How Sammy Sosa Lost It All

Try Rocket Money for free: https://RocketMoney.com/baseballhistorian #RocketMoney #personalfinance _____________________________ Who is Sammy Sosa? That should be an easy question to answer. Sammy Sosa was a baseball player. He was also an MVP, a 30/30 hitter, and the only person in Chicago Cubs history with more than 600 home runs. But he’s more than that. To some, Sosa helped breathe life back into baseball following the 1994 strike. To others, he’s a pariah; the face of the biggest scandal to rock the game in a century. Sosa’s legacy is complicated. His prime seasons are among the best ever, while simultaneously being undercut by years of cheating. The result is one of the most controversial, divisive, and often downright bizarre careers in the history of sports. So I ask again. Who is Sammy Sosa? _____________________________ BUSINESS INQUIRIES [email protected] _____________________________ SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: @BaseballHSTRN _____________________________ SOURCES Baseball Reference Fangraphs SABR Bio Project https://fansided.com/2022/06/24/frank-thomas-explains-white-sox-traded-sammy-sosa-crosstown-cubs/ https://www.insidehook.com/sports/sammy-sosa-legacy-long-gone-summer https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2018/1/15/16891760/sammy-sosa-tom-ricketts-cubs-convention https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2007/2/16/92432/1541 https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/06/07/sammy-sosa-drew-an-eight-game-suspension-from/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/10/10/who-is-julian-martinez-the-mystery-of-the-chicago-cubs-no-80/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/06/09/final-game-not-1st-time-sosa-left-clubhouse-early/ https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=1896675 https://www.espn.com/espnmag/story?id=3775936 https://www.denverpost.com/2007/12/13/a-timeline-of-steroids-in-baseball/ https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/sports/baseball/17doping.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/03/15/chicago-cubs-sammy-sosa/ https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/10/sports/baseball-also-king-of-ratings-and-the-t-shirts.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/2020/06/10/sammy-sosa-vs-mark-mcgwire-a-game-by-game-and-home-run-by-home-run-timeline-of-their-race-in-1998/ https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jul-19-sp-5077-story.html https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Sosa_Sammy.html https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2001/02/23/hey-sammy-be-a-dude-and-pay-the-man/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/06/29/sosa-has-unbridled-talent/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/09/20/upward-nobility/ https://www.courant.com/1998/08/30/sosa-in-right-for-the-red-sox-almost-happened/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/02/02/sosa-talking-with-the-red-sox/ https://vault.si.com/vault/1998/06/29/the-education-of-sammy-sosa-having-learned-that-his-personal-goals-and-those-of-the-team-can-be-reached-with-a-single-stroke-the-cubs-slugger-produced-the-greatest-home-run-streak-the-game-has-ever-seen https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/05/13/cubs-toeing-the-line-on-sosas-recovery/ https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Sammy_Sosa _____________________________ MUSIC "Prelude No. 15" - Chris Zabriskie "Funk Game Loop" by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ "Above and Beyond" - Silent Partner "Not For Nothing" - Otis McDonald "Corncob - Country" by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ "Sunset Strip" by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ "Heaven and Hell" - Jeremy Blake "Friction Looks" - Silent Partner "Star of the Night" - Pip Mondy "Cantina Blues" - Kevin MacLeod "Danger Snow" - Dan Henig "Enemy Ships" by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ "Like That" - Anno Domini Beats "From Russia With Love" - Huma-Huma "Sneaking Up" by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ _____________________________ TIMESTAMPS 0:00​ - 0:52 Who was Sammy Sosa? 0:53 - 1:49 Sammy's Childhood 1:50 - 5:09 Growing Pains 5:10 - 7:11 What is Rocket Money? 7:12 - 8:27 The White Sox 8:28 - 12:43 Breaking Out 12:44 - 16:17 1998 16:18 - 20:57 The Cracks 20:58 - 24:15 Sammy Goes Before Congress 24:16 - 26:53 The End(?)