What Sammy Sosa means for the Dominican Republic

The news of a reconciliation between the Cubs and the “Bambino of the Caribbean” has been received with great joy by the country that experienced the outfielder’s exploits.

I was born in 1990, so my first memories of baseball MLB are closely related to the exploits of Sammy Sosa at the end of that decade, especially during the summer of 1998, when the “home run career” began in which the Dominican starred alongside Mark McGwire and that, for many, saved baseball after the 1994 strike.

In fact, the first memory I have of Sammy Sosa It was being with my mother at a bus stop, from where we were leaving for my mother’s hometown and the bus that was supposed to take us there, delayed its departure since the driver and all the passengers were glued to a small television. in which Sodawith 59 home runs, faced his compatriot, Valerio de los Santoswho played with Milwaukee Brewers and to whom, in that meeting on September 12, 1998, he hit home run number 60 of his year in the bottom of the seventh inning of a game that probably no one in the Dominican Republic would have paid attention to, if it weren’t for Sosa.

After the home run, just like in all the ones he hit during that stretch, Soda He performed his well-known celebration with his fingers. One that we all know well, even today, and that from time to time, when mentioned Sodasomeone appears to do it.

Like me, there are many Dominicans, contemporary or not, who remember the exploits of Sammy Sosa in those years and the pride that the so-called “Caribbean baby” offered to a country that in 1998 was hit hard by a hurricane.

Obviously, everyone knows the situation of Soda and the way it came out Chicago Cubs. The accusations of steroid use, the years of separation between the team, its owner and the Dominican, the situations with the press, we also remember his suspension for using a bat with a cork.

In the Dominican Republic every step of Sammy Sosa. We remember the visit of Soda to the White House, where he met with the then President of the United States, Bill Clinton. We remember how Sosa led a group of Dominican baseball players who came to the aid of their country after the 1998 hurricane. Anyway, the Dominican remembers everything that has to do with Sodaeven though time has passed.

These lines, obviously, do not seek to applaud the errors or bad decisions made by Soda during his career and after it, but it drew powerful attention as, after so many years, upon seeing Sosa’s apology letter and the reaction that Tom Rickettsowner of the Cubsand the team itself had, welcoming Sammy back to Chicago and inviting him to Wrigley Field for the Cubs Convention In 2025, the general feeling in the Dominican Republic was similar to when we were glued to our televisions, watching “Slammin’ Sammy” hitting gigantic home runs.

Without SodaProbably many of the baseball fans of Major Leagues there is in the Caribbean country, they would not even have been interested in following MLB.

Soda became an icon that transcended his sport and his country, in a time without social networks, when in the Dominican Republic live broadcasts of football matches MLB on television, they were not even five years old, and even now, more than 20 years after his departure from Chicago, everyone who watched the outfielder’s career considers him one of their favorite players of all time. .

See the return of Sammy Sosa Wrigley Field will be something that Dominicans will treasure as a society, even if they are not physically present. Sosa was the firstrockstar”dominican of MLB in the 90s and we can safely say that, in 2024, he has the same support and admiration that he had in his career, regardless of what has happened.