Samuel Peralta Sosa was born November 12,1968, in San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. In 1975, Sammy's father Juan Montero Sosa died, and Sammy's mother Mireya Sosa took a job in the textile district, delivering food to the workers. Sosa and his siblings had to find work, ending his hopes for an education. Sosa's mother and her seven children lived in a one-room home until Sammy bought them a new home when he became a major-league baseball player.

In about 1983, at age fourteen, Sosa was persuaded by a brother to play baseball for the first time. He proved adept at the game while using an inside-out milk carton for a fielder's glove. In 1985, Sosa attended a baseball camp run in the Dominican Republic by the Toronto Blue Jays, but it was a scout for the Texas Rangers, Amado Dinzey, who saw him and asked a minor-league coach for...