Sammy Sosa Stats

Sammy Sosa was born on Tuesday, November 12, 1968, in San Pedro de Macorís, San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic. Sosa was 20 years old when he broke into the big leagues on June 16, 1989, with the Texas Rangers. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Sammy Sosa baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Playing in the afternoon with the sun shining, it's like playing in heaven." - Sosa, Sammy. All the Babe's Men: Baseball's Greatest Home Run Seasons and How They Changed America. Ham, Eldon L. Author. Potomac Books. 1 March 2013.

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa Autograph on a 1996 Fleer Baseball Card (#U242)

Sammy Sosa Autograph on a 1996 Fleer Baseball Card (#U242)

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Birth Name:   Samuel Peralta Sosa
Nickname:   Sammy or Slammin' Sammy
Born On:   11-12-1968  (Scorpio)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   San Pedro de Macorís, San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
Year of Death Data Died On:   Still Living (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Still Living
Cemetery:   n/a
High School:   San Pedro de Marcoris Escuela (San Pedro de Marcoris, DR)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-00   Player Weight Chart Weight:   225
First Game:   06-16-1989 (Age 20)
Last Game:   09-29-2007
Draft:   Undrafted Free Agent / Signing Bonus = $3,500

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa Hitting Stats

1989 21 Rangers 25 84 8 20 3 0 1 0 3 0 0 20 4 0 0 3 .238 .238 .310
1989 21 White Sox 33 99 19 27 5 0 3 0 10 11 2 27 1 2 2 3 .273 .351 .414
1990 22 White Sox 153 532 72 124 26 10 15 0 70 33 4 150 2 6 6 10 .233 .282 .404
1991 23 White Sox 116 316 39 64 10 1 10 0 33 14 2 98 5 1 2 5 .203 .240 .335
1992 24 Cubs 67 262 41 68 7 2 8 0 25 19 1 63 4 2 4 4 .260 .317 .393
1993 25 Cubs 159 598 92 156 25 5 33 0 93 38 6 135 0 1 4 14 .261 .309 .485
1994 26 Cubs 105 426 59 128 17 6 25 0 70 25 1 92 1 4 2 7 .300 .339 .545
1995 27 Cubs 144 564 89 151 17 3 36 0 119 58 11 134 0 2 5 8 .268 .340 .500
1996 28 Cubs 124 498 84 136 21 2 40 0 100 34 6 134 0 4 5 14 .273 .323 .564
1997 29 Cubs 162 642 90 161 31 4 36 0 119 45 9 174 0 5 2 16 .251 .300 .480
1998 30 Cubs 159 643 134 198 20 0 66 3 158 73 14 171 0 5 1 20 .308 .377 .647
1999 31 Cubs 162 625 114 180 24 2 63 0 141 78 8 171 0 6 3 17 .288 .367 .635
2000 32 Cubs 156 604 106 193 38 1 50 1 138 91 19 168 0 8 2 12 .320 .406 .634
2001 33 Cubs 160 577 146 189 34 5 64 2 160 116 37 153 0 12 6 6 .328 .437 .737
2002 34 Cubs 150 556 122 160 19 2 49 1 108 103 15 144 0 4 3 14 .288 .399 .594
2003 35 Cubs 137 517 99 144 22 0 40 0 103 62 9 143 0 5 5 14 .279 .358 .553
2004 36 Cubs 126 478 69 121 21 0 35 1 80 56 4 133 0 3 2 9 .253 .332 .517
2005 37 Orioles 102 380 39 84 15 1 14 0 45 39 3 84 0 3 2 15 .221 .295 .376
2007 39 Rangers 114 412 53 104 24 1 21 1 92 34 3 112 0 5 3 11 .252 .311 .468
18 Years 2,354 8,813 1,475 2,408 379 45 609 9 1,667 929 154 2,306 17 78 59 202 .273 .344 .534

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa Fielding Stats

1989 Rangers CF 8 7 153 15 1.9 14 14 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .933 2.47
1989 Rangers LF 11 10 240 22 2.0 21 20 1 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .955 2.36
1989 Rangers RF 1 0 6 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1989 White Sox CF 25 20 570 47 1.9 45 44 1 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .957 2.13
1989 White Sox LF 1 1 21 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1989 White Sox RF 8 8 183 15 1.9 15 15 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.21
1990 White Sox CF 3 0 3 1 0.3 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.00
1990 White Sox RF 154 137 3,759 340 2.2 327 313 14 13 1 n/a n/a n/a .962 2.35
1991 White Sox CF 14 9 246 20 1.4 20 19 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.20
1991 White Sox LF 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1991 White Sox RF 103 67 2,097 206 2.0 200 195 5 6 0 n/a n/a n/a .971 2.58
1992 Cubs CF 67 65 1,719 155 2.3 149 145 4 6 1 n/a n/a n/a .961 2.34
1993 Cubs CF 70 61 1,581 155 2.2 150 145 5 5 2 n/a n/a n/a .968 2.56
1993 Cubs RF 114 92 2,508 216 1.9 212 201 11 4 2 n/a n/a n/a .981 2.28
1994 Cubs CF 15 10 267 32 2.1 30 29 1 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .938 3.03
1994 Cubs RF 98 95 2,520 228 2.3 222 218 4 6 2 n/a n/a n/a .974 2.38
1995 Cubs RF 143 142 3,822 344 2.4 331 318 13 13 4 n/a n/a n/a .962 2.34
1996 Cubs RF 124 124 3,258 280 2.3 270 255 15 10 1 n/a n/a n/a .964 2.24
1997 Cubs RF 161 161 4,248 348 2.2 340 324 16 8 1 n/a n/a n/a .977 2.16
1998 Cubs CF 7 6 129 15 2.1 15 15 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.14
1998 Cubs RF 156 153 4,137 342 2.2 333 319 14 9 2 n/a n/a n/a .974 2.17
1999 Cubs CF 25 23 582 81 3.2 80 77 3 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .988 3.71
1999 Cubs RF 146 139 3,660 335 2.3 327 322 5 8 3 n/a n/a n/a .976 2.41
2000 Cubs CF 2 2 30 2 1.0 2 2 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.80
2000 Cubs RF 156 154 4,120 329 2.1 319 316 3 10 1 n/a n/a n/a .970 2.09
2001 Cubs RF 160 160 4,155 340 2.1 334 326 8 6 1 n/a n/a n/a .982 2.17
2002 Cubs RF 150 150 3,883 297 2.0 291 284 7 6 1 n/a n/a n/a .980 2.02
2003 Cubs RF 137 136 3,536 219 1.6 214 212 2 5 1 n/a n/a n/a .977 1.63
2004 Cubs RF 124 124 3,293 247 2.0 243 238 5 4 2 n/a n/a n/a .984 1.99
2005 Orioles RF 66 66 1,731 127 1.9 124 121 3 3 1 n/a n/a n/a .976 1.93
2007 Rangers RF 16 16 393 33 2.1 33 32 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.27
RF Totals 2,017 1,924 51,309 4,246 2.1 4,135 4,009 126 111 23 n/a n/a n/a .974 2.18
CF Totals 236 203 5,280 523 2.2 506 491 15 17 3 n/a n/a n/a .967 2.59
LF Totals 13 11 261 22 1.7 21 20 1 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .955 2.17
18 Years 2,266 2,138 56,850 4,791 2.1 4,662 4,520 142 129 26 n/a n/a n/a .973 2.21

