Samuel Peralta Sosa was born on 12 November 1968 in Consuelo, a community surrounded by sugarcane fields in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic, one of seven children in a family that lost its father when Sosa was six years old.
Sosa worked from a young age washing cars, selling oranges and shining shoes to help support his family, and originally dreamed of becoming a boxer before being discovered by a scout and signed as a professional baseball player at just 16.
Sosa debuted in Major League Baseball in 1989, and after several seasons building his power as an outfielder, became one of the sport's most electrifying hitters with the Chicago Cubs through the 1990s, famously engaging in a celebrated home run chase with Mark McGwire in 1998 that captivated the nation.
Sosa won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1998 and finished his 18-year career with 609 home runs, the eighth-highest total in baseball history, while his exuberant celebrations and genuine joy on the field made him one of the sport's most beloved personalities, particularly within Chicago's Latino community.
Despite his offensive statistics, Sosa has never been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame amid the era's broader steroid controversies, though in 2025 the Chicago Cubs formally inducted him into the franchise's own Hall of Fame, repairing a long period of estrangement between Sosa and the organisation.
- 609 career home runs, eighth-most in MLB history
- National League Most Valuable Player, 1998
- Seven-time MLB All-Star
- Six-time Silver Slugger Award winner
- Inducted into the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame, 2025
- Hardship in childhood can fuel extraordinary drive. Sosa's work shining shoes and selling oranges as a boy gave way to one of baseball's most celebrated power-hitting careers.
- Reconciliation can come decades later. Sosa's 2025 induction into the Cubs Hall of Fame came after many years of distance between him and the organisation.