Sammy Sosa's Skin PHOTOS: Pictures Reveal White Pigmentation (UPDATE)

(SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS)

UPDATE, 5/12/2010: Sammy Sosa is reportedly black again. Click here for more.

UPDATE, 11/13 4:12 AM: Hall of Fame forward Charles Barkley wore white makeup on TNT to mock Sammy Sosa in front of a live televised audience. Click HERE for video.

UPDATE, 11/11 3:50 PM: Chicago Breaking News reports that Sosa is considering endorsing the skin cream that may be responsible for his lighter skin.

"If he feels it is of good quality, it may be something he will be endorsing and marketing in the United States in the near future," said Rebecca Polihronis, the former Cubs community relations employee, who spoke on behalf of Sosa.

Check out the full report.

UPDATE: Sosa attributes the changes in his skin to a cosmetic cream. According to the AP:

Sammy Sosa says a cosmetic cream he uses to soften his skin is the reason for his lighter skin tone.

The former Chicago Cubs slugger was photographed at the Latin Grammy awards in Las Vegas last week with a noticeably whiter face.

Sosa says he has been using the cream for a long time, and combined with bright TV lights, it made his face look whiter than it really is. Sosa says he is not trying to look like late pop star Michael Jackson and is not suffering from any skin illness.

Sosa made his remarks on the Univision Spanish network. He declined to identify the cream.

Sosa, who turns 41 on Thursday, hit 609 homers over 18 seasons in the majors with the Cubs, White Sox, Rangers and Orioles. He hasn't appeared in a big league game since 2007.

ESPN notes that Sosa also remarked, "I am not a racist."

Click here for video of the interview, which was conducted in Spanish.

UPDATE: The Chicago Tribune speaks with Rebecca Polihronis, an acquaintance of Sosa, who claims that that "he is going through a rejuvenation process for his skin."

EARLIER:

Sammy Sosa's skin appears to have lightened considerably. Photographs taken at an event in Las Vegas reveal a surprisingly light pigmentation on the former slugger. While no cause has been established at this time, the web site Midwest Sports Fans speculates that steroid use could be responsible:

There appears to be at least some evidence suggesting that steroid use could be one of the lifestyle choices that increases a person's likelihood of becoming symptomatic with vitiligo.

It was reported in June that Sosa, who captured the nation's attention as a prolific home run hitter in the 1990s and earlier this decade, tested positive for steroids in 2003.

LOOK:

• • • • • Sammy Sosa his wife Sonya on November 4

Get HuffPost Sports on Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[AbeMartin]

08:40 AM on 02/21/2010

Sammy is still trying to line up a gig as a spokesperson for a company that wants to bring back the old "Better Living Through Chemistry," slogan. The anabolic steroid angle he ran with when he was with the Cubs didn't exactly pan out the way he planned. He's also trying to start a new MLB Hall of Shame, for those like himself, Pete Rose, Denny McClain, Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds who who have drawn greater attention to their disregard for rules and laws than their athletic prowess.

[shel3811]

08:22 PM on 01/07/2010

Sammy Sosa could be using this cream called mega blast bleaching cream here www.worldofentertainment23.com/skinwhiteningproducts.htm
Im using it and It has changed my skin to about his color. I have before and after pics so if you want to see them just email me at [e-mail]

[TrishtheFish]

09:20 AM on 01/06/2010

I have a hard time believing that Sammy did this to himself on purpose. Skin cream? Bright lights? You're kidding, right? Sammy is in denial. Sammy, you did a huge amount of steriods over many years and that stuff messes up your body. It often ends up killing you. Ask Lyle Alzado.

Unfortunately, Sammy's skin disorder may just be the start of his medical problems. At some point in the future, when the chickens come home to roost, Sammy will have to look in the mirror and answer one question, the same one Lyle answered in 1992: Was it worth it?

[TheYear2525]

10:50 PM on 12/22/2009

A lot of these comments are pure nonsense. Some guy lightens his skin and now people are making it out to be some national crisis where blacks are being forced to look and act white to be accepted. First off that is BS and second off it is just something new to blame on us. I doubt this will show up since it not completely politically correct.

[zeke67]

07:20 PM on 01/20/2010

Actually skin lightening creams have become a big issue in India where two schools of thought have emerged.
1. You need to lighten your skin to become more successful in modern Indian society.
or
2. Bleaching one's skin is a denial of one's heritage and is wrong.