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa Miscellaneous Stats

1989 Rangers 0 2 .000 3 1 6 84.0 4.2 28.0 - - -
1989 White Sox 7 3 .700 2 1 0 33.0 3.7 9.9 - - -
1990 White Sox 32 16 .667 1 5 0 35.5 3.5 7.6 - - -
1991 White Sox 13 6 .684 10 10 2 31.6 3.2 9.6 - - -
1992 Cubs 15 7 .682 0 0 n/a 32.8 4.2 10.5 - - -
1993 Cubs 36 11 .766 3 1 n/a 18.1 4.4 6.4 - - -
1994 Cubs 22 13 .629 0 0 n/a 17.0 4.6 6.1 - - -
1995 Cubs 34 7 .829 2 0 n/a 15.7 4.2 4.7 - - -
1996 Cubs 18 5 .783 0 0 n/a 12.5 3.7 5.0 - - -
1997 Cubs 22 12 .647 1 0 0 17.8 3.7 5.4 - - -
1998 Cubs 18 9 .667 0 0 0 9.7 3.8 4.1 - - -
1999 Cubs 7 8 .467 0 0 0 9.9 3.7 4.4 - - -
2000 Cubs 7 4 .636 0 0 0 12.1 3.6 4.4 - - -
2001 Cubs 0 2 .000 0 0 0 9.0 3.8 3.6 - - -
2002 Cubs 2 0 1.000 0 0 0 11.3 3.9 5.1 - - -
2003 Cubs 0 1 .000 0 0 0 12.9 3.6 5.0 - - -
2004 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 0 2 13.7 3.6 6.0 - - -
2005 Orioles 1 1 .500 1 0 35 27.1 4.5 8.4 - - -
2007 Rangers 0 0 .000 11 0 88 19.6 3.7 4.5 - - -
18 Years 234 107 .686 34 18 133 14.5 3.8 5.3 - - -

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1989 Texas Rangers 17 $68,000.00 - -
1989 Chicago White Sox 25 "     "     - -
1990 Chicago White Sox 25 $100,000.00 - -
1991 Chicago White Sox 25 $150,000.00 - -
1992 Chicago Cubs 21 $180,000.00 - -
1993 Chicago Cubs 21 $745,000.00 - -
1994 Chicago Cubs 21 $2,950,000.00 - n/a
1995 Chicago Cubs 21 $4,300,000.00 Stats -
1996 Chicago Cubs 21 $4,750,000.00 - -
1997 Chicago Cubs 21 $5,500,000.00 - -
1998 Chicago Cubs 21 $8,325,000.00 Stats -
1999 Chicago Cubs 21 $9,000,000.00 Stats -
2000 Chicago Cubs 21 $11,000,000.00 Stats -
2001 Chicago Cubs 21 $12,500,000.00 Stats -
2002 Chicago Cubs 21 $15,000,000.00 Stats -
2003 Chicago Cubs 21 $16,875,000.00 - -
2004 Chicago Cubs 21 $16,875,000.00 Stats -
2005 Baltimore Orioles 21 $17,875,000.00 - -
2007 Texas Rangers 21 $500,000.00 - -

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Samuel Peralta Sosa was a Major League Baseball player with the Texas Rangers (1989), Chicago White Sox (1989-1991), Chicago Cubs (1992-2004), Baltimore Orioles (2005), and Texas Rangers (2007). Sammy, his nickname, is one-of-six players in baseball history to hit sixty-or-more home runs in a single season, joining Barry Bonds (2001), Aaron Judge (2022), Roger Maris (1961), Mark McGwire (1998 & 1999) and Babe Ruth (1927). [Single Season Leaders for Home Runs]

Sammy Sosa Rookie Card

Sammy Sosa Rookie Card | 1990 Upper Deck Baseball Card (#692)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Did you know that Sammy Sosa was the first, and only, player in Major League history to hit sixty-or-more home runs in a single season three times (1998, 1999, 2001)?

Did you know that Sammy Sosa was a two-time home runs champion (2000 & 2002), but did not lead the National League in any one of his three 60+ homer years, finishing behind Mark McGwire in 1998 and 1999, and behind Barry Bonds in 2001?

