Sammy Sosa – Home Run Icon
Samuel Peralta “Sammy” Sosa began his professional baseball career with the Texas Rangers on June 16, 1989. Midway through the season, the Texas Rangers traded Sammy to the Chicago White Soxs. Sammy played for the White Sox for 2 years, just before the 1992 season started he was traded again to another team, the Chicago Cubs. It was with the Cubs team that Sammy Sosa became a national baseball figure and known as one of the best baseball players.
In the 1998 baseball season, Sammy Sosa hit 66 home runs which surpassed Rodger Maris’ record of 61 home runs. Later in the season, another baseball great by the name of Mark McGwire surpassed Sammy’s record by hitting 70 home runs. Sammy also holds the distinction of having the most bases in a single season with 416 total bases. It should be noted that Stan Musial still holds the record for 429 bases in a single season from 1948.
The 1998 baseball season was Sammy’s best year of his career. In June of ’98 he hit 20 home runs and won 47 runs and had a batting average of .842. This was one of the most impressive performances in Major League Baseball. The 1998 Sports Illustrated magazine named Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire Sportsperson of the Year. The 1998 season was undoubtedly an exciting time for baseball fans.
In 1999, Sosa hit 63 home runs, but he was still behind McGwire, who hit 65 that season. In the 2000 season, Sammy finally made the list for most home runs in a single season with 50. In the 2001 season, Sosa once again broke the 60 home run barrier with 64 home runs. He was the first player to have 60+ home runs in 3 single seasons. Sosa’s professional achievements are as follows; he was selected to the All-Star Game 7 times, received the Silver Slugger Award 6 times and was the NL MVP in 1998. He also received the Roberto Clemente Award in 1998 and the NL Hank Aaron Award in 1999. In 2000 he became at the Home Run. Derby winner. His career stats are impressive with 609 home runs, 2408 hits with 1667 runs batted in and a .273 batting average.
His last game as a Major League player was on September 27, 2007 with the Texas Rangers. In 2008 he took the season off and in 2009 he tried unsuccessfully to get a spot on the Dominican Republic team to play in the World Baseball Classic. Sammy Sosa officially retired in 2009.
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