Sammy Sosa, Texas Ranger?

One week after Mark McGwire is denied a plaque in Cooperstown, Sammy Sosa -- his 1998 rival in breaking Roger Maris' single-season home run record -- begins a personal comeback to Major League Baseball.

Sammy Sosa, who sat out the 2006 season after an unspectacular 2005 with the Baltimore Orioles, has expressed an interest in returning to baseball. He has reportedly been training for over a month to make a big comeback to the big leagues. And now the former Chicago Cubs right fielder was seen working out with the Texas Rangers and meeting with the ball club's general manager, Jon Daniels.

The Texas Rangers have not issued any official statements as of yet regarding an offer to the man who ranks 5^th on the all-time home run list. But indications are that Sosa, who currently has 588 homers, might be pursuing number 600 come this spring in a Texas Rangers uniform.

Daniels has stated that Sosa "seems committed to proving himself again ... wants to contribute to a winning environment."

For Sammy Sosa it would be a coming home of sorts. The Dominican Republic native began his major league career as a 20-year-old rookie for the Texas Rangers in 1989. That year he saw 25 games in right field for Texas before being traded to the Chicago White Sox. Sammy Sosa batted .257 in 183 official plate appearances between the two ball clubs. He had just four total homer runs.

Playing on Chicago's south side in 1990 and 1991, Sosa was slow to show much promise as a ball player, batting an underwhelming .203 and .230, respectively. That Sammy Sosa was a far cry form the slugger who would put up monster numbers as a north-sider just a few years later.

When Sammy Sosa moved north to Wrigleyville in 1992 his career high for home runs in a single season had been 15. Six years later, he became the first Chicago Cub since Ryne Sandberg in 1990 to hit 40 home runs. By 1998, Sammy Sosa would be rewriting the Cubs record books.

In an amazing display of power, Sosa became the first and only batter in Major League Baseball history to hit 50 or more home runs in four consecutive seasons. He had 66 in 1998 -- the year many credit the Sammy Sosa/Mark McGwire slugfest for saving baseball from its post-1994-player-strike malaise -- followed by 63 in '99, 50 in '00, and '64 in '01. Ironically, the "low" tally of 50 in 2000 marked the only time Sosa actually claimed a major league home run title. He otherwise finished second either to McGwire or to Barry Bonds.

Sammy Sosa, four-time All-Star and 1998 National League MVP, could have run for mayor of Chicago; at least, that is, on the city's north side.

His productivity and popularity began to wane after the 2002 season. Sosa's career hit its nadir in 2003, however, when the Chicago slugger was caught playing with a corked bat. Evidence of this rule infraction went shattering down the first base line after a broken bat incident in the first inning of a June 3 game against Tampa Bay. Sammy received an eight-game suspension from the league and such unflattering nicknames as "Scammin' Sammy" and "Say it Ain't Sosa" from the fans.

2004 was Sammy Sosa's final season with the Cubs. He then left unceremoniously to play out what many thought would be his final year in the big leagues at Baltimore. A .221 batting average with a mere 14 homers was all the home run legend could muster.

"I still have a lot of passion for the game and I'm in shape," Sosa said in November 2006. "I want to get to six hundred home runs before saying goodbye."

Negotiations are under way to start him on that path in the Texas Rangers farm system.

Sources: Associated Press "Sosa Works Out for Rangers" and "Sosa, Rangers Nearing Agreement" by Stephen Hawkins.