Sammy Sosa (RF), ChC

SAMMY SOSA - CHICAGO CUBS

Right Field
Age: 33 (November 12, 1968)
Height: 6-0 Weight: 220
Throws: Right Bats: Right



History

Samuel Peralta Sosa was born on November 12th, 1968, in San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic. Sosa is the fifth of seven children who grew up in a poverty stricken home. His father, Juan Montero, a farmer, passed away when Sosa was only seven, so he had to spend a lot of time selling orange juice for 10 cents and shining shoes for 25 cents in the streets to help his mother, Lucrecia, maintain the family. Sosa’s mother delivered food to workers in textile factories for a living. Later, Sosa and his brother worked as janitors in a shoe factory. He, his mother and his siblings lived in a two room residence that was actually an abandoned public hospital.

Sosa is a classic example of how a poor man from a poor country can turn his life, and the life of his family, around. In San Pedro de Macoris, Sosa couldn't afford a bat and a glove, so like many kids in Latin American countries, he made a glove out of milk cartons, a bat out of a tree branch and a ball made of a rolled up sock with tape around it. Anything was done to play baseball.

At first, Sosa wasn't even interested in the game of baseball. His first love was boxing. It was his brother, Juan, that later convinced him to try playing baseball at the age of 14.

Interest in signing Sosa came quickly. In 1984, he signed on with the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 15, but the deal was nullified by baseball officials because at the time, he was under the age of 16. But in 1985, professional scout Omar Minaya of the Texas Rangers, invited Sosa to a tryout in Puerto Plata, a five-hour bus ride away. Sosa's raw potential impressed the scout. Minaya signed Sosa for $3,500. He bought himself his first bicycle and gave the rest of the money to his mother.

The Talent

In April of 1986, Sosa made his professional debut at Gulf Coast (Rookie) and ended up leading the Gulf Coast League in doubles (19) and total bases (96). In 1987, he batted .279 with 11 HR, 22 SB and a club-high 73 runs scored at low Class A Gastonia and made the South Atlantic League All-Star team. And in 1988, Sosa spent the season at high Class A Charlotte and led the Florida State League with 12 triples while stealing a career-high 42 bases.

Changes came fast and furious in 1989. With a .297 batting average, seven HRs, 31 RBI and 16 steals in 66 games at Double-A Tulsa, Sosa was promoted to the Rangers. At 20 years, seven months, Sosa becomes the youngest Dominican to suit up in the majors. He goes 2-for-4 with a double against the New York Yankees in his first game. Sosa hits .238 in 25 games with Texas and receives a return ticket to the minors. He homered off Roger Clemens and had four hits in one game, but also struck out 20 times and didn't draw a walk or steal a base in his brief stay.

Sosa barely unpacked his bags at Triple-A Oklahoma City when Texas ships him, along with pitcher Wilson Alvarez and second baseman Scott Fletcher, to the Chicago White Sox for slugger Harold Baines and infielder Fred Manrique. On Aug. 22, after three more weeks in the minors, Sosa makes an auspicious Chicago debut. He goes 3-for-3 with a two-run homer in his first game in right field for the White Sox.

Sosa played his first full major league season in 1990. He had a solid start with 15 home runs, 70 runs batted in, and 32 stolen bases, and was the only American Leaguer to reach double figures in doubles (26), triples (10), home runs and stolen bases. And now, thanks to his major league salary, Sosa's family moved from the abandoned hospital into a real house in San Pedro de Macoris. It boasts a small television and, for the first time, the family purchases a telephone.

Sosa struggled in 1991, batting only .203 with 10 home runs and 33 RBI in 116 games. The White Sox gave up on the young slugger and traded him before the 1992 season, along with pitcher Ken Patterson, to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder George Bell. The player the Cubs received was still learning to play the game.

It was not until 1993 that Sosa arrived as an everyday player for the Cubs. He became the first player in Cubs' history to both hit more than 30 home runs (33) and steal more than 30 bases (36). Over the next four years Sosa established himself as a solid but unspectacular major league player. In the strike-shorten 1994 season, Sosa led his team in batting average (.300), home runs (25), RBI (70), runs (59), triples (6) and steals (22). The 1995 season was shortened to 144 games, but Sosa still hit 36 home runs, drove in 119 runs (both second in the National League), stole 34 bases (seventh in the National League), and made his first All-Star Game appearance. Sosa won the Silver Slugger Award as one of the three best-hitting outfielders in the National League.

Sosa challenged for the National League lead in home runs in 1996, but he suffered a broken right wrist when he was hit by a pitch in August. At the time of the injury he led the league with 40 home runs and had driven in 100 runs. The injury ended Sosa's consecutive game playing streak at 304, the third longest current streak in the major leagues.

In June 1997 the Cubs decided to lock-up their slugger to a four-year, $42.5 million contract. Sosa finished 1997 with a .251 average, 36 home runs (seventh in the National League), 119 RBI (sixth in the National League), and 22 stolen bases.

Before the 1998 season Sosa dedicated himself to improving his own play. Despite being one of the leaders in home runs in the National League for several years, he had been chosen for only one All-Star Game. In 1997 Sosa led the league in strikeouts with 174, a new franchise record, and his lifetime batting average was only .257. The right-fielder had one of the strongest arms in the league, but he had never worked to improve his defense. Many critics claimed that Sosa cared more about his personal statistics than doing the little things necessary to help the Cubs win. Chicago hitting coach Jeff Pentland convinced Sosa to slow down his swing, cut down on his strikeouts by taking more pitches and hitting more to the opposite field. During the off-season Sosa also was determined to be more of a team player.

