Ernie Banks Urges Sammy Sosa to Come Forward, Answer Questions

The ripple effects are still being felt from Mark McGwire's confession and subsequent apology earlier this month that he used steroids for much of his career -- namely during the great home run chase of '98. Through natural thought process, the first name that comes to mind as being next in line is Sammy Sosa.

While some people -- such as myself -- don't think anything Sosa could possibly say would ever be good enough for the masses, meaning he shouldn't even bother to open himself back up the public onslaught of venom, Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks believes it would do some good.

The Hall of Famer Banks, who will turn 79 next Sunday, wants Sosa and the new Cubs ownership group to embrace one another. He wants to see Sosa once again become a Cubs fan favorite and do things such as throw out the first pitch and be the guest conductor of the seventh-inning stretch. He even told the Chicago Tribune he plans to meet with Sosa and convince him how this will be possible.

"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."

"I will just explain it to him and how the people are," Banks said. "I don't think he really understood that. People are for you; they want to see you do well. They are forgiving people. We haven't won in over 100 years, so this audience here is pretty special."

As a lifelong Cubs fan, I love Ernie Banks. You don't have to have been alive to love who he is. He's one of the most positive and optimistic people around the game of baseball. In this case, however, it seems like he's gone a bit overboard.

Seriously, he wants Sosa to do what McGwire did? Did Ernie not witness the treatment of McGwire in the aftermath of his admission? It's been two weeks, and McGwire is still being crucified by media and fans alike. And the advice to Sosa would be to do the same thing?

I firmly believe no apology or admission will ever be good enough and attempting to come clean like McGwire did will only further make any player, especially someone who became as big a star as Sosa did, a pariah.

I will say this, though. The way Banks went about expressing his opinion shows just what a special person he is. Considering Banks hit 512 home runs in an era where that placed him among the absolute elite power hitters in the history of baseball (he was tied for ninth all-time at retirement, but now is now tied for 21st), he seems awfully calm about the situation compared to others. There's a litany of former players -- most recently Carlton Fisk and Jack Clark -- who have decided to lash out with fury. Banks is calm and kind instead of lecturing everyone or being on the attack. He is showing compassion and trying to find solutions to the issue. He doesn't exude this chest-thumping, sanctimonious "back in my day" attitude -- he's instead a man who embodies the true heart and soul of a baseball ambassador trying to reach out to someone who could probably use a hand.

This is the way things should be. No stomping, huffing, puffing or whining. Just a discussion of how fans, former players, current players and media alike can collectively forge our paths together in supporting the game we all love.

Kudos to Ernie Banks for still being a breath of fresh air after all these years.