Sammy Sosa had a New York parade despite never playing for the Yankees or Mets
A ticker tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes is one of the most iconic vignettes in pop culture lore.
Typically reserved for presidents and popes, prime ministers and monarchs, those so feted in downtown Manhattan include Queen Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and John Paul II.
Sports teams often frequent the fabled New York route, toting championship trophies to civic acclaim. And baseball teams, naturally, are serial parade recipients, given the Big Apple has housed 35 World Series winners all-time.
Solo sportspeople have occasionally traversed the sacred path, too – golfers and swimmers, figure skaters and Olympians. But just two baseball figures have received their own New York parade sans teammates. Connie Mack was the first, in 1949, as he approached 50 years managing the Philadelphia Athletics. And the second? Sammy Sosa, epochal slugger of the Chicago Cubs, who was celebrated in 1998 despite never winning a Fall Classic nor playing for the hometown Yankees or Mets.
Sosa, of course, captured the hearts of a nation that summer while jousting with Cardinals juggernaut Mark McGwire for the single-season home run record. A charismatic Dominican, Sosa mashed 66 homers in ‘98, breaking the vaunted record of Roger Maris, only for McGwire to top them both with 70 big flies. In its metronomic cadence and cinematic drama, the Sosa-McGwire chase galvanised passion for baseball following the destructive 1994-1995 players’ strike, and institutions raced to lionise the fun-loving combatants.
Among the galas and ceremonies, Cardinal John O’Connor invited Sosa to St Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan following the season to receive the John Paul II Medal for ‘great sportsmanship that inspired our youth.’ (1) Plans for additional Gotham celebrations mushroomed from there, with talk of a parade to coincide with Sosa’s visit. (2)
Importantly, of course, New York has long been home to a large Dominican population – the largest in the global diaspora, in fact. Around 500,000 Dominicans lived in New York City during the late 1990s – a majority in the Washington Heights neighbourhood of northern Manhattan. (3) That baseball-loving community converged in ‘98 to cheer for Sosa daily – play-by-play wafting from tenement to tenement via communal radios while cheers erupted from bars and bodegas with each new dinger. (4) Sosa grew up poor in the Dominican, washing cars and shining shoes, and his meteoric rise resonated with many from a similar background. (5)
Sosa’s renown, indeed, was attributable to much more than sporting success. Born and raised in San Pedro de Macorís, Sosa never forgot his roots, frequently supporting local charitable courses; purchasing ambulances for needy communities; and establishing local baseball academies. (6) When Hurricane Georges hit his homeland in September 1998, killing 615 while causing almost $10 billion in damages, Sosa raised $300,000 and conducted food drives to help those effected. The Dominican president even greeted Sosa on a subsequent return home – a token of patriotic appreciation. (7)
Against that backdrop, and informed of plans to celebrate Sosa in New York, congressman Charles Rangel rose in the House of Representatives on 15 October to call for the inclusion of the city’s most passionate baseball enclave. “The Dominican-born Sosa is the toast of Washington Heights, a vibrant, colourful neighbourhood on the west side of my congressional district, dominated by immigrants from the Dominican Republic,” said Rangel. “Dominicans are proud of their country and their community and take special pride in those heroes who remember their roots. Sosa has done just that in his generosity toward the poor in his homeland – before and since Hurricane Georges – and in his expressed desire to participate in a neighbourhood parade through the streets of Washington Heights.” (8)
Unfortunately, plans for a large parade through Washington Heights were nixed by mayor Rudy Giuliani and police commissioner Howard Safir, who cited the neighbourhood’s dense population and insufficient planning time as rationale. Larger, and more accustomed to holding such grand celebrations, the Canyon of Heroes was proffered as a more suitable destination, and Giuliani, a rabid baseball fan, sanctioned its use. (4)
“You can only have so many parades, and this is a place where we honour heroes,” Giuliani explained at a 15 October press conference. “As a Dominican American, he [Sosa] represents the aspirations, the hopes and the dreams of many, many New Yorkers.” (4)
