First it was Ryne Sandberg, then Michael Jordan. Now Scottie Pippen wants to make a comeback for an NBA contender at the prime age of 41. For some reason Chicago sports legends have a hard time accepting retirement.

Ryno, MJ and Scottie have one thing in common: Their legacies are intact, regardless of what happens during their comeback. Sammy Sosa, on the other hand, is trying to salvage his.

All Slammin’ Sammy was doing at the tail end of his career was getting slammed by the media. Sosa’s production dipped in the face of increasing scrutiny over steroid allegations when he was linked to the other big boppers of the late 90s: McGwire, Palmeiro and Bonds, who were all named in Jose Canseco’s tell-all book.

Even if you didn’t believe anything Canseco said, the damage had already been done. McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro and Bonds: all members of the once sacred 500 home run club; all are tainted by the steroids era.

The bat speed, which is so vital considering his stance, slowed down, injuries started to pile up, including a sneeze that kept him out for 35 games. However, the ultimate shock to Cub fans was he was caught with a corked bat.

We had vehemently defended him over the years, but his actions were making it increasingly harder to support him. Sosa’s supersized ego was hurting team chemistry, and the last straw came when he left a game early during the last game of the season.

The Cubs brass had enough. It’s okay to tolerate a superstar’s quirks only when he produces like a superstar.

However, Sosa’s production didn’t justify keeping him, and he had become a major public relations liability.

After 13 memorable years, Sammy Sosa – a Cubs icon – was gone, traded to the Baltimore Orioles. It was a bittersweet deal for Cub fans. Forget about the steroid allegations for a second, Sosa and McGwire brought baseball back into the national spotlight in that magical summer of ’98.

Sosa carried the Cubs to the playoffs that year and deservedly won the MVP. He only played on one more playoff team in those 13 years, and that collapse was due to the management of Dusty Baker and the collapse of the pitching, not Sosa, who hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth in Game 1 of the NLCS in 2003.

In between, Sosa hit 60 home runs in three seasons and had four straight seasons of 50 home runs or more. Staggering as those numbers seem, Sosa only won the home run title in one of those years, when he hit 50 in 2000.

He was often the sole attraction on a lot of bad Cubs teams with his trademark home run hop, sprint to right field and kisses to his mom. There were walk-off home runs and home run derby spectacles, including the memorable one in 2002 during All-Star weekend in Milwaukee, where he launched a plethora of 500 foot bombs.

Sosa’s production fell off the charts with the Orioles and was released after the season. He went from a superstar to a has-been in the blink of an eye. Sammy’s quick decline only added more fuel to the steroid allegations surrounding him.

Now, after a year off, he’s with the Texas Rangers, hitting almost .500 in spring training. It’s only spring training, but it’s an accomplishment for Sosa, who through this has almost assured himself a spot in the opening-day roster.

Out of those four previously mentioned, Sosa has the best chance of recovering his name. The fact that the Rangers even offered him a contract is a clear sign that people are still undecided of his legacy.

Bonds, who confessed to being a cheat, prides himself on being a confrontational figure and is rubbing it in by going after Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record.

McGwire has gone into hiding, so he doesn’t have to talk about steroids. Palmeiro has fallen off the face of the earth after denying the allegations, but then tested positive later that season. Once, they were certain to be first ballot Hall of Famers, but now none of them might ever get in.

The last three guys all increased their home run power after reaching the age of 35, which is past the prime of many athletes. Sosa’s production, however, has declined as he has aged, which naturally occurs to all athletes.

It might be a lot of wishful thinking to hope that Sosa never took steroids, but a little part of me hopes that he can come back and produce for the Rangers with the steroid regulations in place. If he can put up 20-30 HRs, 80-100 RBIs, Sosa won’t be the only one that feels vindicated.

So will the countless number of fans who rooted for him throughout the years, knowing their support wasn’t all in vain.

Majesh Abraham is a junior in LAS. He can be reached at [email protected].