“Long Gone Summer” Documentary, Highlighting Sammy Sosa’s 1998 Home Run Chase, Headed to ESPN

Sammy Sosa’s summeris heating up…

The 51-year-old Dominican former professional baseball right fielder will be the focus of a special documentary to air on ESPN.

Sammy Sosa

Sosa, who played in the Major League Baseballfor 19 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs, is part of the focus of AJ Schnack’s, Long Gone Summer, an official selection of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.

It chronicles Mark McGwire and Sosa’s storied 1998 home run chase. For the first time, both men discuss that summer at length, including its undeniable complications.

The 1998MLB home run chase was between McGwire, a first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Seattle Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr., and Sosa, a right fielder for the Cubs. It resulted in McGwire and Sosa breaking Roger Maris‘ long-standing and highly coveted record of 61 home runs. 

McGwire broke Maris’s record on September 8 against the Cubs and finished with 70 home runs. Sosa finished with 66.

The documentary will air on Sunday, June 14 at 9:00 pm ET.

The film will be made available on ESPN+immediately after its premiere, along with the rest of the 30 for 30 library.

Pete Alonso Sets National League Rookie Record with 68 RBIs Before the All-Star Break

Pete Alonso may be a rookie, but he’s already makin’ a name for himself in Major League Baseball

The 24-year-old part-Spanish American professional baseball player and New York Mets first baseman, ready to play in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Cleveland, has set the National League rookie record with 68 RBIs before the break.

Pete Alonso

He hit his 30th home run of the season Sunday in an 8-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, driving in two runs with the shot, to set the mark.

He was tied with Albert Pujols, who had 66 for the St. Louis Cardinalsin 2001. Walt Droposet the major league mark of 83 for the Boston Red Soxin 1950.

His 30 home runs are tied for the second most by a rookie in major league history before the All-Star break. The New York Yankees‘ Aaron Judge also hit 30 in 2017. Mark McGwireholds the major league record, with 33 for the Oakland Athletics in 1987 before the break.

Giancarlo Stanton Hits MLB-Leading 54th Home Run of the Season

And the hits just keep coming for Giancarlo Stanton

The 27-year-old part-Puerto Rican professional baseball player hit his MLB-leading 54th home run of the season in the Miami Marlins‘ 6-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

Giancarlo Stanton

After being given a day off on Friday, Stanton hit the homer off rookie left-hander Max Fried in the first inning on Saturday night.

The ball would have traveled 456 feet unimpeded, according to MLB Statcast, and landed deep into the left-center seats.

Stanton’s 54 homers are the same number that Mark McGwire had through this date in 1999 and the same number Sammy Sosa had through this date in 2001, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Stanton has six homers against the Braves this season. He now has 15 more homers than New York Yankees rookie Aaron Judge and Oakland AthleticsKhris Davis, who were tied for second.

The previous Marlins record was 42 homers by Gary Sheffield in 1996.

Abreu Earns MLB Player and Rookie of the Month Honors in July

It’s turned out to be a July to remember for Jose Abreu…

The 27-year-old Cuban professional baseball player, a first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, has been named both player of the month and rookie of the month for July.

Jose Abreu

It’s Abreu’s third rookie of the month award this season and it’s the second time that he has won both honors in the same calendar month, achieving the same feat in April, when he made his MLB debut in massive style.

Abreu makes history with the honors… No one in baseball has ever won both awards in the same month twice in one season, and Abreu became just the fourth player to win the rookie honor three or more times in a season. Ichiro Suzuki won it four times in 2001, Mike Trout won four in 2012 and Jason Bay won three in 2004.

Much like his style all season, Abreu was pretty modest about his latest honors.

“I don’t really like to talk about myself a lot but I am surprised (at the accomplishments),” Abreu said through an interpreter. “I wasn’t expecting to have all this success and definitely all these awards. But, you know, I am very thankful that it happened. I just continue to go about my day the same way and continue to work on my routines.”

Abreu batted .374 in July with 11 doubles, six home runs and 19 RBIs in 25 games. He also had a .432 on-base percentage and a .667 slugging percentage all while dealing with lower back discomfort toward the tail end of July.

He not only hit safely in 24 of the 25 July games, he led the American League in batting average, slugging percentage, OPS (1.099), extra-base hits (17) and total bases (66).

“It’s not surprising; you’re happy for him,” manager Robin Ventura said. “He’s had a great month and he gets rewarded for it. The kind of teammate he is makes it better. Guys are happy for him.”

Despite missing 14 games this season while on the disabled list with an ankle issue, Abreu leads the major leagues in home runs (31), RBIs (84), slugging percentage (.627), at-bats per home run (12.29) and at-bats per RBI (4.54).

He’s on pace to hit 45 home runs and drive in 122 runs. Mark McGwire has the rookie record for home runs with 49 in 1987.

“I don’t know that anyone really envisioned this,” Ventura said. “When you saw and heard the ball coming off his bat (during spring training) you understand his power and things like that. You probably allowed for a little more inconsistency going through your first year of seeing pitchers and knowing the type of pitchers you’ll see every day are pretty dang good. You don’t really envision the numbers you’re seeing, but once you see him, it can make sense.”