Sosa Says He And McGwire Belong In Hall of Fame

The Associated Press

January 24, 2013 12:34 PM

File Photo: Baseball player Mark McGwire is sworn in as Sammy Sosa (L) and Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling (R) look on March 17, 2005 during a House committee that investigated the efforts by Major League Baseball to eradicate steroid use among its players in Washington, DC. Major League Baseball (MLB) / (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

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MLB, Sports

CHICAGO (AP) — Sammy Sosa thinks he and fellow steroid-tainted star Mark McGwire belong in the Hall of Fame.

Slammin’ Sammy also said the Chicago Cubs should retire his number, and he left open the possibility of running for president of the Dominican Republic during an interview Wednesday on the website Ustream.com.

Asked if he thinks he or McGwire belong in the Hall, Sosa said: “I think so.”

“I’m not going to come here and say anything that is going to jeopardize my future,” he added. “But definitely time will determine everything. Right now whatever it is, it is. I am not (somebody who) is going to go out there and say anything I don’t want to say. I’m waiting for my time. … I don’t like controversy. Definitely time will determine everything.”

Sosa, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were denied entry to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility amid suspicions their accomplishments were boosted by performance-enhancing drugs. McGwire, 10th on the career home run list, received 16.9 percent of the vote on his seventh try, far short of the 75 percent needed for election.

Sosa, who finished with 609 home runs and ranks eighth on the all-time chart, received 12.5 percent of the vote. He was among those who tested positive in Major League Baseball’s 2003 anonymous survey, The New York Times reported in 2009. He told a congressional committee in 2005 that he never took illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

Meanwhile, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said at the team’s fan convention last weekend that the club might try to re-establish a relationship with Sosa, who left on bad terms following the 2004 season. The organization had different ownership and management back then.

Sosa said he was aware of Ricketts’ comments.

“They know where I am,” he said. “If they want to find me, they have to call me. I’m always available.”

Would he run for president of the Dominican Republic?

“You never know,” Sosa said.