,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: like whatever it may be, the hop certain playoff hits
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: in ninety eight, I believe that. I mean the flag
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: fligging out there uh after nine to eleven, like just
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: a lot of stuff, and just like it just him
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: always given love to the right field bleachers folks, and like, yeah,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: there's there's so many things that it's hard. It's hard
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: to forget him. And and like it's it's nice that
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: this this part we can move past this part. Like
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: you said, it's likely more coming. Whatever it is, we'll
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: we'll deal with it with it when that comes. But
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: I don't think this is the last we hear about
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: stuff with regarding Sammy Sosa. I'm just very curious to
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: see how it all comes out. I mean, well know
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: about a month from now is comes convention, right, so
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: so soon enough, we'll we'll see we'll be getting that
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: list of attendees and see who's coming. Uh. Yeah, that's
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: it for this episode, folks. We'll we'll have more during
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: the holiday week. Christmas is coming up and and we'll
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: we'll have a couple episodes for you that week. Make
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: sure to rate, review, subscribe to north Side Territory, subscribe
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic, where
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Patrick and I are on top of all things cubs
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: this winter. Thanks for listening everyone, We truly appreciate it.