Summer of Sammy: Sosa's 52nd homer in 1998

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It's the 20th anniversary of the Summer of Sammy, when Sosa and Mark McGwire went toe-to-toe in one of the most exciting seasons in American sports history chasing after Roger Maris' home run record. All year, we're going to go homer-by-homer on Sosa's 66 longballs, with highlights and info about each. Enjoy.

In a quirky bit of irony, 20 years before the Cubs got set to play the Reds at Wrigley Field on Aug. 26, 2018, the two teams squared off in Cincinnati as Sosa and McGwire were in the heat of their dinger race.

Slammin' Sammy helped the Cubs end a four-game losing streak on Aug. 26, 1998, smacking a two-out solo homer off Brett Tomko in the third inning.

It was his only hit of the day, but it was enough to help the Cubs to a 9-2 victory as they began a stretch where they won 9 of 10 games.

Fun fact: Rookie Kerry Wood picked up his 12th win in the game, allowing only an earned run in 8 innings while striking out a whopping 16 Reds batters.

Wood only made one more start in 1998, missing all of September that season with elbow soreness that eventually led to a Tommy John surgery.

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