Samy Sosa

The person I am writing about is Sammy Sosa. As you may know, Sammy Sosa

was one of the contenders in the home run race against Mark McGwire. McGwire won with

70 home runs while Sammy Sosa lost with 66 home runs. Even though Sammy Sosa lost

he is still a very skilled player. In my report, I will describe Sammy's life and career. I hope

you enjoy it.

Samuel Peralta Montero (Sammy's birth name) was born in the county side of

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Nov. 12 1968. You may be wondering why

Sammy's last name was Montero. Sammy's father died when Sammy was only 6. The

family had a lot of money when his father around. Unfortunately, one day his father got really

sick, and started having bad migraines. They took him to the doctor, and the doctor said,

"take him to the hospital in Santo Domingo", but Sammy's father refused to go. A few

days later he had a another attack, and one of his fellow workers took him to the hospital. He

was doing better after his family took him to the hospital, but the doctor told them that he

would die in a couple of days. His family took him home so he could die in his own home.

After he died Sammy"s last name was changed to Sosa. That was his mother's maiden

name. Sammy's family changed drastically after his Father's death. They didn't have any

money to buy food or clothes. So Sammy and his older brothers started to shine shoes,

wash cars and beg for money. They didn't get much business so the moved to Santo

Domingo.

In a couple of years Sammy's mother remarried to a man named Carlos Maria

Peralta.Even after his mother got married they still continued to be poor. Sammy's mother

thought that Santo Domingo was to busy and had to many bad influences for the kids, so

they moved to a town called San Pedro de Macoris. San Pedro wasn't as busy as Santo

Domingo, but it was busier than the county. It was Kind of in the middle of San Pedro and

Santo Domingo. Sammy and his older brothers started to shine shoes again. There was

one man that kept coming back again and again. His name was Bill Chase. Bill owned a

show company in San Pedro. Bill saw how smart and persistent Sammy and his brothers

were so he gave them a job in one of his factories. Sammy and his brothers were bringing

more money which meant more money for clothes and food. One day, Sammy met Bill's

wife and she loved him and his brothers. When she would visit America she would bring

back clothes, candy, and toys.

Bill would always give Sammy stuff like toys and extra money. One day, Bill gave

Sammy a present that changed Sammy's life. He gave him a blue baseball glove when

Sammy was 14, and that is when Sammy started playing baseball. Sammy was never

interested in base ball before he got the glove. He would go to his local park every day to

practice with his glove. One day his brother, Louis, saw him play and took Sammy to see

Hector Peguero. Hector Peguero ran a local amateur league. Their league was called the

Nelson Rodriguez league. Sammy hit his first home run, and his first grand slam in this

league.

Sammy played for a year in the league until a scout saw Sammy play and asked

him to sign a contract for the Philadelphia Phillies. His mom had to sign it too. She felt like

she was selling her own son, but she accepted. They went and celebrated later. The team

was going to pay Sammy $2500, but Sammy's family only received $200. Unfortunately

the team didn't want him after his physical. He was to skinny. He also tried out for the

Yankees, but they didn't except him. Sammy kept trying and, two years later Sammy

attracted the attention of scouts