Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – Sammy Sosa and Luis Castillo will be honored with special recognitions from the Juan Marichal Prize on December 14th in Santo Domingo, it was announced today. The awards acknowledge the distinguished careers of both players in Major League Baseball.
The honors come at a notable time for Sosa, recently inducted into the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame after a period of distance between the player and the institution. For Castillo, the recognition adds to his legacy as a cornerstone of the Miami Marlins franchise and a record-setting second baseman.
Sosa began his MLB journey with the Cubs in 1992, spending 13 seasons in Chicago. He remains the franchise’s all-time home run leader with 545, and ranks among the Cubs’ all-time best in several categories, including slugging percentage (2nd, .569), runs batted in (3rd, 1,414), total bases (4th, 3,980), runs scored (6th, 1,245), walks (6th, 798), at-bats (8th, 6,990), hits (9th, 1,985), and games played (10th, 1,811). He earned the National League’s Most Valuable Player award in 1998, hitting a franchise-record 66 home runs and leading the Cubs to the postseason. A seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger award winner,Sosa also holds the Wrigley Field record for home runs with 293.
Castillo,a former second baseman,is a member of the inaugural class of the Miami Marlins Hall of Fame and continues to hold numerous franchise records,including most games played. He was instrumental in the Marlins’ 2003 World Series championship. During his time with the Marlins, Castillo was a three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner.
His 35-game hitting streak in 2002 established an MLB record for a second baseman at the time and remains the longest hitting streak by a Dominican player in Major League Baseball history.
