Sammy Sosa
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Born: Consuelo, Dominican Republic
Seven-time All Star baseball player Sammy Sosa was born Samuel Kelvin Peralta Sosa in Consuelo, a small town outside the larger Dominican city of San Pedro de Macorís. He grew up in poverty, with his father—a farmer—dying when Sosa was just seven years old. Sosa, his mother, and his six siblings lived in a two-bedroom apartment within an abandoned hospital—a far cry from where Sosa would eventually end up. Sosa’s early years were spent selling oranges and doing janitor work at a shoe factory to help support his mother and siblings, but it was during his off time that he started to develop the skills that would propel him to American greatness. It was his brother, Juan, who encouraged Sosa to start playing baseball at the age of 14. Two years later, the innately talented Sosa signed a contract to play for the Texas Rangers.
Sosa’s first visit to the United States was for Texas Rangers training camp in Sarasota, Florida. It took three years for Sosa to make his major league debut for the Rangers, but once he did, he quickly caught the eye of the Chicago White Sox, who negotiated a trade for the gifted Dominican baseball player. It was a good trade, too: in his first season with the White Sox, Sosa hit an amazing 15 home runs. Several years later, Sosa was traded to the Cubs, and in 1998 he gained coast to coast fame as he battled it out with Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals for the league home run record (McGwire edged Sosa out, scoring 70 home runs to Sosa’s 66).
Unsurprisingly, his success in the United States and the way of life that came with it were highly appealing to Sosa, and he made his citizenship official in 1995. And while his career hit some rocky roads—including cheating and drug use allegations—Sosa has continued to prosper in the states. He lives in Florida with his family, including his wife, Sonia Rodriguez, who is also from the Dominican Republic.