Sammy Sosa: An Autobiography

Sammy Sosa is not a robot. He, like you and me, is a fallible human being who is largely the product of his upbringing. In "Sosa: An Autobiography," readers have the opportunity to gain insights into not only Sammy Sosa and professional baseball, but the larger American culture and each of us. A superficial read of this book may leave some wanting more. And certainly there is more to tell. But Sammy's smart enough to know there's a time and there's a place. This book, at this time, is neither. But to those who recognize the implications, there is plenty of meat: (1) Has baseball exploited Latin players? What should baseball be doing differently for them? (2) Should all players on a team -- all people in any organization -- be treated the same despite their different personalities, their different backgrounds, their different perceptions? (3) What is the value of trust, respect, fairness, honesty, loyalty? Speaking as someone who spent five years as a Major League scout and 2O years coaching baseball, on a more baseball specific level, how can someone like Walt Hriniak be a Major League hitting coach and try to force everyone -- Sammy Sosa and Ozzie Guillen -- to hit the same way? Someone like that shouldn't be coaching baseball at ANY level. Why aren't all Major League coaches and managers as insightful as Cubs' hitting coach Jeff Pentland? As any excellent teacher or coach knows, whether you're teaching Shakespeare or the circle change, you're not teaching a curriculum, you're teaching people. Reading Sammy's story allows the intelligent reader to see that Major League baseball is as political as Congress and just about as effective in dealing with real people. Sammy demonstrates that lack of trust and lack of respect will destroy any relationship, any organization. But mutual trust and respect will allow any relationship, any organization to thrive. If you want everything spelled out for you, buy a dictionary. If you want something to think about, buy "Sosa: An Autobiography."

The subtitle of this book is "an Autobiography." Yet in the last pages, in the last sentence of the "Author's Note," it says that "All interviews with Sammy Sosa were conducted in Spanish and translated into English." So what we really have here is a book with the inherent pro-subject slant of any AUTObiography coupled with the biases and outlook of the true author, Marcos Bret`on. A lot of time is spent detailing the claimed biases against what they (Sammy and/or the author) call "Latin players" by which they mean any ball player coming from outside the USA (they include Puerto Ricans in this group) who speaks Spanish as his first language. Breton concludes that: "Sosa became a living antidote to baseball's recent poisonous past, in particular the 1994 baseball strike that canceled the World Series. And in the process, Sosa developed an appeal that extended beyond his sport." "Plainly stated, Sosa sells in Peoria, and everywhere else." This book recounts a modern Horatio Alger tale: Sammy's impoverished origins in the Dominican Republic to the American icon he is today. The chronological narrative is carried along in many voices: Sammy/Breton, Sammy's friends, mentors, relatives, and coaches. Sammy and all his brothers and sisters grew up in "a one-bedroom house with dirt floors and no indoor plumbing." ... and he would "practice on my street by hitting dried husks of maize again and again." "So many Dominican prospects like Sammy are malnourished by the time they reach their teens that they haven't developed physically yet." "Asked early in 2000 about his biggest regret, Texas Governor and presidential hopeful George W. Bush - formerly managing partner of the Texas Rangers - said "My biggest mistake was trading Sammy Sosa." The book lets long-suffering Cub fans re-live that magical 1998 season after Sammy first pays proper deference: "That spring of 1998 was a very sad time for all Chicago. Our community lost one of our favorites - my beloved friend Harry Caray. Harry helped me so much. He was such a good person to me. ... he was just one of those special people, and I know he is with God now. We all mourned his loss. And so before the start of the 1998 season, I decided I would dedicate it to him. Every time I hit a homer, I would be hitting it for Harry - and for Mama, of course." The book concludes with the for-the-Cubs-normal season of 1999. After that, us "maybe next year" Cub stalwarts can all give another listen to Steve Goodman's wry anthem "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request." [on the No Big Surprise CD.]

Sosa: An Autobiography takes us to Sammy Sosa's hometown, where we learn how he became one of the greatest baseball players of our time. It is filled with rich details and facts about Sosa's maturing into the ballplayer he is today. Author Marcos Breton gives the reader details never known before about Sosa, and keeps the reader wanting more as the book goes on. It is a quick read. The book is much like Breton's previous book, Away Games, about Oakland A's shortstop Miguel Tejada, and other Latin baseball players. If you like Away Games, you'll enjoy Sosa's autobiography.