Slammin' Sammy Sosa Hits His 600th Home Run

Just last season with the Baltimore Orioles, this man was a pariah. Now, like a phoenix arisen from the ashes of a massive steroid scandal, he has returned, crow-hopping his way to 12 home runs so far this season in the middle of the Texas Rangers lineup. Pretty amazing when you remember how it nearly ended. Sosa declined a $500,000 contract with the Washington Nationals. That's right, the only team to offer the beleaguered slugger a contract was the woe-begotten Nationals. Declining the offer, Sammy Sosa was believed to be fading away into black in terms of his baseball career, after this one last hurrah with the Orioles. But it was not to be. The Rangers owner Tom Hicks extended a major league contract to Sosa for the 2007 season, giving Sosa one last chance. And he has made the best of it so far.

Creatine scandal or not, this is a pretty good story. No matter what you think about Sammy Sosa, he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. 600 home runs, steroid era or not, is a 100 percent guarantee of an induction, like 500 home runs used to be. Sigh....those were the days.