When Shawon Dunston and Mark Grace enter the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame, will Sammy Sosa be next? – Twin Cities

Shawon Dunston and Mark Grace entered the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame on Sunday during a pregame ceremony at Wrigley Field, where they joined former teammates Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson, among others.

Dunston was honored with a video tribute at Wrigley on Friday, while Grace received his tribute during Saturday’s game.

Dunston said he was honored by the honor even though he doesn’t consider himself in the same group as Sandberg, Dawson, Grace, Fergie Jenkins and others. Dunston spent 12 years on the North Side and became a fan favorite because of his style of play.

“I did my best every day,” Dunston said. “I wasn’t always the best, but I always put the team first, before myself, just like I put my family before myself. I think they appreciate the way I played.”

The next big question is whether Sammy Sosa will make it to the 2024 class, which will be voted on after this season. The new additions will be announced at the Cubs Convention in January.

Sosa has not returned to Wrigley Field since leaving the Cubs’ clubhouse in the final game of the 2004 season and has been persona non grata since the Ricketts family purchased the team from Tribune Co. in 2010.

The team’s attempts to bring Sosa back have failed over the years, largely because the Cubs insisted that Sosa apologize for his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

“The players of this era owe us a little bit of honesty, too,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said at the 2018 convention. “I feel like the only way to turn this chapter around is to put everything on the table . That’s how I feel.”

Sosa denied ever using PEDs. although widespread allegations prevented him from being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, just as Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds were rejected.

Sosa should be turned on the upcoming vote for the Cubs Hall of Fame, although his nomination could be delayed until after the 2024 season depending on which ballot the Cubs’ marketing department presents to Hall voters. Eligibility for the 2023 class was limited to players whose careers ended before the end of 2000.

The 13-member voting committee includes eight media members and five former Cubs Hall of Fame players. Sosa would need 10 votes to be accepted.

Sosa’s numbers are beyond question. His reputation would be the only thing stopping him.

“That’s a tough question,” said former Cub Steve Trachsel, who returned to Wrigley to celebrate the induction of Grace and Dunston. “A lot of the really big things I heard about happened after I left. But if (Sosa and the Ricketts) can have their Kumbaya moment, why not?”

The San Francisco Giants welcomed Bonds into their family despite his PED past.

“Well, San Francisco is supposedly a little more tolerant than other cities are supposed to be,” Trachsel said. “But maybe time will help everything.”

The Cleveland Guardians recently inducted known PED user Manny Ramirez into their Hall of Fame, and Mark McGwire is in the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame. Known steroid user Alex Rodriguez is a fixture in broadcast booths nationwide with the support of Major League Baseball.

Despite this, David Ortiz was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 in his first year of eligibility a 2009 New York Times report He named Ortiz as one of more than 100 players who registered a positive test during spring training in 2003.

Former Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, Sosa’s teammate in the early 2000s, still keeps in touch with the retired outfielder, who lives in Miami.

“He should come back and I know the fans appreciate that,” Zambrano said. “Do whatever it takes to get back. Hey, we all make mistakes. I made mistakes. It would be good for Sammy to come and say “I apologize” for everything he did.

“Sammy should be here and he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but it’s up to him. I want to be the one to bring him back.”

The debate over Sosa’s separation from the Cubs is an annual feature of the Cubs convention, and chairman Tom Ricketts has been questioned about it for years. The Cubs have reportedly closed the door on a 2017 reunion Sosa compared himself to being persecuted like Jesus Christ in a 2017 interview.

It is unclear whether Sosa would return. In 2013, Sosa said the Cubs should retire his No. 21.

“This is something I want,” he said. “I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before, but time will decide everything. If that happened, I would feel more comfortable and (happier). I will be there with my whole family. That’s a good number that I wore for (13) years in Chicago and I represented that number, so that number should have been retired a long time ago.”

Since then, several Cubs have worn number 21, including Milton Bradley, Luis Valbuena, Joe Mather, Scott Hairston, Junior Lake and Tyler Chatwood.

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