Did you know that Sammy Sosa has hit a regular season home run in a Major League record forty-five different ballparks? A breakdown by ballpark: Wrigley Field (293 HRs), Coors Field (21 HRs), Qualcomm Stadium (20 HRs), Busch Stadium (19 HRs), Dodger Stadium (16 HRs), Cinergy Field (16 HRs), Minute Maid Park (15 HRs), Chase Field (13 HRs), Dolphin Stadium (12 HRs), Stade Olympique (11 HRs), Comiskey Park (11 HRs), Great American Ballpark (10 HRs), Veterans Stadium (10 HRs), Rangers Ballpark (10 HRs), Miller Park (10 HRs), Shea Stadium (9 HRs), US Cellular Field (8 HRs), Candlestick Park (8 HRs), 3 Rivers Stadium (8 HRs) and County Stadium (7 HRs).

Ryne Sandberg won seven Silver Slugger Awards, the most by any Cubs player. Sammy Sosa could hit for power, and for average, winning six Silver Sluggers — the second most in franchise history. Sandberg was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, receiving 76.2% of the votes on his third ballot, climbing steadily from 49.2% in 2003, to 61.1% in 2004, to membership in Cooperstown. Sammy Sosa has steadily descended, due to his poster boy status from the steroid era, going from 12.5% in 2013, to 7.2% in 2014, to 6.6% in 2015. The article below (Muskat, Carrie. MLB Staff Writer. 16 June 2009.) was the best written (in our opinion) story on one of the biggest events in baseball history:

Sosa reportedly tested positive for PEDs

Sammy Sosa went from a skinny outfielder to a muscular home run hitter, chasing Roger Maris' record and belting more than 600 home runs in his career. The right fielder often credited Flintstone vitamins, in part, for his success.

According to a report published on the New York Times web site Tuesday, adding credibility to those who've questioned his power surge for years, Sosa benefited from banned substances, not Bam Bam supplements.

Sosa allegedly is among the 104 Major League players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.

The allegation of the test came from what The Times referred to as "lawyers with knowledge of the drug-testing results from that year." Alex Rodriguez is the only other player whose name has been linked to the positive results in 2003.

"It's unfortunate that things that were supposed to be confidential weren't," Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley said of the 2003 tests. "Here's a guy who people admired and looked up to, and now he's got to deal with it. Anyway you look at it, it's not good."

The 2003 test was the first such test conducted by Major League Baseball. Under guidelines agreed upon with the players union, the test results were to remain anonymous but would lead to testing with penalties the next year if more than 5 percent of the results were positive.

The lawyers who allegedly had knowledge of Sosa's inclusion on the 2003 list did not know the substance for which Sosa tested positive. They spoke on condition of anonymity, because they did not want to be identified as discussing material that is sealed by a court order.

"We all assume there was an era when a lot of people took things that would now be illegal, but the rules weren't set up stringent enough to enforce it at the time," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Tuesday.

"I think you have to judge people for the era they were in," Hendry said. "Unless all the facts are in, speculation is a waste of time. You'll never be able to go back and figure out who did what for sure. I'm not condoning it at all. As long as there is competitive athletics and people can get away with things, they'll try to get a competitive edge."

Sosa began his career in 1989 with the Rangers, who traded him to the White Sox during that season. He played for the Cubs from 1992-2004, and is the team's all-time home run leader with 545. He played one season in Baltimore in '05 and one in Texas in '07, finishing his 18-year career with 609 home runs.

"It's a shame that baseball keeps going back to the past," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Baseball is doing a good job today of cleaning up all these issues. That's what we should be focusing on. I don't know how this news gets out. In my case, I wasn't here, and I wish that we would just focus on today and what the sport is doing as opposed to what happened in the past."

Both Piniella and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said they would prefer to see the entire list made public.

"It would probably create a lot of havoc, but I think it would be the best thing," Piniella said.