Armed with an improved swing and new attitude, Sosa put together one of the most remarkable months in major league history. From May 25 through June 21, he hit 21 home runs in 22 games. Then, in a game against the Detroit Tigers, Sosa broke the major league record for home runs in a month when he hit his 19th during June. Sosa finished June with 20 home runs and reached the All-Star break with 33 for the season.

Sosa's hot streak suddenly propelled him into the race to break the single-season home run record of 61 set by Roger Maris. He joined Mark McGwire as the only two players in National League history to hit 30 home runs before July 1. Sosa laughed when compared to the big first baseman. "I'm not Mark McGwire," he explained. "Mark McGwire is the man. Mark McGwire is in a different world. He's my idol. He's the man. This is a beautiful country. God bless America. I am the man in my country. Mark [McGwire] is the man in the United States."

Despite the fact that Sosa finished second to McGwire with 66 home runs in 1998, his final statistics made the Chicago slugger the favorite to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award. He finished the year with career bests in batting average (.308), RBI (158), runs scored (132, both first in the major leagues), and hits (198, tied for fifth in the National League).

In 1999, Sosa was voted to the All-Star Game with the most votes in the NL. On Aug. 21st, he hit HR No. 50 which enabled him to reach the half-century mark for the 2nd time in his career & became the 4th player in MLB history to reach the mark in back-to-back seasons, joining Ruth, Griffey & McGwire. Sosa ended the season just two home runs behind McGwire (63-65), in addition to batting .288 with 114 RS, 24 2B and 141 RBI.

The 2000 season was full of more accomplishments. Sosa was honored at the 2000 Hispanic Heritage Awards. He received the award for his Humanitarian Efforts and for his Baseball achievements. Just a few of those humanitarian efforts include creating the Sammy Sosa Foundation in 1998 to raise funds for underprivileged children in both Chicago and the Dominican Republic; in 1999, the Foundation opened the Sammy Sosa Children's Medical Center for Preventive Medicine in San Pedro de Macoris; contributes more than $500,000 a year to the schools in the Dominican Republic; built a shopping center in his hometown that employs 200 people; Sosa's foundation, following a devastating hurricane, raised $700,000 for his country and helped several other Latin American countries with food and money through their moments of crisis.and a dozen or so more.

In spring training, new Cubs manager Don Baylor made it known that he wanted the slugger to steal more and play better defense. The bulked-up Sosa answered the call, losing 15-20 pounds of excess muscle and became an even leaner playing machine. While it didn’t result in an increase in stolen bases, his baserunning did improve, and he worked tirelessly on his defense, improving his fielding percentage from .970 to career highs of .982 and .983 the last two seasons.

Sosa also responded by hitting a career-high .320, driving in 138 RBI, and slamming 50 HR, joining McGwire as the only other player to have three consecutive years of 50 HR. He hit his 1,500th career hit and his 350th career HR, passing Joe DiMaggio on the all time HR list, and became the first Cub to have six consecutive 100-RBI seasons.

2001 Season

Sosa's unforgettable 1998 season was more memorable, but his 2001 campaign just might have been more valuable. In fact, if Barry Bonds hadn't simultaneously put together one of the greatest seasons of all time, Sosa might have captured another MVP award last year (and should have, but that’s another debate for another time). Despite having little protection behind him for most of the season, with his 64 HR Sosa joined Babe Ruth and McGwire as the only players to have four 50 home run seasons, and he became the first player in baseball history to have three 60+ home run seasons (98, 99, 01).

Other home run marks he set included having hit his 400th and 450th career home runs; became the 15th player in baseball history to hit three homers in a game twice in one season; and became the first player in major-league history to hit three home runs in a game, three times in the same season.

His 160 RBI were 94 more than the next-highest total on the team as he led the majors. It also gave him the 3rd highest RBI total in NL history and the 2nd best in Cubs history behind the all-time leader Hack Wilson's 191 RBIs. And with his career-best 425 total bases, he surpassed Hack Wilson for the top single-season total in Cubs history, became the sixth player in MLB history to reach 400 total bases in multiple seasons, and his combined four-year total 1,621 total bases over the last four seasons is the highest total in MLB history.

2002 Outlook

Sosa's patience continued to grow last year as he set a new personal high in bases on balls for the fourth straight year. He no longer fishes for sliders in the dirt in the way he once did, and there simply is no safe way to pitch to him any more. He uses the whole field and is quite capable of reaching the seats in any part of the ballpark. No pitcher wants to leave a knee-high fastball over the plate to him.

A full season of Fred McGriff and the addition of Moises Alou gives hope to unreal numbers by Sosa in 2002 as the Cubs have one of the best 3-4-5 hitters in baseball.

The Results

Well, it hasn’t quite worked out that way. Alou has been virtually non-existent, and McGriff got off to a slow start. But as McGriff warmed up, so did Sosa. Another 60-HR season won’t happen, but he’s on his way to yet another .300-50-130 season.

The Projection

Ya gotta love him. Just ride the wave, because there is not a more consistently successful hitter in the game today.

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Jeff Brown
Cubs & Rockies Correspondent