The member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, Pedro Martínez, said that he would have loved to see Sammy Sosa share a space in the niche of the Cooperstown immortals, but he maintained that as long as there are voters with opposing criteria this will not be possible. .
“We are all proud of Sammy, of his numbers as an athlete, as a Dominican and as a Latino, I would have liked to see him already in the Hall of Fame in a cleaner way next to all of us, but unfortunately as long as there is scrutiny, as long as there is different minds, because each head is a world, we have to wait for it to be resolved with Sammy”.
The winner of three Cy Young Awards in the majors (1997, 1999, 2000) indicated that a figure like Sammy along with other players deserve a place in the Hall of Fame and at the same time maintained that everyone is responsible for their actions to materialize it.
“I hope they give him the opportunity, also to others who deserve it, as a Dominican, I would be delighted with life, if Sammy were with me in the Hall of Fame, but everyone is responsible for their actions and they must handle it according to their behavior and what they have done,” Martinez said.
His statements were offered at the Legends Day press conference held last Sunday at the Quisqueya Juan Marichal Stadium, in honor of former baseball player Albert Pujols. Several years ago, Pedro Martínez urged Sosa to defend himself more emphatically against the accusations that he was using prohibited substances, despite never having been suspended for this reason in the majors.
Sammy Sosa had the opportunity to be included in the list of former players to be considered for immortality by the Committee of the Era of Contemporary Players, but he was not selected as a candidate and will have to wait until 2025 to have a new opportunity.
Last Sunday Fred Mcgriff was the only one selected as immortal from Cooperstown in this modality. The bambino from the Caribbean hit 609 home runs in the Major Leagues and hit more than 60 home runs three times in a season.
Dominicans in Cooperstown
Juan Marichal paved the way for the immortals in Cooperstown in 1983.
Pedro Martínez was the second to embrace the niche in 2015.
Vladimir Guerrero became the third in 2018.
David Ortiz was the most recent to embrace immortality in this same year.