It's one of the most well-known laments of Cubs fans: Either youspend some money and fix this team next year or I won't come back, Iwon't watch, I won't give you a dollar of my money.
Maybe some of them really don't return. Maybe they smash theirTVs, become fans of the Chicago Lyric Opera, spend their money on'Rigoletto" and start criticizing tenors instead of Todd Hundley.
But, for the most part, this far-from-silent majority of fansreturn to Wrigley Field, or go back to watching games from theirfavorite bar stool. They talk a good game, but remain loyal to theCubs right down to the last blown save.
Sammy Sosa has said nothing recently that isn't the same old spielyou have heard for decades from frustrated fans who have seen enoughof the Cubs' woes over countless generations.
Sosa relates to fans better than most superstars. It would be wayuncool for most players to go racing wildly onto the field to begingames and connect with the fans in the home bleachers byacknowledging them. Most would refuse to be that exuberant, thatopen, that welcoming with fans.
So when Sosa comes out and says the Cubs have to improve or elsehe would have to think seriously about changing allegiances to a clubwith championship potential, he is being no more than the voice ofthe fans.
Sosa has limited clout when it comes to affecting the product theCubs put on the field. President Andy MacPhail and general managerJim Hendry listen to some of his suggestions, but they will do whattheir instincts tell them, not what Sosa tells them. People want toblame Sosa for being a bad GM by pushing for the Cubs to sign free-agent outfielder Moises Alou last December. MacPhail was initiallyagainst that move, believing Alou would cost too much.
When all was said and done, MacPhail signed Alou because the moneywas right for the Cubs' budget, and they expected to have aconsistently dangerous hitter. Everybody did. Alou is doing his bestin recent weeks to make up for a bad start, but as he said the otherday, this is not going to be a typical offensive season for him. SoSosa gets the blame for wanting him.
It has become convenient to dump on Sosa as the main root of theCubs' problems. They say he shouldn't voice his opinion. They say heis self-serving. They say he is a whiner.
OK, who doesn't think the Cubs would be better with more nightgames? Who can blame Sosa for being loyal to Cubs hitting coach JeffPentland, who helped establish him as the power hitter he is now? Whocan carp at him because he wants the Cubs to be a playoff contender?
If Sosa was the silent type, as he was earlier in his career, twothings would have happened. He would have been criticized for beingsulky and refusing to cooperate with the media. Or he would have beena quiet presence such as Ryne Sandberg, who was sometimesuncomfortable in the spotlight and relied on Mark Grace and others todazzle the media.
Sosa and other Cubs didn't always like to see Grace as thespokesman. Anyone who steps forward and says something makes himselfa target for slings and arrows. That's why Sosa rejected the role foryears and was reluctant to express what he thought. He didn't want tobe shot down for being too mouthy, a criticism that Grace ignored andthat Sosa now turns away from as well.
The fact that Sosa is willing to take a stand and be heard is asign of his development as a player and person. He doesn't enjoybeing criticized, but he is content to let others argue about what hebelieves. He knows that in the long run he has only one ulteriormotive--winning.
If fans want to criticize Sosa for saying the Cubs either must winor he will think about doing something else, they should look in themirror. That plea has been eternal from their lips. And it probablywill take a higher power than Sosa, MacPhail or Hendry to answer it.
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