After 21 years, the Cubs finally welcomed Sammy Sosa back to Wrigley Field last Friday, having accepted his “apology” for whatever he did while hitting all those home runs, which he claims was nothing.
Whatever the case, fans celebrated Sosa’s return with ovations and chants of “Sam-my, Sam-my!” just like in the old days.
But there’s someone else with whom the Cubs should make up after 21 years. He brought joy to Cubs fans for much longer than Sosa did, albeit from the broadcast booth. He delivered impeccable analysis, a discerning eye and predictive powers that remain unmatched.
And like Sosa, he heard his name chanted at the ballpark. Sadly, it was during his last day calling Cubs games when fans shouted “Sto-ney, Sto-ney!” as he led the seventh-inning stretch.
Steve Stone has returned to Wrigley Field many times since then as a White Sox broadcaster, a job he has held since 2008. But he hasn’t been given the fanfare that he deserves after a bitter parting. Now that Sosa is back in the Cubs’ good graces, it’s time for Stone to join him.
When asked this week about the premise, Stone said it hasn’t crossed his mind.
“In fact, it was kind of surprising to me that it was 21 years in between trips to Wrigley Field for Sammy,” Stone said. “It was nice for me to see how the fans treated him.”
Stone was part of the summer soundtrack for generations of Cubs fans on WGN TV from 1983 to 2004, minus 2001-02, when he tended to health issues. He was the perfect partner for the legendary Harry Caray, stabilizing a broadcast that could get wonky at times. After Caray died in February 1998, Stone worked with Caray’s grandson Chip.
That pairing was on the call for one of the most infamous seasons in Cubs history, 2004. After the 2003 team came five outs away from the franchise’s first World Series appearance since 1945, the 2004 team carried the burden, and Wrigley Field was a boiling cauldron. As the Cubs failed to meet expectations, players began looking for not billy goats, but scapegoats.
In July, left fielder Moises Alou criticized Stone and Caray for being “too negative.” In August, reliever Kent Mercker called Cubs media relations in the Wrigley press box to complain that Stone and Caray were too complimentary of Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt, with whom the Cubs also were feuding. Mercker later confronted Stone on the team’s plane.
It all came to a head in the last week of the season — during which the Cubs lost five in a row to blow their wild-card lead, including back-to-back 12-inning games against the Reds — when Stone gave his frank assessment of the team on WGN Radio’s “Sports Central” with David Kaplan and Tom Waddle.
“The truth of this situation is [this is] an extremely talented bunch of guys who want to look at all directions except where they should really look, and kind of make excuses for what happened,” Stone said.
General manager Jim Hendry and manager Dusty Baker weren’t keen on a TV analyst doing his job, and they expressed their own issues with Stone. But the fans saw through it all, showing their support after Stone and Caray sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the last game of the season, a meaningless Cubs victory.
“They did a poll, I can’t remember if it was the Sun-Times or the Tribune, but it was a poll on who they thought was right: the players, the management or Steve Stone,” Stone said this week. “It was 94.6 in favor of me. And so I took my name off my travel bag, and I put down 94.6. That’s what I did the rest of the season.
“We were very honest in our broadcast. You can say 5,000 nice things about each and every one of those guys in uniform, and then when you get critical at all, they take exception to that. If everything is great, then nothing’s great. I don’t know exactly what happened. I just know at the end, a lot of people felt that they fired me, which was not the truth.”
Stone had an option year for 2005, which the Cubs picked up. But he thought it was best to move on. He said he’s greeted very well when he returns to Wrigley with the Sox, each visit bringing back memories. Some of those include Sosa, who interestingly caught a ceremonial first pitch from Stone on Opening Day in 2001, when Stone was battling health issues.
The two are inextricably linked. Stone was in the booth when Sosa arrived from the Sox in 1992 and was on the call for Sosa’s meteoric rise. Their last game with the Cubs was the same game, but at least Stone stayed for all of it.
Stone is a unique figure in Chicago sports. He’s the only person to play for the Cubs and Sox and broadcast both teams’ games. But he’s known most fondly for his work with Harry and his self-deprecating manner alongside a person he readily admits was the star of the show.
Now it’s time for Stone to be the star. The Cubs should mend that fence with a day in his honor. The Sox don’t even need to be there. Since he’s traveling with them less, Stone can return to Wrigley when the Sox are away and be rightly feted. Put him in the Cubs Hall of Fame, too.
Though Stone has been back to Wrigley, he deserves to be welcomed back. If the Cubs reconciled with Sosa, they certainly should be able to with Stone.