ammy Sosa arrived at Fenway Park this week at the absolute peak of his career. Leading the National League with 32 homers, he was the top vote-getter in the NL, another sign of how last year's record-setting home run duel with Mark McGwire turned him into a household name.
Sosa has been exercising his seemingly bottomless charm ever since his magical season, pitching products, helping hurricane victims, and promoting his native Dominican Republic. But he was nowhere to be found after a disappointing All-Star performance that once again left him overshadowed by McGwire.
Sosa hit just one home run in Monday's Derby. Then, last night, he went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. He was one of Pedro Martinez's first-inning victims, and later, with runners on second and third in the fifth, he found himself equally blown away by Mike Mussina.
As McGwire and others paraded before the media to talk movingly about the evening, particularly their encounter with Ted Williams, Sosa declined to speak. He left after his appearance.
Asked if Sosa may have been feeling pressure, National League manager Bruce Bochy said, ''No, he knows what this is about. He was having fun, and he was trying. I don't think you can look at three at-bats and say he was struggling. Hey, they just made good pitches.''
Sosa was in a good mood as recently as Monday, when he joked he might hit 72 homers a season if he played at Fenway. However, after the Home Run Derby, he explained his performance by saying it's really his 32 regular-season homers that count.
Sosa usually handles his celebrity with aplomb, but it must be strange for him to be linked so strongly with McGwire, only to be constantly overshadowed. McGwire, too, struggled last night, but before the game he was named as one of the top 100 players of the century. Sosa was not.
Cubs manager Jim Riggleman said he thought Sosa may have been distracted by his growing celebrity. He said Sosa brought a large entourage to Boston, and it would be good for him to get back to Chicago, where he can focus on the second half of the season.
''I'd rather have him get his hits when we get back home,'' Riggleman said. ''You can only hold Sammy down for so long.''
By the time Sosa, who batted third in front of McGwire, came up in the first, it was clear Martinez was on fire. Martinez already had struck out Barry Larkin on an impossible changeup and Larry Walker on a fastball, so the tension surrounding Sosa's first at-bat was heightened.
Martinez struck him out on five pitches, including a curveball that caused his knees to buckle. He fanned on an overpowering fastball.
''Sammy was aggressive as usual, just going after it hard,'' said Riggleman. ''But when somebody's as sharp as Pedro threw tonight, then there are not going to be many people who are going to catch up with him.''
Sosa popped out against David Cone in the third. In the fifth, he came up with runners on second and third after Luis Gonzalez doubled off Mussina. But Mussina blew fastballs past Sosa and McGwire to get out of the jam.
During the game, as Major League Baseball paraded its stars before the media, McGwire talked long and movingly about the experience, even though he, too, had gone hitless. A baseball official said Sosa refused to answer questions before or after the game. He was last seen outside Fenway, getting into a limousine and disappearing into the night.
