ESPN reporter calls out Chicago Cubs over Sammy Sosa apology

The Chicago Cubs finally got their wish this week when Sammy Sosa all but admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs, and one prominent reporter thinks the situation is a bad look for the franchise.

Sosa on Thursday issued a statement in which he alluded to his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs during his playing career. Sosa said he apologized for the implied usage of PEDs. Sosa apologized in order to mend his relationship with the Cubs, as owner Tom Ricketts has long said that Sosa needed to publicly address his PED usage in order to have a reconciliation with the team.

ESPN’s Buster Olney criticized the Cubs for needing an apology from Sosa. He said the stance is hypocritical after the franchise profited immensely from Sosa’s alleged PED use.

“Organizations that insist upon apologies from the Steroid Era players in return for entrance into team events should be required to issue their own apologies, for looking the other way while cashing checks. The sanctimony is ridiculous,” Olney wrote on X.

Organizations that insist upon apologies from the Steroid Era players in return for entrance into team events should be required to issue their own apologies, for looking the other way while cashing checks. The sanctimony is ridiculous.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 19, 2024

Olney certainly has a point. Sosa and Mark McGwire helped save baseball with their home run chase in 1998. Sosa hit 66 home runs that season and McGwire blasted 70 as the two battled all summer to surpass Roger Maris’ previous record of 61. Games were sold out and ratings were through the roof.

Ricketts did not own the Cubs at the time, but the team and baseball as a whole directly benefitted from the Steroid Era. That is why one notable baseball personality rejected Sosa’s apology.

The majority of people have accepted that PED usage is simply part of baseball’s story. Olney is not alone in thinking the Cubs should have just let it go with Sosa.