Sammy Sosa is a former Dominican professional baseball player, who played as a right fielder. He is known to be the only player who has hit home runs of sixty or more three times in one season.
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Personal life
Sammy Sosa was born as Samuel Kelvin Peralta Sosa in San Pedro de Macoris, the Dominican Republic on 12th November 1968. He was named Samuel by his grandmother from his mother’s side.
When Sosa was only 7 years old, his father passed away and he began supporting his family doing small jobs. In 1986, he got an opportunity to go to the United States and play baseball for a Florida based minor league team. In 1992, Sosa married Sonia Rodriguez, a dancer on the Dominican television. The couple is blessed with six children: Kenia, Keysha, Kalexy, Sammy Jr, Michael and Ronaldo.
During the course of his long and successful baseball career, he has been frequently accused of usage of drugs to enhance his performance. In 2009, when he appeared on TV with a lighter skin tone than his original complexion he was heavily criticized by the Latino community, he came on a Spanish show to explain the reason for the sudden change.
Career
Three years after he played for the Florida based minor league, on 16th June 1989, he played for The Texas Rangers which was his major league debut. He started off as the starting left fielder wearing jersey number 17. In less than a month he was traded off to the Chicago White Sox.
In his first season with the team, he made 15 home runs. He also holds the record for the fourth highest strikeout in the American League history. In 1992, Sosa was further traded to the Chicago Cubs for George Bell, the outfielder.
In 1995, he was added to his 1st All-Star team. Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire caught national attention when they both set off to overthrow Roger Maris’s exceptional record of scoring 61 home runs in just a single season. McGwire made 70 home runs and Sosa 66 in that season. Both McGwire and Saso shared he ‘Sportsman of the Year’ award given by Sports Illustrated.
In 1998, Sosa was given the title of the National League Most Valuable Player Award. He was celebrated with a parade in New York City to honor his big win. Baltimore Orioles was Saso’s team from 2005 to 2006.
In 2006 he took a year off. The following year Sosa signed with his original team The Texas Rangers for a minor league game as an occasional right fielder and hitter. After many announcements of retirement, finally in 2009 Sosa retired from the baseball league, he announced the news in the Dominican Republic. He had said then that he was looking forward to seeing his name in the Baseball Hall of Fame, given his exceptional career record. Sosa has not yet been able to make it to Hall of Fame due to the performance-enhancing drug scandals that raised during his career.
Last Modified: Mar 6, 2020
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