"It's very, very, very sad how names start to come out," Guillen said. "And every week baseball has to deal with these names. And whoever is leaking the information, whoever got the rights to the information, they should right away say something and get it over with, because it's put everyone in baseball, not just Chicago people, everyone in baseball, dealing with this situation they shouldn't be dealing with any more. We got enough time to clean this thing."

Guillen said it's not fair to the game to be revealing names in such a random fashion.

"It's not good for us to answer people's questions when we don't have anything to do with this," Guillen said. "That's an uncomfortable situation, because you want to protect the guys but you have to get interviewed about the game and I'm about protecting the baseball game. And I think the best thing we can do is get those names out there, deal with it and be done with it."

When Piniella played in the 1970s and early '80s, he said steroids weren't a topic.

"In the era that I played, it wasn't a problem," Piniella said. "I don't know that much about it. Maybe if managers had been trained a little more in these areas, I could answer better, but I don't know. I wouldn't know a steroid from a reefer."

Sosa and Mark McGwire were credited with bringing fans back to baseball after the 1994 strike, when in '98 they chased Maris' single-season home run record of 61. McGwire hit 70 that year for the St. Louis Cardinals, and Sosa belted 66 for the Cubs, the first of three 60-homer seasons by the right fielder. Sosa's best season prior to '98 was '96, when he hit 40. He hit 36 home runs in '97.

Sosa has not played in the Major Leagues since 2007. At a Congressional hearing in '05, he testified under oath that he had never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

Hendry joined the Cubs in 1994 as director of player development and was named general manager in July 2002. He said he never asked Sosa about whether he used steroids. Did he suspect anything?

"If you were in baseball at any time, you sometimes left the ballpark thinking, 'That guy has a lot more power than he used to,' or 'That guy is a lot bigger than he used to be,'" Hendry said. "You didn't think a guy was necessarily going into the back room and doing something before the game.

"From a general manager's point of view, it became a tough job to decide contract-wise or free-agent-wise or long-term-wise, because you never know. That's why I applaud stricter rules."

The news about Sosa came just as two of his former teams, the Cubs and White Sox, were set to begin a three-game Interleague series. It shocked both clubhouses.

"Sammy is one of our leaders," White Sox pitcher Octavio Dotel said. "Not only that, Sammy Sosa is everywhere. Like in Latin America, he's one of the big baseball players.

"That's a tough one. If that's true, I mean, it's hard to understand, but at this point, I'll believe anything, because I see things that I never thought, that this guy is going to be doing this, this guy is going to be doing that. At this point, nothing surprises me."

Would this tarnish Sosa's image?

"It's kind of hard now to understand that he went through this situation," Dotel said. "It's really, really, really tough, because it also takes from him his Hall of Fame thing. It's kind of hard to know, and just to hear this about if he did it or not, it's really, really tough, especially for me personally.

"Hey, Sammy is one of our leaders in the Dominican Republic. He's one of the guys who did unbelievable things in baseball. It's a big mistake. He didn't kill nobody, yes. But it's a big mistake by him."

The news surprised Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano.

"To me, things about steroids, I don't like to talk about it," Soriano said. "I never used it, I don't know what it is."

Hendry would like to see baseball move on.

"It's time to put that whole era behind us," he said. "All the people who might have dabbled in it will never get caught. I feel bad for the thousands of guys who played the game right and are lumped into an era of cheating."

Ranked sixth on Major League Baseball's career home run list, Sosa said in a recent interview with ESPN Deportes that he would "calmly wait" for his induction into the Hall of Fame. He'll be eligible in 2013.

In 1993, Sammy Sosa hit thirty-six home runs and stole thirty-three bases, the first Chicago Cubs player to enter the 30-30 Club (30 Home Runs and 30 Stolen Bases in the Same Season). Two years later, Sosa did it again, hitting 36 homers and swiping 34 bases, the first Cubbie to be two-time 30-30 Club member - to date, no other Cub has made it into this elite group of speed-and-power players.