Sammy Sosa's Stunning Transformation

Former MLB slugger's skin change is causing speculation about player's health

By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY

Updated 3:00 PM PST, Sat, Nov 7, 2009

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It's typical for an athletes' appearance to change after they retire from professional sports -- they pack on a few pounds and age like normal people. But there's something stunningly different about Sammy Sosa's post-baseball look.

Recent photos snapped of the former Chicago Cubs slugger show a shocking transformation: his skin is turning white -- stark white. In addition, he appears to be wearing green contact lenses, which is no big deal compared with the impossible-to-miss pigmentation change.

The above photo shows Sosa on the left at a May 2009 People Magazine event. The right is Sosa, who retired in 2007 with 609 career homers, earlier this week in Las Vegas for the Latin Grammys.

While neither Sosa or anyone close to him has addressed the change in skin tone, baseball bloggers are speculating that it could be some cosmetic lightening process or worse, a side-effect of using performance enhancing drugs -- although there appears to be little to no evidence that steroid use can lead to skin lightening disorder such as vitiligo. In June, the New York Times reported that Sosa tested positive for a banned substance in 2003.

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First Published: Nov 7, 2009 1:40 PM PST

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0 Comments

{"totSize":5,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_69480167","adminTags":null,"views":925,"createdBy":9721296,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sammy Sosa's Stunning Transformation","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2675349,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"8 Nov 2009 02:13:31 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"singa","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1206412","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Hey, as long as he doesn't start messing with young boys, who cares what color his skin is??!! Coupled with the contacts, this appears to be cosmetic. My understanding of vitiligo is that it doesn't lighten the skin evenly, but rather in patches. That he doesn't feel comfortable with his natural skin tone could be sad, but then how many men and women get nose jobs, breast implants, face lifts, etc. This type of thing is available, now. So, I guess they say to themselves, "Why not? I can afford it!""},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_69480167","adminTags":null,"views":925,"createdBy":9229725,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sammy Sosa's Stunning Transformation","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2675349,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"8 Nov 2009 06:25:44 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"Paulination","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1207170","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":""The above photo shows Sosa on the left at a May 2009 People Magazine event. The right is Sosa, who retired in 2007 with 609 career homers, earlier this week in Las Vegas for the Latin Grammys" That's wierd, on my computer the photo on the left is darker which contradicts this article."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_69480167","adminTags":null,"views":925,"createdBy":9673204,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sammy Sosa's Stunning Transformation","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2675349,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"9 Nov 2009 16:40:39 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"freddyj619","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1213997","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Paul, I think they got the pics backwards. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_69480167","adminTags":null,"views":925,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sammy Sosa's Stunning Transformation","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2675349,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"9 Nov 2009 18:01:25 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1214678","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Left - May 2009 - darker. Right - Earlier this week - lighter"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_69480167","adminTags":null,"views":925,"createdBy":9229725,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Sammy Sosa's Stunning Transformation","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2675349,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"9 Nov 2009 18:52:44 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"Paulination","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1215089","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":""Left - May 2009 - darker. Right - Earlier this week - lighter" Well that's what I get for speed reading. Thanks "Anonymous" for pointing that out. I did the same thing I have critisized others for so I guess I will be more understanding in the future. That is an amazing difference in only a few months. "}],"error":"","totPages":1}