Sammy Sosa

Just shy of his 18th birthday, Sosa in 1986 left the Dominican Republic and came to Sarasota, Florida, to make his professional debut with a minor league team in the Gulf Coast League. He spoke little or no English, but he had no trouble being understood on the diamond. In his first year, he led the league with 19 doubles and a total of 96 bases. In 1987 he moved to a Class A team in nearby Port Charlotte, where he led the Florida State League with 12 triples and 42 stolen bases. The following year, Sosa played for the Texas Rangers' Class AA club in Tulsa. At the age of 20, he made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers on June 16, 1989. Barely six weeks later, Sosa was traded by the Rangers to the Chicago White Sox. In 1990, his first year as a regular with the White Sox, he hit 15 home runs and stole 32 bases, posting a batting average of .233. He also became the only player in the American League to reach double digits in doubles, triples, home runs, and stolen bases.

Sosa's second season with the White Sox proved a bit of a comedown from 1990. His batting average slipped to .203, and his home run total slipped by a third to 10 in 1991. Sosa's RBI total also slipped significantly, down to 33 from 70 in 1990. He was traded by the White Sox to the Chicago Cubs on March 30, 1992, but his first season with the Cubs was marred by a hand injury that kept him sidelined for nearly half of the season. In the 67 games he did take the field, however, he managed to compile a batting average of .260. He bounced back dramatically in 1993, hitting 33 home runs and stealing 36 bases, becoming the first player in Cubs history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a single season.