Sandberg On Sosa HOF Shot: "I Don't Think So"
Cubs great doesn't like Sosa's Hall of Fame chances
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Ryno, pleasant as always, has no room for Sosa in the Hall of Fame.
25 years ago today, Ryne Sandberg hit two home runs in the latter innings of a dramatic, nationally televised win over the Cardinals. The game announced the second baseman's presence as a major league force and forever earned the moniker "The Sandberg Game." It was kind of a big deal.
Now, two and a half decades and a Hall of Fame career later, Sandberg still looms large over Cubbie lore. So large, in fact, that he's routinely quoted on matters of deathly grave, Cub-related importance. The Sammy Sosa steroids allegations are no different.
Sandberg's response to Sosa? He doesn't think Sammy will be joining the Hall of Fame anytime soon:
Appearing on the "Waddle & Silvy" show on ESPN 1000, Sandberg said "I don't think so," when asked if Sosa belongs in the Hall of Fame. "They use the word 'integrity' in describing a Hall of Famer in the logo of the Hall of Fame, and I think there are gonna be quite a few players that are not going to get in," Sandberg said. "It's been evident with the sportswriters who vote them in, with what they've done with Mark McGwire getting in the 20 percent range. We have some other players coming up like [Rafael] Palmeiro coming up soon, and it'll be up to the sportswriters to speak loud and clear about that. I don't see any of those guys getting in."
We love Sandberg, but he's a little too simplistic here. Sure, baseball players are supposed to have integrity, but there are loads of baseball players in the Hall of Fame that fall short of that standard. Ty Cobb was a vehement racist and an all-around awful human being. Goose Gossage openly admitted to cheating in any way possible on the mound. And so on.
Steroids were a major problem in Major League Baseball, one that the league failed to address for years and years. In the interim, there were obvious tangible rewards for improving through illicit means. The evidence we have suggests that a large nuber of baseball players took part it in; Sosa and others weren't some lone wolves cheating the system of their own accord. Sosa and company were the system.
So, you know, sure, Sosa probably won't get into the Hall of Fame. It's fair to say so. It's fair to argue for his obvious steroid use as the reason why. But it's unfair to consider all steroid cheats necessarily bad people, just as it's unfair to consider anyone who ever played before the steroid era to automatically have more integrity. Baseball's history is long and sordid, with an emphasis on long. Bad people weren't invented in Victor Conte's lab.
Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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Posted Tuesday, Jul 14, 2009 - 4:05 PM CST
