Sammy Sosa has come a long, long way from his childhood days in the Dominican Republic, and he has come a long, long way in the great home run chase with Mark McGwire.
Sosa pulled to within one of McGwire in the race to see who will pass Roger Maris first, cranking out his 53rd homer off Colorado right-hander John Thomson in the Cubs’ 10-5 victory at Coors Field.
With the victory the Cubs remained tied with the Mets for the lead in the wild-card race.
McGwire was homerless Friday night against Atlanta and with two more games at Coors, Sosa figures to have a decent shot at overtaking McGwire this weekend.
“It never has been something I wanted to do,” Sosa said. “I’m not interested in passing McGwire. I’m never thinking about McGwire, believe me.”
But Sosa conceded McGwire probably will have a tougher time the next few days than he will.
“I have to say he’s playing against a tough team, the Atlanta Braves, and those pitchers he’s facing are Cy Young (Award-winning) pitchers,” Sosa said. “They’re not going to give him anything to hit.”
The Cubs also received a two-run homer from starter Steve Trachsel and a three-run bomb by Jose Hernandez that broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth. The Cubs have scored 39 runs while going 3-1 on this road trip, with a .353 team batting average. They’re also 4-0 at Coors Field this season, scoring 39 runs with a .407 average.
Sosa took a 1-2 pitch from Thomson in the first and drilled a line shot into the bullpen area in right field, a 414-foot blow that gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead. It was his 24th homer on the road, setting a Cubs record. It also was the 13th consecutive series in which Sosa has homered.
Catcher Sandy Martinez caught the ball and a fan instantly offered him $5,000 for it.
“I said to Sandy, `Sell it, and we’ll split it 50-50,’ ” Sosa said.
Martinez immediately shot back, “No, I’m going to wait until he hits 62 (before selling it).”
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If Sosa were to pass McGwire, it would be one of the most remarkable comebacks in all of sports. On May 25, McGwire had a 15 home-run lead over Sosa 24-9. But Sosa hit two home runs in Atlanta that night and has been on a binge ever since, with 44 homers in his next 82 games, including Friday’s.
Even Sosa admitted he wonders sometimes how he found his way into Mr. McGwire’s neighborhood.
“Yeah, I’m surprised that I’m here now,” he said. “I have to say everyone was looking at McGwire and (Ken) Griffey (Jr.). But you never know in baseball.”
With 27 games remaining, Sosa needs nine home runs to pass Maris. That should give him about 108 at-bats, meaning he needs to average one home run for every 12 at-bats. From May 25 through Friday, Sosa had hit 44 home runs in 337 at-bats, an average of one for every 7.7 at-bats.
While it may seem strange that Sosa keeps saying he wants McGwire to reach the magical number of 61 homers first, he insisted that that’s how he truly feels. Asked if it was inevitable now that either he or McGwire will break the record, Sosa replied, “I don’t know. He has a good chance. He has 54, right? That’s pretty good.”
But 53 isn’t chopped liver either, and Sosa’s pace since late May far exceeds McGwire’s pace from the same point.
Trachsel set a career high with his 14th victory, and even hit a longer homer than Sosa, 420 feet to 418 feet.
“I’ll probably finish 65 homers behind Sammy,” he said.