Mr. Cub: Sosa Should "Come Clean" On Steroid Use

Sports News - January 26th, 2010 - Written By John Ritter

As the list of admitted users continues to grow every week, the spotlight has now focused solely on the few remaining baseball players accused of taking steroids a decade ago who have kept their lips sealed.

One of those players, Sammy Sosa, is one of the three highest-profile players from the era who has yet to fully endulge on the matter, and some believe he has not been totally forthright about his past.

Of that group, former Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks told the Chicago Tribune, via ESPNChicago, that he would like to see Sosa admit to using steroids in the late 90s, the era he rocketed to prominence with Mark McGwire during their famed 1998 race for the home run record.

McGwire has since admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in a televised interview with Bob Costas, and Banks said he would like to see Sosa follow suit.

"Come clean with it," Banks told the Tribune. "Explain it to them...Just say: 'This is what happened.' It's hard to do, to admit this. Just admit it and live with it and understand it. I am sure a lot of people will forgive him."

Sosa was already been implicated in the steroids scandal last summer when he was named in a 2003 survey conducted to estimate how many users there were in baseball. The test was given on the promise of anonymity as the MLB strove to determine if there should be mandatory testing at all, but public interest in the matter pushed the information to be leaked. Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were also named in the survey.

He was asked to participate in an interview with congress in 2005, alongside Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens and McGwire, but denied using PEDs, and evaded questions by responding in broken english.

Sosa became one of the greatest home run hitters of all time late in his career when, beginning in June of 1998, he swatted a single-month record 20 homers. He finished the year with 66, four behind McGwire, and that number stands as the third-highest single-season total. He is sixth on the career list with 609 home runs.

Banks insisted he had no ill feelings toward Sosa, who has since found sanctuary in his native Dominican Republic, and would like to see him return to the United States.

"I would like to see Sammy come back," Banks said. "Throw out the first pitch, sing 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame,' you know, meet some of the players and all of that. I was dreaming about it. I always thought that the way he left here and went to his demise here was quick. The lesson from that is that fame is fleeting. It can go in a minute."