Sammy Sosa: The Comeback Douche

The very first time I got interested in the differences in communication between Spanish and English in the Major Leagues was when I saw an interview around 1999 with Sammy Sosa on Spanish TV. After his huge 2008 season, one that saw him on the cover of magazines and on TV shows proclaiming baseball had been "berry berry good to me," his image was that of a humble, fun loving guy that had dug himself out of poverty.

And, let's face it, he looked a little dumb too. Like a big idiot.

But that's neither here nor there. In the interview, Sammy Sosa was looking down on this reporter and talking in a very condescending way. This wasn't the humble, scrappy, stupid Sammy I was used to. This was a very obnoxious guy who knew he had made it to the top.

His tone the whole time was "you are so lucky I'm letting you interview me."

I was shocked.

Anyway, Sammy is semi-retired but still at it, telling Dominican media:

"Aún no tengo una oferta y no debería estar buscando ofertas", dijo Sosa en el informe. "Cualquier equipo que esté interesado en firmarme debería tomar la iniciativa y hacerme una oferta".

"Los que me vieron entrenar saben que estoy dándole a la pelota con la autoridad de siempre. Sólo espero tener la oportunidad de demostrar que aún soy una amenaza"

Which translates to:

"I still don't have an offer and I shouldn't have to be looking for offers. Any team interested in me should take the initiative and make me an offer. Those that saw me practice know I'm still hitting the ball with the same authority I always have [not clear if he's including his last year in the bigs here, where he hit .252 and struck out about once a game, although he did hit 21 HRs in 114 games]. I'm just waiting for an opportunity to show that I'm a threat."

I still think a team should sign the guy for the league minimum, but they should make him revert to "English only mode." Put that in his contract and at least he won't be such a douche to hispanic reporters.

I mean, we're talking about this guy: