Getty Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire have had success after their baseball careers ended.
Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire are back in the spotlight as ESPN released the new 30 for 30 documentary Long Gone Summer. The two baseball legends headed in different directions after they retired.
Sosa is best known for his time with the Cubs but the slugger ended up finishing his MLB career playing one season each for the Orioles and Rangers before retiring in 2007. McGwire finished his career much earlier retiring in 2001 as a member of the Cardinals.
McGwire Spent Time as an MLB Coach for the Cardinals, Dodgers & Padres
McGwire took a long break from baseball but eventually returned to MLB as a coach. He reunited with his former team by accepting the Cardinals hitting coach position in 2009. The former slugger headed west in 2012 after taking the same position with the Dodgers. McGwire spent three seasons in Los Angeles before jumping to the Padres in 2016 to be their bench coach. He once again stepped away from baseball in 2018 to spend more time with his family.
“He wants to watch his two boys play high school baseball,” former Padres manager Andy Green said at the time, per ESPN. “We talked about it a lot before the season ended.”
Two of McGwire’s sons, Mason and Max McGwire, are baseball teammates at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, California. McGwire appears to be spending a good portion of his time watching his sons play baseball. McGwire is the father of six children including triplets that his wife, Stephanie Slemer, gave birth to in 2010, per Fan Buzz.
Sosa Now Runs His Own Business
Sosa turned to the business world once his baseball career came to a close. Sports Illustrated reported that Sosa declined to discuss specifics of his business ventures during a 2018 interview, but it sounds like the former MLB star has a truly global organization. Sosa has houses in a number of places including the United Arab Emirates, Miami and Santo Domingo.
Although he won’t provide many verifiable details, he says he has interests in his home country, the Dominican Republic (oil); as well as in Panama (stormproof housing); the U.K. (beverages and hospitality); and the United Arab Emirates (real estate).
There were some rumors that Sosa was seeking a job with the Cubs, but he denied this idea. Sosa told NBC Sports in 2018 that any contact he has had with his old squad is simply his way of staying in contact with the Cubs. The Chicago legend is focused on running his business interests rather than trying to get into baseball.
“I was playing for a company many years ago, it was the Tribune Company, so after I retire I formed my own company, so I’m not looking for a job,” Sosa explained. “When I call somebody the first thing that I say is, ‘I’m not looking for a job. Just called you to say hello.’ So I have my own company, I’m comfortable.”
In addition to his business ventures, Sosa also enjoys being a family man to his wife Sonia Sosa along with his four children.