Sammy sosa biography summary

The former slugger has impressive career statistics, but his alleged drug use will be a stumbling block for most voters. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Aaron Judge. Willie Mays. Deion Sanders. Jackie Robinson. Derek Jeter.

Sammy sosa biography summary

Lou Gehrig. Yogi Berra. Controversies and Later Career Sosa remained a strong hitter for the next six seasons with the Cubs, but he started to encounter some problems in His generosity to her and his siblings set a pattern over his extraordinarily lucrative career. In Sosa traveled to winter training camp in Sarasota, Florida, his introduction to life and sports in the United States.

Although he spoke no English, his career flourished immediately as he led the Gulf Coast League in doubles. When the Chicago White Sox traded Sammy Sosa to their crosstown rival Cubs for George Bell in March of , their young prospect had never hit more than fifteen home runs in a season at any level. As a youngster in the Dominican Republic, he and his friends used tree branches as bats and milk cartons to field ground balls.

To earn money, the young Sosa sold orange juice and shined shoes. Years later, former Rangers owner George W. In little more than two seasons with Chicago, Sosa never developed into a great hitter, but played a key role on the worst-to-almost-first White Sox of That season he was the only American League player to reach double-digits in doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases, but he batted just.

Problems dogged Sosa off the field as well. That winter, he was accused of viciously beating his wife after she refused to grant him a divorce. Frustrated by another subpar performance in , the White Sox had no hesitation in sending Sosa to the crosstown Cubs before the season. Limited to 67 games with the Cubs his first year he fractured both his right hand and left ankle during the course of the season Sosa began paying big dividends for Chicago in Suddenly emerging as a power threat, he more than doubled his career high for home runs, slamming His attorney testified on his behalf, [ 28 ] stating, "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything. I have not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic. I have been tested as recently as , and I am clean. On December 19, , Sosa released a somewhat ambiguous public statement through his PR firm, stating, "There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over games.

I never broke any laws, but in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize. Ricketts responded with a statement of his own, inviting Sosa to the Cubs Convention: "We appreciate Sammy releasing his statement and for reaching out. No one played harder or wanted to win more…We plan on inviting him to the Cubs Convention and, while it is short notice, we hope that he can attend.

We are all ready to move forward together. In the following years, his voting percentage dropped as low as 6. A candidate remains eligible for inclusion on subsequent ballots as long as he receives a minimum of 5. In , Sosa appeared at a music awards show looking much lighter in complexion than he had just months earlier. The buzz around this drastic change prompted him to go on a Spanish-language television station to deny that he was ill, or that he hated being dark-skinned, or that his new skin tone was the result of steroid use.

Sosa explained that he uses a bleaching cream before going to bed that softens and lightens his skin. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Dominican baseball player born In this Spanish name , the first or paternal surname is Peralta and the second or maternal family name is Sosa.

Baseball player. Early life [ edit ]. Professional career [ edit ]. This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous.

Texas Rangers [ edit ]. Chicago White Sox — [ edit ]. Chicago Cubs — [ edit ]. Baltimore Orioles [ edit ]. Year off [ edit ]. End of career — [ edit ]. Drug test controversy [ edit ]. Further information: Doping in baseball. National Baseball Hall of Fame consideration [ edit ]. Personal life [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. Notes [ edit ]. References [ edit ].

Major League Baseball. Retrieved June 18, Accessed June 5, Sosa: An Autobiography. Time Warner. ISBN Archived from the original on January 24, Retrieved January 23, — via www. The New York Times. July 30, January 3, Chicago Sun-Times.