May 29, 2007 in Sports

Sosa reflects on pending milestone

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OAKLAND, Calif. – Sammy Sosa is on the verge of joining the exclusive 600-home-run club. For that, Sosa thanks Ron Washington, the Texas Rangers manager, who welcomed him back from baseball exile.

“From the very first day of spring training, he’s had my back,” Sosa said Monday. “I really appreciate the fact he gave me an opportunity to be here.

“As a man and as a person, he’s been great to me, and I will always respect him for that.”

Sosa didn’t play in 2006, unwanted and considered washed up, but he is one of the few things to go right in Washington’s debut season as manager. Sosa is hitting .259 with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs – far off from his prime but not bad for a player who won a job as a non-roster invitee to spring training. Sosa, who has 598 career home runs, reflected on what his next two homers will mean.

“People have been talking about that, but that’s not my main focus,” Sosa said of 600. “I have some more important issues to think about – like winning some games.

“I mean, I know 600 is going to come. We can’t avoid that. But it’s not on my mind.”

The 600 plateau might not be getting as much attention as the pursuit of 755, but the saga features many of the same story lines. There is the question, for instance, of how much stock to put into the achievement.

For more than 30 years starting in 1971, the only three players in the hallowed 600 club were legendary: Babe Ruth. Willie Mays. Hank Aaron.

When Barry Bonds joined the list, in 2002, the biggest argument-starter was how to rank those players on the short list of the all-time greats.

But with Sosa, the debate isn’t so reverential. With him, there is a legitimate question as to whether he will make the Hall of Fame.

His career batting average of .274 is 25 points lower than the other players in the 600-homer group. His 2,237 strikeouts are at least 700 more than the next-closest (Mays).

And then there is the steroid element. Sosa’s peak years corresponded with the rise of suspicion around the game, which is how he wound up being summoned before a Congressional committee to testify about performance-enhancing drugs.

So does 600 mean as much as it used to?

On that issue, Washington had his back – just as Sosa said.

“You could step in that box and take batting practice every single day and I guarantee you wouldn’t hit 600 out,” Washington scoffed. “Now, try to time a pitcher and do it. Six hundred home runs means a lot.”

Sosa holds the major league record with three seasons of at least 60 home runs (1998-99, 2001). He has four 50-homer seasons, a record he shares with Ruth and Mark McGwire.

Sosa hit more home runs (292) over a five-year span than anyone in baseball history. He also holds the record for a six-year span (332), seven-year (368), eight-year (408), nine-year (444) and 10-year (479).

Take that, Babe.

“He’s been a model citizen,” Washington said. “He’s done everything we ask him to do. … He gives you his best effort every day. I can’t ask more from a guy who is close to 39 years old and been out of the game for a year.”

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