In 1989, Sammy Sosa stepped up on the field for Texas Rangers for the first time. However, at that time, no one had an idea that this rookie player will one day become an iconic MLB player. And, when it comes to the most prolific players of all time, Sammy Sosa’s name is at the top in MLB history. Moreover, he managed to score more than 600 home runs throughout his whole career. Then in 1998 and 1999, Sammy managed to hit 66 and 63 home runs, respectively. Lastly, after iconic performances throughout his career, Sammy decided to retire in 2008. But, in 2009, “Sammy Sosa before and after” became the headline of every news channel.
During an interview in 2009, Sammy Sosa looked entirely unrecognizable due to his skin complexion. The former MLB player not only transformed his skin complexion lighter but changed it into nearly total white. Hence, fans on social media didn’t take long and made thousands of assumptions. But, what’s the truth? Let’s find out:
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“Sammy Sosa Before and After”
Samma Sosa decided to retire from MLB in 2008, but in 2009, he looked completely different. As a result, his fans made different assumptions about his health condition and steroid use. But, later in that year, he explained that it happened due to a skincare cream.
He added that he was only using that cream for skin’s softness but ended up bleaching his complexion. Also, he further explained that he is pretty happy in his life and he’s not a racist. Moreover, as many fans compared him to Michael Jackson, Sammy disagreed with the statement and added that I don’t look like him.
On the other hand, many pop stars like Rihanna and Beyonce were also targetted by skin-lightening accusations. However, no celebrity came forward or confessed the truth like Sammy Sosa. Despite such allegations or conspiracies, the skin-whitening business is an advanced industry in the US and some parts of Asia.
Moreover, The New York Times also has reported that 70% of women in Western and Southern regions of Africa are using these skin-lightening creams. However, due to such controversies, Ghana’s government has banned such skin products. But, sadly, these products still exist in the markets and haven’t been entirely removed.
Sammy Sosa’s Net Worth
Sammy Sosa’s net worth is a tremendous amount of $70 million as of the year 2021. In addition, the retired volleyball professional has earned a salary of around $120 million alone from his games. He was a player of Major League Baseball (also famous with the acronym LMB) for a total of 19 seasons. These $120 million were his earnings during his 18 years of career in the game. Our Sammy has been a professional baseball player from the year 1989 to 2007.
Not to mention that he must have got earning of tens of millions from endorsing brands. Some of his endorsement deals turn out to be in millions. Mr. Sosa has endorsed brands like PepsiCo, Latin American telco-TriCom, and more.
Adding to this, he has various endeavors has as well. The retired professional baseball player is also a business tycoon and an entrepreneur.
So, there’s no wonder how he earns all that million dollars and how his net worth is increasing every year. To sum it all up as the fact that Sammy is a persona with numerous sources of revenue. Noot only his game and endorsements, he earns from his business and entrepreneurship as well.
Now that we know about Sammy Sosa’s net worth let us learn more about him. Hence, we will start with the early days of the glorious professional right fielder.
Early life and career of Sammy Sosa
Born in the year 1968, on the 12th in the month of November, Samuel Peralta Sosa is a widely popular name in baseball. Famous as Sommy Sosa, he is partially Haitian descendent and was born in the Dominican Republic. Renowned globally as Sammy Sosa, his family and close friends love to call him by the name Mikey. You might be astonished to learn that this is a name his grandmother (maternal) had heard in a soap opera. Thus, ever since then, she decided to call him by the nickname Mikey. Adding to this, it was her only who suggested the name, Samuel.
One of the other notable facts you might want to know would be where he was born precisely and what the official papers say. Well, the two differ in reality. He wasn’t born in San Pedro de Macoris, which is, by the way, his officially registered place of birth. Instead, Sammy has initially been born in Consuelo in a Batey community. However, as San Pedro was the nearest large town, his family decided to register his birth in the city.
Sammy had to face the loss of his father, who was a farmer at a very young age of just eight. Since then, his mother took care of him and his six other siblings on her own. Out of the six siblings, two are his sisters, and the remaining four are his brothers.
Adding to this, Samuel has had a humble beginning. The Sammy we know now with a net worth in millions, earlier used to polish shoes. Moreover, he used to work as a janitor and sell oranges to add to his family financially.
Our Verdict
Lastly, after so many assumptions, we can confirm that Sammy Sosa’s skin transformation resulted from skincare cream. The iconic former MLB player accepted it publically on the TV during an interview in 2009. Moreover, while it’s easy to make fun of or put wrong accusations, we have to admit Sammy’s bravery behind this statement.
As we mentioned earlier, the skin-whitening industry has continually progressed in the US. Moreover, many prominent celebrities like Rihanna and Beyonce were accused too. But, sadly, none of them has ever admitted the use of such skin products.
Despite these allegations, Sammy Sosa’s reputation in the MLB world never went down. In fact, last year, Sosa gained some more spotlight when the ESPN network decided to show his career’s best performances under the show called “Long Gone Summer”. However, even today, the internet is filled with “Sammy Sosa before and after” pictures where you can see his skin transformation quite clearly.