The next round of “Calls to the Hall” have been made; and to the delight of most baseball fans this year’s class once again did not include those who were linked to steroids.
Names like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa did not get near the vote total which made Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson, John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez Hall of Famers.
Sammy Sosa is a unique case because of his continuous decline towards nearly no votes, which is not a good sing for him and those who want him in the Hall of Fame. This year he got only 6.6% of the vote after getting 7.2% last year and 12.5% in 2012. He is on the verge of being removed from the ballot which shatters his hopes of being in Cooperstown.
However, is there any glimmer of hope Sosa will make it someday? The answer is no.
His three years of eligibility starting at 12.5% and declining rapidly to almost nothing show that there is no desire for him to be voted into the Hall of Fame. Next year may very well likely see the end of his eligibility for being voted in; the way I see it he will be lucky to receive around 5% of the vote.
Sosa being in the Hall is much more of a debate involving the cheating than the numbers. His numbers are overall Hall of Fame worthy and he would probably get in if he was not linked to steroids or corked his bat in 2003.
Sosa’s Career numbers: .273 batting average, 609 home runs (8th all time), 1667 RBI, 2408 hits and .878 OPS
These numbers are not first ballot Hall of Famer with the average being at .273 and less than 3000 hits but the home runs, RBIs and slugging would allow him to make the Hall at some point.
Sosa is labeled as a cheater by many around baseball, including many on Chicago’s North Side whom he pumped up for 13 seasons. He went from being a sports icon to a fraud. Sosa did not win the love of Cubs fans either in his final game as a Cub in 2004, when he walked out of the clubhouse in game 162 of an underachieving season; he has not stepped inside Wrigley Field since.
Still, it is hard to forget that he was the man who brought back the Cubs from the dead in the 90s which got Wrigley Field to overflow with people every game day. Many people cheered his name when he came to the plate in anticipation that he would crank another one onto Waveland Avenue. The 98 home run race was one of the most exciting seasons in both Cubs and baseball history. The fans loved him and he loved the fans.
Though he does not deserve the Hall because of the act of cheating, I think it would be a great thing for the Cubs, their fans and Sosa to make peace with each other.
Alex Patt
@chifanpatt1
