Sosa, who is set to be inducted into the Cubs’ team Hall of Fame this year, arrived at the iconic North Side ballpark in a black SUV. He was greeted by owner Tom Ricketts, who embraced him in a hug as he exited the vehicle.

Sosa became the face of the Cubs franchise where he played 13 seasons after coming in a trade from the crosstown White Sox in March 1992. A seven-time All-Star, Sosa hit 545 homers in 1,811 games with the Cubs and hit a franchise-record 66 in 1998 when he was named the NL’s MVP.

Sosa, now 56, played his final game with the Cubs at Wrigley on Oct. 2, 2004, when he homered and had two hits in an 8-6 loss to Atlanta. During his years with the Cubs, Sosa appeared to bulk up drastically and was a headliner in a generation of baseball’s biggest names linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

The Cubs traded him to Baltimore with cash in February 2005 for three players.

Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh holds the "home run trident" after hitting a two-run a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Friday, June 20, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Sosa appeared to acknowledge using performance-enhancing drugs in December when he released a statement saying he was sorry for mistakes, without specifying them.

“There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games,” he said in the statement. “I never broke any laws. But in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.”

On Friday morning, Sosa posed for photos with rising Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong outside the team’s clubhouse and a video showed Sosa embracing manager Craig Counsell in his office before the game.

“(Sosa) saw the wind blowing out today and planned this trip around a good day to be here,” Counsell joked. “He asked to be in the lineup because the wind’s blowing out.”

The Cubs honored Sosa with a video board tribute after the second inning. Sosa waved and bowed to fans from a suite during the presentation.

In Thursday’s 8-7 loss to Milwaukee, Crow-Armstrong went deep to set a new team record for reaching 20 homers and 20-plus stolen bases the fastest, doing it in 73 games. Sosa had the old mark of 96, set in 1994.

Counsell, who faced Sosa as a player, saluted the former slugger for his strength at the plate and long homers, as well as star power.

“Probably the best thing, Sammy was a true entertainer,” Counsell said. “I think when you’re in this long enough, you realize that’s part of this.

“We’re also here to entertain and I think Sammy was great at that.”

MARINERS 9,

CUBS 4

Cal Raleigh broke Johnny Bench’s record for home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, hitting his major league-leading 28th and 29th in Seattle’s victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

Raleigh broke a tie in the seventh with No. 29 to move ahead of Hall of Famer Bench’s 1970 mark. Raleigh needed only 73 games to break the record that Bench set in 87 games. The Seattle star shattered the mark with 22 games to spare before the All-Star game. Barry Bonds holds the overall record with 39 for San Francisco in 2001.

Raleigh had three hits in his sixth multi-homer game of the season. The 28-year-old slugger drove in three runs to push his season total to 63.

Mitch Garver also homered twice and drove in five runs, putting it away with a three-run shot in the ninth. Randy Arozarena and Donovan Solano each had three hits to help Seattle win for the fifth time in seven games.

Raleigh and Garver are the first pair of primary catchers for a team to each homer twice since Joe Ferguson and Steve Yeager did it for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 1979 home victory over Houston.

The teams combined for six homers with the wind blowing out on a warm day.

Ian Happ homered in Chicago’s three-run first inning, and Reese McGuire added a solo shot. Michael Busch had three hits and two RBIs as NL Central-leading Cubs dropped their second straight.

Raleigh hit his go-ahead drive to the back of the left-field bleachers off Caleb Thielbar (2-2). Raleigh sent his first homer just over the basket in the first off Matthew Boyd.

Eduard Bazardo (2-0) pitched a scoreless sixth for the win.

WHITE SOX 7

BLUE JAYS 1

TORONTO (AP) — Luis Robert Jr. hit a two-run homer in Chicago’s four-run third inning and the White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night to end an eight-game losing streak.

Josh Rohas had a two-run double in the third for Chicago. Andrew Benintendi had a solo home run in the first and added an RBI single in the second.

It was a double-bullpen game, with both teams trotting out a handful of relief pitchers with no starters available.