Sammy Sosa

Samuel Sosa Montero (born November 12, 1968 in San Pedro de MacorÐ"­s, Dominican Republic) is a designated hitter and right fielder in Major League Baseball and is currently a free agent.

Sosa's Major League career began when he broke in with the Texas Rangers in 1989. In the intervening years, he has played for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles.[1] He ended the 2005 season with 588 career home runs, placing him fifth on the all-time home run list. In early 2007, however, he signed with the Rangers in a comeback attempt and made the team as its designated hitter. While playing for the Rangers on June 20th, 2007 against the Cubs, his former team, Sosa hit his 600th home run, becoming the 5th player in professional baseball to achieve that mark. He is also the all-time home run leader among foreign-born Major League Baseball players.

Sosa's alleged involvement in the era of Major League Baseball's steroid scandal has negatively impacted his reputation. The 2007 Mitchell Report did not name Sosa in its list of players identified in the course of the investigation, although Sosa was mentioned in a related affidavit by Federal Agent Jeff Novitzky dealing with the use of amphetamines.[2]

Sosa wears number 21 in honor of his childhood hero, Roberto Clemente.

Sosa is known to family and friends as "Mikey". His maternal grandmother, who had suggested his birth name of Samuel, also came up with his nickname: "[She] heard the name on a soap opera she liked and decided from that moment on I would be Mikey."[3]

Although his officially registered birthplace is San Pedro de MacorÐ"­s, Sosa was actually born in Consuelo. San Pedro de MacorÐ"­s was "the largest town nearby." Both Consuelo and San Pedro de MacorÐ"­s are in San Pedro de MacorÐ"­s Province.[4]

After years as a respected power/speed threat with a rocket arm in right field, he emerged during the 1998 season as one of baseball's greatest. It was in this season that both Sosa and Mark McGwire passed Roger Maris's single season home run mark of 61 home runs that had stood since 1961. Sosa ended the season with 66, behind McGwire's 70. His 416 total bases were the most in a single season since Stan Musial's 429 in 1948. Sosa won the National League Most Valuable Player Award for leading the Cubs into the playoffs in 1998, earning every first-place vote except for the two cast by St. Louis writers, who voted for McGwire. He and McGwire shared Sports Illustrated magazine's 1998 "Sportsman of the Year" award. Sosa was honored with a ticker-tape parade in his honor in New York City, and he was invited to be a guest at US President Bill Clinton's 1999 State of the Union Address. 1998 was also the first time the Cubs made the post-season since 1989. The Cubs qualified as the NL Wild Card team, but were swept by the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

The following season Sosa hit 63 home runs, again trailing Mark McGwire who hit 65. Sosa, already a home run legend, finally led the league by hitting 50 home runs in the 2000 season.

Sammy tells the bleacher bums "Two Outs!!" in 2003

Sammy tells the bleacher bums "Two Outs!!" in 2003

In 2001 he hit 64 home runs, becoming the first player to hit 60 home runs in three seasons in his career. However, he did not lead the league in any of those seasons; in 2001, he finished behind Barry Bonds, who hit 73 homers, breaking the single-season HR record set by McGwire in 1998 (70). In the same season he set personal records in runs scored (146), RBIs