When did Sammy Sosa retire?

Sammy Sosa retired in 2007. That year, he told the media he planned to retire and would calmly wait for his induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame, for which he became eligible in 2013.

Two weeks later, the New York Times reported Sosa tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2002, which he denied taking in a statement read by his lawyer at a 2005 Congressional hearing.

In 2009, Sosa appeared at a music awards show looking much lighter in complexion than he had just months earlier.

The buzz around this drastic change prompted him to go on a Spanish-language television station to deny that he was ill, that he hated being dark-skinned, or that his new skin tone was the result of steroid use.