Sammy Sosa Biography

1968-

Dominican baseball player

Relatively unknown outside Chicago, Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa burst upon the national scene with a vengeance during the summer of 1998, as he battled

Sammy Sosa

Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals for the single-season home run record. Although McGwire eventually won the competition, besting Roger Maris's 1961 record of 61 homers by nine for a new record of 70 home runs in a single season, Sosa finished not far behind with 66 homers. In the process Sosa endeared himself to millions of baseball fans in the United States and abroad and proved himself one of the game's most productive power hitters. As if to prove that his headline-grabbing performance in 1998 was no mere fluke, Sosa knocked in 63 home runs in 1999 and 64 in 2001. Long after he leaves major league baseball, Sosa will be fondly remembered not only for his achievements on the field but for the classy and sportsmanlike way in which he and McGwire conducted their 1998 battle for the record.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY SOSA:

(With Marcos Breton) Sosa: An Autobiography, Warner Books, 2000.