Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa is a former Major League Baseball right fielder. His baseball talents were noticed early and the Philadelphia Phillies tried to sign him in 1983 but he was too young. He was only 15. He signed with the Texas Rangers in 1985 and played in minor league baseball until breaking into the majors in June of 1989. Five days later, he scored his first Major League home run. A month later, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox.

In 1992, Sosa was traded to the Chicago Cubs. His play really began to pick up and by 1998, he was named the 1998 National League Most Valuable Player. His stats were impressive, having 416 total bases for that season and a .842 slugging percentage. That year, 1998, Sosa and Mark McGwire battled to break Roger Maris' single season home run record of 61. Both men passed it, however McGwire belted 70 home runs in the season, and Sosa had 66.

By 2003, it seemed that Sosa's glory years were over. He had been disabled early in the year and then in June, 2003 he was ejected from a game for using a corked bat. He claimed that he only used that bat during practice and that it was a mistake, even though the use of a corked bats is prohibited by Major League Baseball, even in practice sessions. After checking his other bats and those already in the Hall of Fame, no other corked bats were found. He was suspended for seven games. It was later reported that he had tested positive for steroid use in 2003.

In January, 2005 Sosa was traded to the Baltimore Orioles. He sat out the 2006 season and played the 2007season with the Texas Rangers, his last major league season.http://www.sammysosa.info/biography/

Sosa will be eligible for induction into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2013.

In their careers, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire have shared a number of experiences, from the battle to break Roger Maris' one season home record, and sharing the 1998 Sports Illustrated Sportsmen of the Year Award]] to testifying in a 2005 Congressional hearing about steroid use in MLB.

McGwire had been retired from baseball since 2001 and refused to answer any questions about his use of steroids during the 1998 season. Sosa, however, was still on the MLB Baltimore Orioles payroll and testified through his attorney that he had never used steroids.

In 2009, the New York Times reported that Sosa had tested positive for steroids in 2003, the same year as the bat incident. The Sosa camp declined comment.

The combination of the steroid investigation and the corked bat incident tarnished Sosa's reputation.

He missed most of the 2004 season because of a back injury caused by a sneeze. He returned to the roster, but in the last game of the season, he walked off the field early, never to return. But even though some of his greatest accomplishments came while he played for Chicago, his last two years with them, 2003 and 04, all but destroyed everything he had accomplished with the team since 1997.

Sosa sat out the 2006 season, but returned in 2007 to play for the Texas Rangers. It was to be his final season in Major League Baseball. He added 29 home runs to his stats and another 92 RBI's in his position as designated hitter and occasional right fielder.

That season, Chicago made it clear that Sosa's number (#21) would not be retired in the near future after they assigned it to Jason Marquis even though Sosa was the Cubs' all-time home run leader. Ironically, In 2007, Sosa hit his 600th regular season homer off Jason Marquis and the Chicago Cubs to become only the fifth player ever to hit that mark. He stood in the company of baseball greats, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds, quite a formidable line-up in this feat.http://bleacherreport.com/articles/167846-sammy-sosas-number-21-to-retire-or-not-to-retire

On June 3, 2009, Sosa announced that he would soon be announcing his retirement, but he never officially retired.

In May of 2010, reporters felt it necessary to comment about Sosa's skin color being back to normal after sitings at the Latin Grammys raised questions as to whether Sosa had lightened his skin, ala Michael Jackson. Sosa explained that it was a mistake and had used the cream by mistake.http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/05/sammy-sosa-goes-back-to-basic-black/1

The debate whether Sosa should be inducted into the Hall of Fame will continue. Arguments against him say that his behavior as a prima donna was not that of a Hall of Famer. And as long as Mark McGwire is not inducted, Sammy Sosa shouldn't be either.

The other side contends that his numbers do all of the talking and merit him a place. It's not a popularity contest, it's a matter of baseball accomplishments and records.

• November 12, 1968: Born

• 1989: Debuts with Texas Rangers then traded to Chicago White Sox

• 1992: Traded to the Chicago Cubs

• 1998: National League Most Valuable Player

• 1999: National League Hank Aaron Award

• 2000: National League Home Run Champion

• 2002: National League Home Run Champion

• 2005: Appeared in front of House Government Reform Committee and denied ever using steroids

• 2005: Traded to Baltimore Orioles

• 2006: Unsigned as free agent, he sits out season in quasi-retirement

• 2007: Signs with Texas Rangers

• 2007: Hits 600 regular season home run against the Chicago White Sox

• 2009: Announces that he will be announcing his retirement