What impresses me most about Chicago Cubs' slugger Sammy Sosa is his love and enthusiasm for the game. Much of this comes from playing in a great baseball city like Chicago. Cubs' fans love their team and Sammy Sosa. And Sammy Sosa loves his fans. He loves the attention and plays to the crowd.

Most players who experience Sosa-type success shy away from the attention; they just want to go on the field, do their thing and go about their business. Not so with Sosa, who relishes the spotlight and flourishes in it. For a player to hit as many home runs as Sammy has in the last four or five years, not win the home run title and still be enthusiastic about it -- that's pretty amazing.

	Sammy Sosa Right Field Chicago Cubs Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI BB OPS AVG 18 7 11 13 1.121 .299

Sosa's consistency over the last four years has been likewise impressive. When he first joined the Cubs, in 1992, Sosa could hit for a power but pitchers still felt they could pitch to him. Now he's become much more patient at the plate; last season he set a new personal high in walks (116) for the sixth straight year. He'll take his walks now, and at some point this season he'll have Moises Alou and Fred McGriff batting behind him. So sooner or later they're going to have to pitch to Sosa.

Since he's found his home run success, we've seen a more mature Sammy Sosa, someone who has become more confident in his ability. Early on with the Cubs, that wasn't the case. Sosa would swing at everything and thought he had to pull everything. I think he had to be reminded to be more patient at the plate.

As he's gotten older, he's realized that he's able to hit the ball out to the other side of the park -- and to all parts of the park. Knowing that you can wait a little longer on a pitch than the average guy, and still hit it out of the ballpark, is huge. Once he gained that knowledge, Sosa really took off and began to do the things people thought he could do.

Hitting 60 home runs three times in four years (and 50 in that "off" year) is truly amazing.

When I was playing, I talked to Sosa all the time, every year. He'd come over, and you know how the fans at Wrigley bow down to him as he runs out to right field? He'd do that to me when we played the Cubs.

Good hitters have a language that most people don't understand. I always used to tell him that he didn't have to pull the ball. Like a lot of guys in the big leagues, Sosa knows his club depends on him to hit the ball out of the park. Otherwise, Sosa would be hitting .350-.360, but part of his game is hitting the ball out of the park and driving in runs (league-leading 160 RBI in 2001).

A hitter faces this dilemma: Do I try to hit the ball or do I try to hit the ball out of the park? In the process, you have to sacrifice something. Most power hitters think the sacrifice is strikeouts. But I don't think Sammy thinks that, he's got a free-wheeling swing, he just lets it go -- but if he wanted to, he could ping the ball around and still hit with some significant pop.

His mechanics -- the stepping backwards -- give him the ability to see the ball a little longer; stepping backwards is becoming a common thing. He starts off with his feet spread out, and if he were to go forward from there it would be hard to keep his eyes on a level plane. Going backwards, he straightens up a bit, so when he does come forward, he's not going much further (if at all further) than where he started. It gives him momentum going forward to bring the bat through the zone.

Sammy goes backwards, but when he comes forward, he won't get so far forward that his body or head moves (whereas Barry Bonds basically picks up his foot, puts it down and takes a swing). Sammy's got that extra thing, where he steps back and then steps forward. It's a comfort thing. Most hitters will do what feels comfortable, even though it might be unorthodox. But when you're at the plate, it's about comfort. Once Sosa started doing that, he really took off.

When you factor in his being more patient and selective without losing his aggressiveness, he now has the ability to see the ball better and put his best swing on the ball. When it's inside he gets to it, and when it's outside he can stay back on the ball and hit it the other way. We think of Sosa as a guy who hits home runs, but he's also hit better than .300 each of the last two years (.320 in 2000 and .328 in 2001).

When Sosa first started stepping backwards, it was unique. I recall that Jeff Bagwell starts with his feet wide, then steps back and gets more upright and then takes his swing. Sosa is a strong guy and uses a good-sized piece of lumber.

Early in his career, Sosa switched bats; I think he believes that with a bigger bat, he's able to be more patient at the plate. He doesn't have to be super-aggressive on balls inside, like he was earlier in his career. Using a bigger, heavier bat gives him the confidence that if he can put a good swing on a ball away, he can still hit it out of the park.

Tony Gwynn, who will take over as the head baseball coach at San Diego State next year, is working as an analyst for ESPN.