There may not be a person more excited about the exit of Sammy Sosa -- or, to be more precise -- the exit of Sammy Sosa's boombox -- than the Chicago Tribune's Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan. Last July, Sullivan wrote an article on "six things the Cubs need to vault over St. Louis and into the [World] Series." One of his suggestions -- literally -- was turning down the volume of the clubhouse music, Sosa being a chief culprit of the loudness.

Now, in an article in Wednesday's Trib ("Team's house is cleaner, quieter," 2/16/2005) on how things expect to be calmer this year, Sullivan writes:

The focus this spring will be on something other than Sammy Sosa for the first time since 1999, the year after his 66-home run season. It figures to be a refreshing change to many in the clubhouse because Sosa's habit of forcing his music on everyone else probably did more to damage the "team" concept than Sosa's final-game exit. At the very least, general manager Jim Hendry's trade of Sosa should mean a calmer, more peaceful clubhouse.

Translation: the trade of Sosa should mean a better working environment for Sullivan (not that I don't sympathize).