Sammy Sosa said yesterday that he’ll announce his retirement soon. It’s not much of a surprise - he’s been out of baseball since 2007, and he’s 40 years old now. Still, and I know a lot of Cubs fans will disagree, but it made me sad to hear.

On years of bad Cubs team, Sosa was the one thing worth watching. In 1994’s strike-shortened year, the only two Cubs hitters who were better than average were Sosa and Grace - Sammy hit 25 home runs in 105 games, and the team went 49-64. In 1996 the team finished ten games below .500, but Sosa hit 40 home runs in an injury-shortened season.

Then came 1998, when Sosa and Mark McGwire saved baseball. For some reason people feel robbed because of what Sosa and McGwire may or may not have put in their bodies. I’m not really comfortable with the idea of players using steroids, but I’m not sure why it should cheapen memories of that season. I’m pretty sure every player who played while I was growing up took greenies, but nobody cares about that. Players have doctored balls in every which way. And even if Sosa was using, so were plenty of the pitchers who threw to him, so I don’t see why I should discount what happened in 1998.

And like I said, Sosa and McGwire saved baseball. Sosa lost the home-run race, but he won the MVP race and the Wild Card race, too. The 1998 Cubs won 89 games in their first 162. Sosa carried a team whose best pitcher, Kerry Wood, blew out his elbow. Sosa had never hit a grand slam in his career until the middle of that season - and then he hit one the next day. When McGwire broke Maris’s record ahead of him, Sosa was gracious, hugging him even though he must have wished he had done it first. And when 66 home runs from the MVP was only good enough to tie for the Wild Card lead, Sosa went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the playoff game to carry the Cubs into the playoffs - those two runs were the margin of the Cubs’ victory.

Sports Illustrated named Sammy Sosa and McGwire their Sportsmen of the Year that offseason - the cover featured the two of them in togas and laurel wreathes. Forget the home runs. Nobody questioned at the time that the two of them got people excited about baseball again.

Then came 2001, the greatest season Sosa or any Cub has ever had at the plate. Sosa hit .328/.437/.737 and drove in 160 runs. And after the September 11 attacks, at the first Cubs home game after baseball resumed, Sosa hit a home run in the bottom of the first inning. Billy Williams handed him a miniature American flag as he rounded first base, and Sosa carried it with him around the basepaths. It was a meaningless gesture in the enormity of what had happened, but it was a touching one, nonetheless.

Sammy may have had his problems with other members of the team. I don’t know what he put in his body. And he shouldn’t have left his last game as a Cub early, but that’s a really minor transgression. But in spite of all that, he was a joy to watch in his years as a Cub. He was the greatest hitter the Cubs have had in my lifetime, and I’m glad I got to watch him play. I hope some day the team sees things that way, and when some fences have been mended they retire his number. And I hope some day the Hall of Fame voters see it the same way and put the man in Cooperstown where he belongs.