Sammy Slams Number 600

The sports world is filled with ironies. Wednesday night saw one more as Sammy Sosa hit his 600th career home run against his former team, the Chicago Cubs, in Texas Rangers' 7-3 victory. He is only the fifth player in MLB history to reach that milestone and the first Latino player to do so.

We'll probably never know for sure how many (if any) of Sammy Sosa's homers were a result of taking performance-enhancing drugs. But you can't ignore the fact that he is one of the sport's most charismatic players. Give him credit for reinventing his career this season with Texas after a year away from the game.

Homecoming Week

It was odd to see former Cubs’ pitcher Greg Maddux in a San Diego Padre uniform at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. Somehow Navy just doesn’t look as good on him as Cubbie blue did.

On the other side of town, the White Sox are hosting the Texas Rangers and Sammy Sosa. It's Sosa's first visit to Chitown since making a disgraceful exit from the Cubs at the end of the 2004 season. The crowd at U.S. Cellular Field booed Sosa each time he came to the plate. Sosa hit
his 591st career home run Tuesday night en route to a 8-1 Texas Rangers’ victory over the Sox.

This isn’t the first time the Sox have made a former player feel so welcome. Last May, Frank Thomas hit two home runs for the Oakland A’s in his first two plate appearances against John Garland.

Games 2 and 3 take place tonight and Thursday.

Sosa considering a comeback

Former Cub Sammy Sosa says he wants to play baseball next season. The 37-year-old slugger sat out the 2006 season to contemplate retirement but says he still is in good shape and has passion for the game. Sosa is 12 home runs shy of 600 and would like to achieve that goal before officially retiring.

Here is a player who has been out of the game for a year, left with a poor attitude, has diminished fielding and hitting skills and has the lingering suspicion of steroid usage hanging over his head. Why would any team want Sosa?