#Sammy Sosa is gently pushing for Cubs forgiveness

Sammy Sosa is holding out hope for a future Cubs reunion, despite the outfielder not being welcomed back since the club traded him in 2005.

“I don’t see why [I can’t] be invited to Chicago, but you know it’s not in my hands,” Sosa said Tuesday on ESPN 1000’s “Kap & Co.” in Chicago. “I don’t control that; I don’t want to get into much of that because I don’t want to create any inconvenience, or I don’t want people to get mad at me for some reason.

“Hopefully one day it’s gonna happen, but it doesn’t bother me. I just continue living my life. Whatever we have to do, we’ll do it. But I guess we have to wait a little bit longer.”

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts has said the Cubs want some “honesty” from players in that era regarding steroid use. Sosa was on the list of players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to the New York Times, but he has testified in front of congress that he never used steroids.

Sosa brought the Cubs into the national spotlight in 1998 when he and Mark McGwire battled for the home run title. McGwire finished with 70 home runs to Sosa’s 66, though the race has since been tarnished by implications of steroid use — which McGwire has admitted while Sosa remains defiant he did not.

Still, Sosa believes he will one day return to Chicago and even expects to have his No. 21 retired. He said the upcoming ESPN 30-for-30, “Long Gone Summer” — set to debut Sunday, focusing on his and McGwire’s home run race — will “change a lot of people’s minds.”

“I believe that I will be there pretty soon,” Sosa told the Chicago Tribune. “Thank you [Cubs fans] for the support, thank you for so many great times, so many great moments, and I’m looking forward to [being] back in Chicago soon.”