As such, Sosa flew to New York for a special weekend of ceremonies and celebrations. On 16 October, Cardinal O’Connor presented the papal medal at a bilingual mass attended by 1,000 people. (9) (10) “You were once a little Cub; now, you are a big cardinal,” quipped the prelate, earning a wry chuckle. (1)
The following day, freshly endowed, Sosa visited patients at St Clare’s Hospital and Health Centre on West 52nd Street. (11) Governor George Pataki presented Sosa with the inaugural Jackie Robinson Empire State Freedom Medal, with Rachel Robinson, the venerable widow, also in attendance. (12) Two further catholic hospitals were visited before Sosa ventured to Bowling Green, near Broadway, where his centrepiece parade began at 1:30pm. (11)
Riding a float fronted by US and Dominican flags in addition to a gigantic baseball, Sosa waved to adoring revellers, congregated two and three deep on the sidewalk to chant his name. A police band provided a pompous soundtrack – including, a little incongruously, Sinatra’s New York, New York – while the shrill clamour of Dominican carnival raised a mighty din. (13)
“You heard horns and sirens and a happy, excited music that seemed to come up off the sidewalks and be more vowels than consonants,” wrote Mike Lupica. “You saw fathers and sons, a lot of them, the children waving smaller flags. You saw whole families: a snapshot of modern New York City here on the street corner on Saturday morning as fine and real as any shot of the skyline.” (14)
One attendee, Margie Bermudez of Jersey City, was widely quoted by the press: “A lot of people portray Hispanics, particularly Dominicans, as the kid on the corner selling drugs. We need someone positive, and right now, Sosa’s there to show we have ambition, we have dreams. A lot of poorer kids, he gives them ambition to do more for their lives.” (15)
The parade culminated in City Hall Park, where Giuliani was booed before giving a speech. “On behalf of all New Yorkers, it is my great honour to present Sammy Sosa with the Key to the City and proclaim Saturday, October 17th, Sammy Sosa Day in New York City,” said the mayor. “I think all New Yorkers respect Sammy Sosa, not only for his achievements on the baseball field, but also for the kind of man he is. (16)
“He is a great representative of the very best in sports, in character, in ability and as a role model for young people. Today, we honour not only his 66 home runs, but also his work in creating the Sammy Sosa Foundation, an organisation that raises funds for underprivileged children in Chicago and the Dominican Republic, and his demonstrated heroism in the face of difficulty or adversity and hardships to inspire others. New York City is home to the largest Dominican community outside the Dominican Republic and is proud to have one of its heroes come home.” (16)
Sosa received a city seal, a commemorative NYC jacket, and a printed declaration of Sammy Sosa Day. (17) In return, Slammin’ Sammy gifted Giuliani a bat used to hit one of his hallowed home runs. Initially, Sosa claimed the lumber was responsible for the 66th blast, only for the Baseball Hall of Fame to dispute that notion, claiming it possessed that particular bat for exhibition. (18)
“It’s been unbelievable,” Sosa told the assembled crowd, regardless, pausing to wipe tears from his eyes. “To be here in New York with all the Dominican people, that’s what I am. I am a man of the people. That’s all I am. The Keys to the City that I was given today do not belong to me. They belong to you. You are the people of New York. You are my people.” (19)
Incidentally, an eclectic bunch of people have been gifted the Keys to New York City – a ceremonial honour that confers no specific benefits. In no particular order, other key-holders include, oddly, David Wells, Benjamin Netanyahu, Don Mattingly, Larry Doby, John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Aaron Judge, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Cosby, Mother Teresa, Muhammad Ali, Alex Rodriguez, Bucky Dent, Bob Lemon, Robert De Niro, Dolly Parton, Jimmy Carter, Jacques Chirac and Joe DiMaggio. Now that is a party I would pay to attend. (20)
Speaking of DiMaggio, The Yankee Clipper was tangentially involved in Sosa’s New York coronation, as well. That very evening, you see, mere hours after the Sosa parade finished, a World Series game took place in the Bronx – as it often did in those autumnal days of yore. Seeking a second world championship in three years, the dynastic Yankees played host to the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of another Gotham Fall Classic. George Steinbrenner, the Yanks’ inimitable owner, reportedly wanted DiMaggio to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, while MLB officials strong-armed Sosa into that prestigious slot. (21) The Boss chafed at such interference, vocalising volcanic disgruntlement, only for DiMaggio to fall ill before the game and require hospitalisation. (14) Sosa got the ball, accordingly, and a crowd of 56,712 applauded him respectfully. (7)
