Sammy Sosa Invited Back To The Cubs

Good morning Chicago fans! The holidays are a great time to reminisce and tell old stories with family. If you’re like me, you have a lot of memories of Sammy Sosa hopping out of the batter’s box and hitting baseballs onto Waveland. He was finally invited back to the Cubs!

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RESULTS

L - Vikings 30, Bears 12: Complete mess in the house Kevin Warren built

• Make that 3 straight 1st half shutouts for the Bears offense thanks to 2 unsuccessful 4th down runs by D’Andre Swift and a strip sack

• Kiran Amegadjie started at left tackle due to Braxton Jones’ injury and STRUGGLED. Caleb Williams had instant pressure from the left side all night, and Amegadjie committed 4 penalties.

• The Bears missed a golden opportunity to cut into the 13-0 deficit early in the 3rd quarter, but Doug Kramer did not report as eligible on a Swift TD run. After a holding penalty and missed end zone shots, they settled for a field goal. Everything went downhill from there…

• Caleb (18/31, 191 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) only took 3 hits but was running away from the Vikings all night long. The whole gameplan was screen/screen/screen, and any opportunity downfield was either missed or thwarted by pressure. Rome Odunze also dropped a touchdown 🤷‍♂️

• Shoutout to Eric Washington and the defense! It’s a low bar, but they played a bit better. Sam Darnold (24/40, 231 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was held to a 74.1 rating, and they allowed 329 total yards.

• The floodgates opened for the Vikings in the 2nd half, but there were some creative blitzes and respectable efforts throughout the game by defensive linemen Montez Sweat (1 TFL) and DeMarcus Walker (4 QB hits).

• There were 2 violent punt plays in the same game!!! Tory Taylor took a hit and drew the roughing penalty, and Dominique Robinson obliterated punter Ryan Wright and got a block 😠

• Tyrique Stevenson thought he had his 2nd interception of the night on the most Bears play ever: he was called for PI, and Sweat was called for roughing the passer

• Thomas Brown had one positive in his first game as head coach vs. the 49ers: only 2 penalties. In this game? 9 penalties for 93 yards

• You know the gap between the 2 teams is massive when Justin Jefferson drops a surefire TD, the Vikings commit 10 penalties, Sam Darnold throws up a prayer that gets picked off on 4th down, and it’s still a blowout

L - Lions 34, Bears 17: Masterpiece audition by Ben Johnson at Soldier Field

• 1st half points for the first time since Nov. 24th vs. the Vikings! But only after 2 punts, a fumble by Rome, and a fumbled handoff from Caleb to Rome

• Lions bullied the Bears defense from the opening kickoff, and they buried the Bears early with 27 first half points. Only 10 combined points were scored after halftime.

• Despite never having a chance to win, Caleb (26/40, 334 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT) made a ton of big throws as the downfield passing game came alive. He looked more poised, more accurate, and maneuvered smoothly around the pocket.

• Bears running backs combined for 23 yards on 10 carries 🤢 although they aired it out for most of the game to try to stay alive

• Ben Johnson’s offensive wizardry was on FULL display as the Lions shredded the Bears defense for 475 total yards. They even scored on a play called “Stumble Bum” that featured a fake stumble by Jared Goff and full dive by Jahmyr Gibbs. The play was designed based off of a 2023 Jordan Love completion against the Bears. It’s always the Packers…

• Goff (23/32, 336 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT), Gibbs (109 rush yards, 1 TD), and Jameson Williams (143 rec yards, 1 TD) dominated play. Williams’ 82 yard TD in the 2nd quarter was an early dagger!

• If it weren’t for some red zone stands (2/5), the Bears defense may have given up 50 points. They had zero takeaways, allowed 7/12 3rd down conversions, gave up 4.6 yards per rush, and had 3 QB hits.

• 10 more penalties in the Thomas Brown era!!

SEASON RECORD: 4-11 (Last place)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Keenan Allen

In 2 games: 15 receptions, 223 yards, 2 TD

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Dominique Robinson punt block

NEWS & NOTES

Placed Ryan Bates on IR

9-game losing streak is now the 2nd longest in franchise history (1st is the 10-game losing streak in 2022)

Bears have played 9 consecutive games without throwing an interception and are 0-9

Caleb Williams has thrown 326 straight passes without an interception - 6th longest streak in NFL history - and now has 3,271 passing yards on the season - 6th most in Bears history

In case anyone forgot, the 13-2 Vikings hired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and HC Kevin O’Connell in the same interview cycle as the Bears’ hirings in 2022…

Next up ➡ Thursday Night Football vs. 8-7 Seahawks

TROPHY TRACKER (4/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

W - Blackhawks 3, Capitals 2: Huge comeback against a top team!!

