BASEBALL: Sammy Sosa booed while the Cubs play a waiting game

Cub fans booing Sammy Sosa?! Say it ain’t so, Joe; it just couldn‘t be, Lee; make a new plan, Sam; just listen to me....

If anyone had suggested last fall that Sosa would be booed as he was being introduced at the annual Cubs Convention, held this past weekend, everyone would have looked at the guy like he belonged on another planet. Sosa being booed by Cub fans seemed about as likely as Santa Claus getting the same treatment at your local department store. Yet, it’s a fact, with a very vocal minority expressing their disapproval on Friday night, the opening night of the convention. If things don’t change soon, Sammy may hear the boos at Wrigley Field in the spring, where his sprinting out to right field and his prodigious home runs might not be enough to turn things around....back to those golden days of....well, it seems like just yesterday.

How did it come to this? It’s very simple, really......money, as most of us call it, and respect, as Sosa calls it. Things started to unravel just a bit last summer, when rumors started that the Cubs might trade their most prized possession. Although no one outside of the inner circle ever knew much in the way of details, it was reported that the Cubs were shopping Sammy to any team with a big wallet, and a need for some home runs. Various teams were mentioned, but the rumors finally settled on the Yankees (no surprise there). Nothing happened, of course, and things started getting back to normal, with Sosa concentrating on hitting monster shots, and making his fans happy. The love affair was continuing.

Once the season ended, though, the unraveling began again. Sosa is under contract to the Cubs for one more year, the 2001 season. He is scheduled to be paid a reported $12 million for the year. Both parties have been trying (apparently) to agree to a new contract, beginning with the 2002 season. To put it simply, this process seems to have been nothing but talk, and nothing has been resolved, yet. The reports have been that the Cubs have offered a four year deal, paying in the range of $68 to $70 million. Supposedly, Sosa wants five or six years, most likely in the range of $17 million per year. Both sides have recently agreed to keep the negotiations private, avoiding the complications caused by getting the media involved.

So, anyway, why the booing? Sosa has pretty much always been the darling of Cub fans, especially since the 1998 home run race with Mark McGwire. Some believe that people were coming to Wrigley Field more to see Sosa, than they were coming to see the Cubs. There is likely some truth to that, and there is no question that Sosa sells tickets. Sammy has always seemed to love the spotlight, and his charming personality has gone a long way in keeping the light shining in his direction.

At least until late last year, that is, when Sosa took a misstep, and pulled the unraveling string a lot farther. He said that he wasn’t sure he could play for the Cubs in 2001, if the contract issue wasn’t settled before the season began. Ouch! Even the fans who thought Sammy could do no wrong did a double-take on that one. It seemed like an out-and-out case of whining, looking for sympathy which wasn’t going to be there. Of course, the reason for the lack of sympathy was, and is, that Sosa is signed through 2001, making a not-too-shabby $12 million.

Now, it was the fans’ turn to grumble, and the backlash started, questioning how any player could threaten to sit out while under contract for so much money. Sosa must have wished that he could take that comment back, but, there it was, spinning out of control, for everyone to see, read and hear. During the last few months there has been some “spin-control”, mostly by Sosa and his agent. However, many fans have crossed over on the issue, from Sosa’s side, to standing on the other side of the road and thumbing their noses back at Sammy. Yes, the contract remains an issue, but the demands that Sosa and his agent seem to be making are not producing much sympathy. Suffice it to say that most people see $68 million over four years as enough to make anyone happy.

On top of everything else, the bargaining chips seem to be mostly on the Cubs’ management side of the table. The team appears to be standing firm with their offer, and one could argue that it makes sense to do so. If Sosa doesn’t get what he wants, he will be forced to play out his contract, and become a free-agent after the season. That being the case, it would surprise no one to see Sammy do everything possible to have a remarkable year, enhancing his free-agent status, and showing the Cubs how much they may be missing. The monster year would, of course, be just fine with management....more tickets sold, more controversy, more media attention.

The kicker is that Cubs finally have a productive farm system, and many analysts believe that the future is bright for the team, even near-term. A number of potential stars may be just a year away (or, less) from everyday play at Wrigley. If these players continue to develop as expected during the 2001 season, it will begin to appear that the Cubs don’t need Sosa as much as he thinks they do. The development of young, everyday players would go a long way in enhancing the Cubs’ bargaining power, and lessen the impact of possibly losing Sosa to free-agency. Management may simply be gambling that things do go their way in 2001, and won’t sign Sosa to a contract unless it’s on their terms. And, if things do turn out their way, Sammy may end up looking like the bad guy, for jumping ship just when the team is starting to turn things around. Then, no one should be surprised if Cub fans boo Sammy.