The next morning, Sosa made good on his promise by heading to Washington Heights. Sammy enjoyed breakfast with local dignitaries then attended a smaller – though no less passionate – rally culminating in Riverbank State Park. Rival politicians – councilman Guillermo Linares and assemblyman Adriano Espaillat – stifled their many differences to arrange the second parade, at which Sosa held babies, posed for photos and signed autographs for scores of agog attendees. (11) (22) (23)
Five days later, the 125-win Yankees luxuriated in their own parade down the Canyon of Heroes, having made light work of the Padres, who were swept in four games. Sosa, meanwhile, was named National League MVP, ahead of McGwire, before receiving another parade – this time, 30 miles long – upon his return to Santo Domingo. (1) From there, Sosa finished his remarkable year by joining president Bill Clinton and first lady Hilary to light the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. (24)
The revelry continued into 1999, when John Paul II himself mentioned the Sosa-McGwire home run chase during his visit to St Louis. (25) Later that year, Sosa backed his historic campaign by hitting a further 63 home runs. Then, amid a comparative ‘down’ year in 2000, as Sosa launch 50 bombs, the Yankees actually explored bringing Slammin’ Sammy to New York permanently. Bronx Bombers general manager Brian Cashman discussed a potential trade with the Cubs, only to balk at the asking price and import Jose Canseco instead. (26)
Nevertheless, Sosa retained strong ties to the Big Apple, best exemplified by his touching response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In the Cubs’ first home game following the atrocities, Sosa ran out to his position with a small US flag – a symbolic gesture that spoke to his continued kinship with New York. A few weeks later, Sosa became the first player in baseball history to top 60 homers in a single season thrice – a record that still stands.
It was all downhill from there, however, as Sosa’s cherubic, idolised image was sullied by inference – if not by evidence – of involvement in performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Ironically, Canseco blew the lid off industry whispers with Juiced, his tell-all memoir, in 2005. Embroiled in the saga, Sosa testified to a Congressional committee in 2005, and though he denied ever using PEDs in sworn testimony, the mood music grew morose.
Subsequently, in 2009, the New York Times named Sosa on a leaked list of 104 MLB players who purportedly failed PED tests in 2003, back before a formal testing and punishment regime existed. (27) Those supposedly confidential tests formed part of an information-gathering exercise as the league and players’ union sought to ascertain the extent of PED usage in baseball. However, the Times’ report shed new light, and invited fresh scrutiny, on a sordid era for the national pastime.
As such, although Sosa never failed an official, unsealed PED test, his reputation was unalterably damaged in the court of public opinion. Sosa had already retired when details of the alleged failed test leaked. His Cubs tenure came to an acrimonious end in 2004, and later stints with Baltimore and Texas proved comparatively uneventful. Nevertheless, despite 609 lifetime home runs, the sixth most ever at the time of his retirement, Sosa received little serious consideration for the Hall of Fame – a symbolic coda to his rollercoaster career.
Sosa finally issued a mea culpa – of sorts – in 2024. “There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games,” Sosa said in a statement, widely taken as a vague, cryptic reference to PED. “I never broke any laws, but in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologise.” (28)
That apology was viewed as a prerequisite to reconciliation with the Cubs, from whom he was estranged for 17 years. Shortly thereafter, Sosa attended the Cubs Convention before returning to Wrigley Field last summer in a moment of bittersweet nostalgia. Sure, it was not Cooperstown. It was not even the Canyon of Heroes. But for a gigantic star who fell from grace, it was enough. It was more than he could have expected.
Sources
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