When I was in high school, I would try on my mother’s dresses while she was out playing mahjong. It’s true. After Mark McGwire came clean (sort of) about using steroids, telling the truth is the new coolest thing. I’m just jumping on the bandwagon. Ernie Banks is hoping that Sammy Sosa does the same.
“I would say just what Mark McGwire did,” Banks said. “Come clean with it. Explain it to them. … Just say: ‘This is what happened.’ It is 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.” The ever-optimistic Banks says he would like to see Sosa embraced by the new Cubs ownership and the fans who once saluted him.
“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.”
Sosa’s denial of steroid use is a bit different than that of most of the other juicers. Instead of pointing his finger at Congress or refusing to talk about his past, Sosa employed the whole “no ingles” defense and pretended that he wasn’t aware of what he was being asked. A pretty good move if you ask me, especially since he could probably call the people who didn’t buy his act racist.
Although, after journalists and players like Carlton Fisk coming out of the woodwork to climb up on their high horses and feign indignation with regards to McGwire’s apology, what makes Banks think that Sosa’s would be treated any differently? People LOVED McGwire and it seems like he’s got a mob of angry people clutching pitchforks outside his home after his apology. They’re bound to tar and feather Sosa for coming clean.
At this point, the media is so fucking cynical that it’s probably better to just keep quiet. No admission or apology will ever be good enough, and quite frankly, the media doesn’t deserve an apology. If Sosa should apologize to anyone, it’s to his fellow Dominicans for bleaching his skin.