• Hawks scored 3 straight 3rd period goals (the curse is officially over) to pull off a dramatic win in Chicago

• Teuvo Teravainen had his 2nd straight 3-point game!! (3a)

• The power play was fierce but finished 0-4, including 3 consecutive opportunities in the 2nd period

W - Blackhawks 3, Kraken 1: Dominant effort for a 3 game winning streak!

• Ilya Mikheyev stayed hot with 2 goals 🔥

• Nolan Allan scored his first NHL goal on a sweet give-and-go play

L - Flames 6, Blackhawks 4: Comeback falls short in a physical game

• Petr Mrazek allowed 5 goals on 29 attempts and struggled as he and Seth Jones returned from injury

• Connor Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi each had 3 points

• Martin Pospisil landed big hits on Frank Nazar and Bedard, and their teammates came to their defense

SEASON RECORD: 12-20-2 (26 points)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Ilya Mikheyev

4 goals, 1 assist (5 points) and has scored in 4 straight games!

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Ilya Mikheyev shorthanded goal

NEWS & NOTES

Activated Petr Mrazek and Seth Jones from IR, assigned Drew Commesso and Wyatt Kaiser to the AHL

Hawks streak of 33 successful penalty kills finally came to an end vs. the Flames. What an unfathomable run!!

Prospect Oliver Moore was named to Team USA’s 2025 World Juniors roster

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

W - Bulls 122, Raptors 121: Close win without an injured Zach LaVine!

• Bulls let a 16-point 4th quarter lead vanish, but Lonzo Ball’s clutch 3 with 1 minute left sealed the game

• Seven Bulls scored in double figures with Nikola Vucevic leading the charge (24p)

W - Bulls 117, Celtics 108: Down with the defending champs!

• Bulls defense stepped up and held the Celtics to 25.0% from 3PT

• LaVine attacked everybody (36p/4a/6r) and had 20 points in the 1st half

• The tough-minded, professional, composed…Bulls? The Celtics were called for 3 technical fouls in the 4th quarter, and coach Joe Mazzulla was NOT happy with the refs

L - Celtics 123, Bulls 98: Rematch against the champs was a dud

• Jayson Tatum (43p/10a/15r) recorded the first Celtics 40-point triple-double since Larry Bird 😮

• Bulls had an awful shooting night (37.8% FG) and allowed 60 points in the paint

SEASON RECORD: 13-16 (9th place in East)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Nikola Vucevic

19.7p/3a/9.7r per game and 2 double-doubles

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Lonzo Ball to Talen Horton-Tucker reverse alley oop

NEWS & NOTES

Josh Giddey re-injured the same ankle that got injured during the Olympics against the Raptors. He missed the last 2 games.

The Nuggets are reportedly interested in trading for Zach LaVine! This is the first legitimate news that there is interest in Zach around the league. I’d say they should jump at any offer. It’s AK’s old team, so he probably built them up for this moment. Pair Zach with Jokic and go win a title!

Billy Donovan is a first-time nominee for the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

🐐 Sammy Sosa welcomed back to the Cubs organization 🐐

My favorite Cub of all time is BACK!!!

After a 20 year stalemate where the Cubs ridiculously refused any association to one of their greatest players of all time, the two sides found a middle ground.

Sosa issued a statement apologizing for “mistakes” he made in his career, and Tom Ricketts responded with a receptive statement inviting Sosa to Cubs Convention.

Ricketts essentially required Sosa to apologize for his shortcomings before he could ever return to Wrigley Field. Even though we’ve seen Barry Bonds honored in San Francisco and most other steroid era players celebrated for their accomplishments, Ricketts remained unmoved for years.

As much as I disagree with how the Cubs handled the relationship, today is a celebration.

A fan favorite is coming home.

The superstar who made baseball come to life in my first 10 years of life can now inject more energy into the game he loves. And Cubs fans will wholeheartedly embrace him.

