Cubs welcome back Sammy Sosa and newcomer Justin Turner is happy to see slugger back with team
The Chicago Cubs have high hopes of becoming a dominant National League team this season and unseating the Milwaukee Brewers as the Central Division champions. The Cubs believe that the addition of players like Kyle Tucker and Justin Turner may be just enough to put them over the top and allow them to play consistent baseball. As the Cubs prepare for the 2025 season, the long split between the team and former home run slugger Sammy Sosa has ended. Sosa is a welcome guest at the Cubs' spring training home in Scottsdale, Arizona.
When Sosa was with the team, they did not have the kind of modern digs as their spring training home. Sosa is impressed by the facilities the Cubs players and coaches have to prepare for the upcoming season.
“This building looks like Disney World,” Sosa said with his usual smile and laughter. “My goodness. Incredible. Beautiful. We didn’t have that when we played.”
Sosa is serving as a guest instructor for the Cubs at their Sloan Park spring training home. He held court with reporters in the bleachers before heading to the field.
Turner and many other Cubs happy to see Sosa
The veteran Turner is in his first weeks with the Cubs after coming to an agreement with the team. The 40-year-old with 17 years of Major League experience figures to be a utility player at this point in his career, and he will likely see most of his action at 3rd base and 1st base.
Turner became a star player during his 9-year run with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he has since moved on to play for the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners.
He took batting practice with Sosa watching Wednesday, and he explained what it meant to have the former Cubs slugger around.
“He’s one of the greats,” Turner said. “Any time you can get a guy around like that, I think you automatically revert to the little kid who was watching him do his thing, doing the Sammy Sosa hop. You just have a lot of respect for what he and (Mark) McGwire did, really kind of making baseball popular again with that home run race.
Turner was referring to the home run race of the 1998 season when both players battled for the Major League home run record, breaking through the mark set by Roger Maris in 1961. McGwire finished the season with 70 home runs, while Sosa clouted 66.
McGwire's record was later broken by Barry Bonds. He hammered 73 home runs in the 2001 season.
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