Sammy Sosa - Biography

Last Editor: greendayfanclub				Sammy Sosa Biography -   Name : Sammy Sosa Profession : Baseball player Birth Details : born November 12, 1968 in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic Birth name : Samuel Peralta Sosa Height : 6' (1.83 m) Nickname : Slammin' Sammy Spouse : Sonia Sosa (1992 - present) 4 children Karen Lee Bright (1990 - 1991) (divorced)

Sammy Sosa Trivia -

Won the 1998 National League Most Value Player award. Made major league debut on June 16, 1989. To help his native Dominican Republic, Sosa auctioned of his 62nd home run ball from the 1998 season. Also, when he's not home in the Dominican, he lives in the same building as Oprah Winfrey. Hit first major league home run off Boston's Roger Clemens as a member of the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park in 1989. Became the third major league player to have 4 seasons with 50 or more home runs and the second to have 4 consecutive seasons with 50 or more home runs in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field on Sunday, August 26, 2001. Traded by the Chicago White Sox with Ken Patterson to the Chicago Cubs for George Bell on March 30, 1992. The 5th of 7 children. Has four kids, Keysha, Kenia, Sammy Jr. and Michael. Ejected when umpires found cork in his bat after Sosa's bat broke when he hit a grounder to second in the 1st inning against Tampa Bay. Because cork inside a bat is thought to help players hit the ball further, it is against baseball rules. (3 June 2003) Father died of a brain hemorrhage when Sammy was just six years old. In September of 2004, he was dropped to 6th in the Chicago Cubs' batting order. It marked the first time he had been in that spot since 1994. In the late 80s to the mid 90s - he played for The Tulsa Drillers Baseball Team in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Sammy Sosa Detailed Biography -

Samuel Sosa Peralta (born November 12, 1968 in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is a right fielder in Major League Baseball in free agency. He has formerly played for the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles. He ended the 2005 season with 588 career home runs, placing him fifth on the major leagues' all-time home run list. Sosa's family was very poor and he grew up in an abandoned hospital. As a child, he shined shoes to help support his mother and six siblings. He started playing baseball at 14, a fairly old age for baseball, after he decided to quit boxing at his mother's behest. Sosa sometimes used a folded milk carton as a glove, since he could not afford a real one. The Philadelphia Phillies attempted to sign him at age 15, but this deal was not allowed by Major League Baseball because of a rule making the minimum age for contracts between major league teams and players 16. After turning 16, he signed with the Texas Rangers in 1985. He made his major league debut on June 16, 1989 with the Rangers, who traded him to the Chicago White Sox along with Wilson Alvarez in exchange for Harold Baines and Fred Manrique later that same season (a move that U.S. President George W. Bush, then the Rangers' managing general partner, later joked was the biggest mistake he ever made). After a promising 1990 season in which he hit 15 home runs and collected 70 RBI as a full-time player, in 1991 his production fell and Sosa was relegated to the minor leagues for a time. Prior to the start of the 1992 season, Sosa was again traded. This time he was sent packing across town to the Cubs along with reliever Ken Patterson in exchange for slugger and fellow San Pedro de Macorís native George Bell. Many at the time thought the Cubs had been swindled by the White Sox in the trade, including a vocal George Bell, who said he was insulted at being traded for a player as unproven as Sosa. Larry Himes, who had been the general manager of the White Sox when they acquired Sosa, was now the general manager of the Cubs, and having traded for him a second time, defended his view that Sosa would turn out to be an outstanding player. Sosa spent the 1992 season in centerfield for the Cubs, but spent more than half the season on the disabled list with a broken wrist from being hit by a pitch and a sore shoulder. In 1993 Sosa finally started to show the talent that scouts and fans alike had seen glimpses of for years. Sosa finished with 33 home runs and 36 stolen bases, the first Cub to join the exclusive 30-30 club. Sosa followed with another solid campaign in the strike-shortened season of 1994. During the strike, Sosa supposedly agreed to a free agent contract with the Boston Red Sox, but Major League Baseball decided not to allow any contract negotiations between players and teams during the strike. By the time the strike had been settled, Sosa had had a change of heart and decided to stay with the Cubs. Sosa once again reached the 30-30 plateau in 1995, and made his first All-Star team. In 1996, Sosa was leading the National League in home runs with 40 when he was hit by a pitch, breaking his wrist and effectively ending his season. Sosa had trouble rebounding from his broken wrist during the 1997 season. A late-season surge rose his batting average to a mildly disappointing .251, but the Cubs were well on their way to a last place finish by then. During his subpar 1997 season, Sosa agreed to a contract extension with the Cubs that made him one of baseball's highest-paid players. Many experts felt that this was a mistake, since Sosa in their views did not possess the talent to merit such a contract.