609 HR. 1667 RBI. .878 OPS. 3 seasons of 60 HR. NL MVP.

I can’t wait for Sammy to run out to RF at Wrigley before a 1:20 game this summer. Oh, and it helps that he’ll be followed by Kyle Tucker!

🚨 Traded Cody Bellinger and $5M to the New York Yankees for RHP Cody Poteet 🚨

This move was inevitable.

Even though I wish the return was better, the Cubs are operating under a self-imposed salary cap and can use the money to improve the team in other areas.

When a star became available in Kyle Tucker, they took advantage of the opportunity. Bellinger just happened to be the incumbent right fielder with a huge contract. Plus, I’m sure Belli will be excited to play for the same team as his dad.

Moving a 2 WAR player who wouldn’t get regular at-bats on your team was a no-brainer. The Cubs are set with very good every day players at LF/CF/RF/1B/DH. He’ll probably have a great year at Yankee Stadium and take advantage of the short porch like Anthony Rizzo did with 32 HR in 2022.

The surprise in this deal was the Cubs’ ability to get out of most of the contract. They will pay $2.5M towards Bellinger’s 2025 $27.5M contract and will pay $2.5M in 2026 towards either his buyout or contract. Jed has $25M to play with now!

Cody Poteet is 30 years old, has bounced around the league, and has only pitched 83 innings in the majors. He came up as a starter but could contribute to the Cubs bullpen this season.

Traded recently acquired C Matt Thaiss to the White Sox for cash

• Maybe the Cubs profited $5 between the two trades???

Takeaways from Jed Hoyer’s media session:

• They believe in Matt Shaw at 3B and will give him the chance to win the job this season

• Michael Busch is their 1st baseman, and they believe he will be a Gold Glover

• They understood the team’s need for a star, and they see Tucker as one of the best players in baseball

• Contract extension talks will occur with Tucker before the offseason

The early WAR projections for the Cubs look NICE:

TROPHY TRACKER (5/10 ➡ 🏆)

Zach LaVine

LaVine provided gifts for a group of kids and treated them to a special movie day!

Keenan Allen was worth the 4th round pick.

I remember when the news broke. Chef Poles was cooking in secret.

Pairing him with DJ Moore seemed like a slam dunk that would surpass any Bears WR duo in history: (Bears Move On From Justin Fields). I didn’t even know Rome Odunze would also soon join the team.

Why would you be against acquiring a future Hall of Fame WR who can operate from the slot, get open anywhere on the field, convert 3rd downs in his sleep, and help mentor a rookie QB? Maybe because he had one year left on his contract.

Then he missed 2 games in September.

Then he dropped passes and missed blocks.

Everyone was justifiably upset that he was the focus of the offensive gameplans instead of Moore or Odunze.

But he stepped up with 2 TDs in London. He has been a de facto coach in the WR room. He has been a magician on 3rd and 4th downs. His targets and production have only increased, and he has 694 yards and 7 TDs with 2 games remaining.

Through a turbulent season with 3 different offensive coordinators, Allen has been essential for Caleb Williams. He has proven to be his security blanket and a helpful veteran presence. In the midst of the dysfunction, Allen has actually moved the offense down the field.

Whether its misuse, a broken passing game, a lack of effort, rookie learning curves, or an unexplainable blip, Moore and Odunze have had their ups and downs this year. They’re under contract for the next 5+ seasons and will have to be the primary playmakers for this offense, but they underwhelmed in Caleb’s rookie year. A disastrous offense could have cratered even more.

With the offensive line struggles, fans are upset the 4th round pick or money weren’t used on linemen. I’m glad they acquired Allen.

For the right price, I would definitely bring Keenen Allen back next season.

Adam Jahns - The Bears need a head coach like Kevin O’Connell (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - Derek King embracing bizarre role as Anders Sorensen’s assistant (Chicago Sun-Times)

Scott Powers - What we’ve learned about Anders Sorensen after 5 games (The Athletic)

Tony Andracki - Homecoming: Carson Kelly’s Cubs deal produces emotional reaction (Marquee Sports Network)

Adam Jahns - Creating an offense-only short list for Bears’ coaching search (The Athletic)

Chandler Rome - Cam Smith prepared for expectations as centerpiece of trade (The Athletic)

Thanks for reading! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! It makes sense that the Bears play on Boxing Day. It will feel like a punch in the face right after Christmas.