Sammy Sosa helped bring baseball back to life.
‘‘There’s nothing quite like that ’98 [home-run] race,’’ former Cubs teammate Derrek Lee said. ‘‘I don’t recall a time before or after where guys were on the field for batting practice to watch the other team’s guy hit. We were literally on the field to watch Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hit batting practice.
‘‘The fans gravitated to him and brought that spark back to baseball.’’
Sosa earned a good chunk of the credit for the Cubs evolving from ‘‘lovable losers’’ into a team carrying winning expectations into every season, including this one.
But he and Lee — who were welcomed into the team’s Hall of Fame on Sunday — were part of the heartbreaking misses that extended the Cubs’ infamous curse before it was broken in 2016. Sosa was a member of the 2003 squad that suffered the disappointing loss to Lee and the Marlins in the National League Championship Series, and Lee was a key cog for back-to-back division winners in 2007 and 2008 — seasons that ended in playoff sweeps.
The 2025 team sits on the verge of October, bound for the playoffs. But after watching their NL Central lead before the All-Star break disappear because of the Brewers’ surge, will this prove to be another disappointment for the Cubs?
For what it’s worth, Lee likes what he sees out of this edition. He has known manager Craig Counsell since the two were beginning their professional careers.
‘‘He’s been through it, he’s seen it all and he’s a champion,’’ Lee said. ‘‘It’s still one game at a time, and he understands that. You have a guy with two rings on his fingers and a successful big-league career — a smart, cerebral guy. He’s the right guy to run the ship.’’
Sosa, meanwhile, isn’t claiming perpetual ownership of the patch of right-field grass he once patrolled. In its current occupant — and free agent-to-be Kyle Tucker — he sees someone who can help this team accomplish its goals.
‘‘I’m happy to see the youngsters, the new generation, taking care of business,’’ Sosa said. ‘‘Kyle Tucker is a master. This guy can hit. Normally, it’s a sweet swing. He’s been there in the clutch.
‘‘I’m not sitting in the front office, I cannot determine any decision, but you determine your own decision when you perform in the field. And he’s doing it.’’
Time will tell whether 2025 will be one of those misses such as Sosa and Lee experienced or whether it will be a 2016-style hit that Lee & Co. only wish they could have been part of during their Cubs days.
‘‘I don’t know if I’ve ever rooted harder for a sports team,’’ Lee said of those champion Cubs. ‘‘I was happy for those guys. But I was a little bit jealous at the same time.
‘‘We were all happy that it finally happened. We just wanted to be the team that did it first.’’
Tucker, PCA sit with injuries
Tucker’s absence from the lineup hit four games as he sat out Sunday against the Nationals. Counsell said he is making progress but didn’t think he would play Monday against the Braves.
Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong also sat out a day after fouling a ball off his knee. But he felt good enough to take part in pregame workouts, and Counsell said the Cubs will decide whether he can play Monday.