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Love him or hate him, it's impossible to deny the impact Sammy Sosa had while playing for the Chicago Cubs. He is the team's all-time leading home run hitter, a seven-time All-Star, and enters the 2005 season ranked seventh all-time in Major League Baseball with 574 home runs. Purchase your Chicago Cubs Tickets. He's had the most 60-homer seasons of any player in Major League history (1998, '99 and 2001) and won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1998. And he's now gone.
How does the Sosa deal compare to others in Cubs history? Baseball historian Ed Hartig compared Sosa's situation to that of Hack Wilson, whom the Cubs decided to deal after the 1931 season.
In 1930, Wilson hit 56 home runs for the Cubs, a National League record that stood until Sosa and Mark McGwire broke it in 1998. Wilson, who also set the Major League record with 191 RBIs that season, received a $1,000 bonus from the Cubs.
Wilson signed with the Cubs the next season for $35,000. However, Wilson's career hit an all-time low.
The Cubs lost, 4-3 in 10 innings, to Cincinnati on Sept. 5, 1931. Wilson, who was in the Cubs' doghouse for drinking and not hitting, had been left in the bullpen to warm up pitchers. On the train back to Chicago after the game, Wilson reportedly got into an argument with two sportswriters, and punched both of them. He was eventually fined $500 for his actions and suspended without pay for the rest of the season.
He finished with 13 homers in 1931, and on Dec. 11, was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher Burleigh Grimes. Wilson was offered $7,500.