Sammy Sosa is back in the news after issuing an apology for mistakes he made during his playing career in an attempt to repair a rift he has had with the Chicago Cubs--the franchise he became a legend with.
The mistakes he is referencing are likely the long-held belief Sosa became a Chicago and baseball icon because of using performance-enhancing drugs. However, mistakes is the word Sammy is subbing in place of an alleged performance enhancements usage.
People forget he arrived in Chicago in 1989 as part of a key trade that helped eventually turn around the White Sox in the 1990s after crashing into last place as the 80s ended.
Sammy was never able to take Harold Baines' place as an All-Star player on the Southside. Pitcher Wilson Alveraz, the other prospect who came back to the Sox from the Texas Rangers in that deal that brought Sosa to Chicago in exchange for Baines, did help the Sox win the 1993 AL West.
The wonder will always linger if Sosa would have become a superstar on the Southside as he did on the Northside.
The simple answer is no.
That is because if you look at his body, his numbers, and his game with the White Sox, it is likely he did not start making "mistakes," as Sammy is calling it until he went to the Cubs. Plus, it is unlikely fellow Chicago legend Frank Thomas would tolerate Sosa's "mistakes."
Also, Sammy thrived the moment he was able to get out of Thomas' and Robin Ventura's shadow.
Sammy was thought of as a five-tool player, but hitting the long ball was not exactly his calling card with the Sox. Sosa hit just 28 home runs with the Sox.
Running the bases was more of what he did well when he played at Old and New Comiskey Park.
Although, one of the reasons for the Sox trading him to the Cubs is so White Sox.
One of the reported reasons Sosa struggled to hit with the Sox was he could not coexist with hitting coach Walt Hriniak. It is a big reason his time on the Southside came to an end.
Seeing how the Sox have always valued the wrong people, the decision to trade Sosa, who still had a load of potential with or without the mistakes as Sosa is calling it, in favor of a hitting coach's opinion is another example of how the franchise became little brother to the Cubs.
They were willing to deal Sosa because he would not conform to how Hriniak demanded each player hit in a specific manner.
"He could of had a great, great ride on the south side. Him and Walt Hriniak didn't get along. That's why they had to trade him. He wouldn't work with Walt anymore," Frank Thomas said. "He did not want to change his swing, and he did not like the finish. So he wanted to be a two-handed guy and he didn't fit in."
Hriniak had some sway in the organization, and Thomas thrived under Hriniak's tutelage, as did other hitters. He was also fired three seasons after the Sox traded Sosa in 1992, in part because how hard he was to get along with.
Hriniak was always reported to rub certain players the wrong way and demanded players hit to his methods while not adapting to other ways if a player did not take to his coaching methods. In hindsight, it might have been a better idea to keep Sosa even with all the controversy that surrounded his career.
It was hard to envision in 1992 that Sosa would turn into an icon as his ceiling was thought to be a possible 30/30 guy if he did not strike out so much. Although he became an icon despite the strikeouts, but his "mistakes" sure did help the ball go farther when he made contact.
When he went to the Cubs and started taking "mistakes," that is when he started hitting bombs regularly.
Also, who knows if owner Jerry Reindorf would have paid him since the Sox already had a superstar and icon in his own right, Frank Thomas. Maybe Sosa eventually leaves the Southside in free agency.
At the time, the Sox dealt Sosa for All-Star George Bell. For one season, the White Sox benefited as Bell hit 25 dingers. A knee injury and a conflict with manager Gene Lamont led to a disaster of a 1993 season for Bell--the same season Sammy had his first 30/30 season.
There was nothing wrong with trying to get an All-Star player especially since Sosa was failing to hit. That was the correct part of the team's logic to trade Sammy.
The flawed part was picking a hitting coach over a player who still had a tremendous amount of talent with or without the enhancements he was or was not supposedly taking. Wait, meant to refer to the enhancements as the mistakes Sosa was making, as Sammy likes to label them.