Sammy Sosa

When asked the question of who my hero really is, I had to think long and hard. Once I finally determined that my childhood hero Sammy Sosa was indeed my hero, it provoked many thoughts of what my true definition of hero really was. To me a hero is someone who makes others better, has tremendous success in their profession, and overcomes extreme adversity during some part of their life. Therefore, Sammy Sosa exemplifies the term hero because he has made teammates even more successful than their ability would allow for, is nearing in on the tremendous milestone of 600 career home runs, and has overcome a childhood filled with poverty.

Living in a family of die-hard Cubs fans definitely helped me get acquainted with Sammy Sosa at a young age. In my family not having a Cubs game on television was like a high school student having a homework free evening. While watching and attending many Cubs games, Slammin' Sammy always caught my eye. Sammy's enthusiastic sprint out to his right field position and his acknowledging tip of his cap to the fans always excited me before the start of every Cubs home game. Watching Sammy play the great game of baseball with such superior passion deeply influenced the way that I go about my life today. Hopefully one day I will be able to give a tip of the cap to Sammy to show my respect for him and another tip of the cap to my family for getting me acquainted with such a heroic person.

Let's face it, growing up is one of the hardest things we have to do in life, but for Sammy growing up was particularly hard. Sammy was born on November 12, 1968, in San Pedro de Marocis, a coastal town in the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean country that occupies the eastern two thirds of Hispaniola, the island it shares with Haiti. On a daily basis, Sosa would be out on the rocky streets selling oranges and shining shoes just trying to provide money to buy food for his family. Once Sammy ventured into his teen years he was able to focus solely on baseball. At this time in Sosa's life, baseball was like school. He did not have enough money to attend school so his focus was mainly on learning the game of baseball. An interesting fact to consider is that the future all-star did not begin playing organized baseball until he was 14 years old. By the time Sammy was 16, he had already attracted the attention of many big league scouts. Sammy also signed a contract with the Rangers while he was 16 years old and later moved to the Arlington, Texas, area when he was 17. Once Sammy was traded to the White Sox he lived in the magnificently elegant Lake Park Plaza and he obtained the largest and most expensive condominium available. Sammy continued to live in the Lake Park Plaza complex until he was traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles. Sammy leaving the Cubs was so heartbreaking for Cubs fans that it would be like the Packers trading Brett Favre. Although there is no definite report where Sosa resides now, many believe that he has a house somewhere in the Arlington, Texas, area and has a mansion still in the Dominican Republic which is where he resides during the off-season. As you can tell, reaching the big leagues was not just a dream for Sammy, but a way of avoiding the nightmare of a lifetime teetering on the edge of poverty.

To explain the amount of great deeds that Sosa has done throughout his life would take years. Sammy, growing up in the poverty-stricken Dominican Republic, had to support his family financially by shining shoes and selling oranges on the unsanitary and gravel streets in his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, a dusty, sun baked, seaside town in the Dominican Republic. The reaction Sammy made after receiving money was like a young boy who had just opened a present on Christmas Day. Sammy would then find relaxation and pleasure while playing the game of baseball. In the financially unstable Dominican Republic kids used a cardboard milk carton as gloves, rolled up socks as a baseball, and a plain old stick as a bat. In the Dominican Republic the popularity level of baseball is like the popularity level of football here in the United States of America. Although Sammy did not start playing organized baseball until he was 14, by the time he was 16 years old, Sammy had attracted the attention of major-league scouts, including Omar Minaya(current New York Mets General Manager), who signed Sammy to a contract for the Texas Rangers. This was only the start of an excellent career. Once Sammy made it to the Majors many thought that he was going to be an extra outfielder who had tremendous speed (Sammy was very scrawny at the time and almost looked like he was malnourished). After seeing Sammy's strikeout totals increase like the number of years between the Cubs last World Series appearance, the Rangers grew impatient and quickly traded him to the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox who also saw the young Sosa strike out more often than he made contact, which was the impetus for another trade, this time to the cross-town rival Chicago Cubs. In a Cubs uniform Sosa simply flourished. Sosa instantly began setting Cub records like becoming the first Cub to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases. The great potential that we all knew Sosa had was being put on display day after day. Then during the 1998 season, Sosa helped revive the game of baseball. After consecutive years of abysmal fan attendance throughout baseball, Sammy and Mark McGwire had themselves each an epic season that has seemingly changed the game of baseball. These two went head-to-head throughout the year to try to break the single season home run record of 61. These two hit long balls as often as Britney Spears has shown up in the news lately. McGwire ended up breaking the record sooner then Sosa, but Sosa was nominated the National League MVP and led the Chicago Cubs to the playoffs. Sosa is currently now with the Texas Rangers and is only two home runs away from the jaw dropping milestone of 600 career home runs. The greatness that Sosa has displayed throughout his life and career is what has made us Cubs fans become completely enamored with him.

In my opinion, a hero is someone who makes others around them better, has tremendous success in their profession, and overcomes extreme adversity during some part of their life. Therefore, I believe that Sammy Sosa is a hero because he made other guys on his Cubs teams better, has thoroughly dominated big league pitching throughout his career, and has had to overcome the days of shining shoes and selling oranges to support his family. I also consider Sammy to be my hero because he has always gone about life with such a positive attitude, which has really inspired me to go about my life the same way. A lesson that we can all learn from Sammy is that we have to consider every day a holiday and that we can never take life for granted.