On This Date in Sports June 25, 1998: Sammy Sosa En Fuego
Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs sets a record for home runs in a month by hitting his 19th home in June during a 6-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. The previous record was set in the same stadium when Rudy York of Detroit hit 18 home runs in August of 1937. Sosa would end June with 20 home runs launching his chase for Roger Marris.
Sammy Sosa was born in the Dominican Republic on November 12, 1968. He was initially signed by the Texas Rangers but later traded to the Chicago White Sox for Harold Baines at the deadline in 1989, shortly after making his big league debut. The White Sox later traded him to the rivals from the Northside for George Bell before the 1992 season. Before the 1998 season, Sosa showed power but was largely undisciplined. His previous career high in home runs was 40, set in 1996.
When 1998 began, Sammy Sosa appeared to be on the way to his average 35 home run type season after hitting six home runs in April and seven in May. However, when he began June with two home runs in a 10-2 win against the Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field, history was about to be made. Sammy Sosa had multiple home runs in four different games during June. Hitting a pair of home runs in back-to-back games against the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field on June 19th and 20th and hitting three home runs at home against the Milwaukee Brewers in a 6-5 win on June 15th. The Cubs would split the two games with the Phillies, losing on June 19th in 12 innings 9-8 and winning the following day 9-4. Sammy Sosa tied the record of Rudy York on June 24th in a 7-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers in 12 innings on June 24th. A day later, he broke the record with a seventh-inning dinger of Brian Moehler as the Cubs suffered a 6-4 loss at Tiger Stadium. Sammy Sosa would add another home run. Sammy Sosa would close the month with a home run on June 30th in a 5-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field. The home run brought his June total to 20, marking the first time somebody hit 20 home runs in a single month.
Sammy Sosa would enter July with 33 home runs, four behind Mark McGwire. Over the next three months, the two would battle for history, with McGwire ending the season with 70, while Sosa also passed Marris and finished with 66 home runs.