This has been an issue in the black community for years, not so much in recent memory but it does still linger in our psyche. It's not about being forced to lightening one's skin but it's about feeling the pressure of being light or white is a better path to success.

You may not understand because you are white but trust me the pressure is real.

[pierre F Lherisson]

08:58 AM on 12/06/2009

A person is a product of his/her social milieu. It is difficult to divorce a person from the imperatives and realities of his/her social milieu.
Dominican Republic has a de facto ethnocentric policy based on biologically transmitted traits that stress the primacy of Caucasian features. This insidious racial discrimination practice prevails in every aspect of their social life. Those that don't measure up to this yard stick finds themselves at a greater disadvantage and under tremendous psychological pressure to take corrective actions, regardless of their athletics or their intellectual abilities. Consequently, skin bleaching and plastic surgery are the few options left to alleviate to alleviate the social pressure. Such desperadoes are the victims of social inequity.They are not the problem.

[ecgd73]

08:23 PM on 01/12/2010

@Pierre:

Very well put! As a student, I spent a semester abroad in the Dominican Republic. The Anti-Haitian color caste hatred is still widely practiced among the elders and uneducated. The spector of Trujillo (who used pancake make-up to appear lighter and responsible for the execution of no less than 30,000 Haitians, even though his Grandmother was Haitian) is a live and well in the Dominican Republic and its diaspora. Sad.

[LeftWingLarry]

09:14 PM on 11/27/2009

I just saw this more recent picture of Sammy right after Thanksgiving dinner...

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i105/Rooster866/mark_mcgwire.jpg

[slb83]

04:16 PM on 11/16/2009

The problem with this assumption that it's a double standard for white people to look dark is really problematic because no tanned white person is going to be discriminated against or profiled on the bases of their tanned skin color, moreover a tan is really BURNT SKIN. What planet do you live on making such an argument? Tanning has been ruled carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, so this notion that it is totally okay to tan is really flawed. It is also not healthy, neither physically or mentally, for a dark skinned person like Sammy Sosa to lighten his/her skin given that this dark skin is a protective barrier from ultra violet sun rays. These are not just problems here in the U.S. but even in places like Nigeria where the practice is very prevalent http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/index.php/columns/views/features/4564-dangers-of-bleaching-the-skin. Many of you are making this argument argument that it is totally okay to improve one's image without even asking yourself what exactly does that even mean. On what standards are your notions of "improvement" based on. For people of African descent in the U.S. and abroad, this has not been based on beauty standards established by African people. For all of you who think these problems aren't psychologically debilitating to people, then please start by looking up KENNETH CLARK DOLL STUDY, and then work your way up from there.

[flowrpuff]

01:00 AM on 11/14/2009

He's all scary. like a vampire or something.

[Solja]

02:23 PM on 11/13/2009

So in judging from the comments here and in our society in general, it is NOT okay to try to look white but it's OKAY, FINE & DANDY to try and look black. Check!

I just wanted to be clear on that. We black folks have made a lot of progress over the years. Society thinks it's okay for white folks to try to get darker but it's not okay for black folks to try to look lighter. I get it now.

[afrographia]

05:43 PM on 11/13/2009

Analysis of this issue requires that you understand that we live within history, within social context. I'm not really interested in declaring something or someone "good" or "bad." So, for the past, oh, 500 years or so, "Black" has been associated with sinfulness, evil, stupidity, ugliness, and moral and biological inferiority. "White" has meant purity, goodness, intellectual and moral correctness and so forth. There are lots of scholarly and popular articles and archival material attesting to this, so this shouldn't come as a surprise. We have changed, and in some ways, everyone doesn't buy into that. But many of us do. It's burned into our collective imagination. Soooo...when white people want to look tan, or have more shapely lips or hips, it is interesting. Not good or bad, but it definitely marks an historical shift. When black people want to look white, that is also interesting. Not good or bad, but given a history in which black has been seen as savage and nasty, it raises our curiosity whether this person is still buying into that old historical understanding of black inferiority, or did they just "happen" to prefer white, as I prefer broccoli over brussel sprouts.

[mariopsa06]

08:48 PM on 11/14/2009

Right on Brother ! Maybe if us folks in the darker persuasion start to turn white there will be no one to look down on....now that is a thought.

[alexunlv]

05:11 PM on 01/08/2010

valid perspective.

[truthiness777]

06:19 PM on 11/13/2009

who is trying to look black? please don't tell me you're talking about tanning?

[Aesthete]

12:06 PM on 11/13/2009

Obsession with skin color is so-o-o tiresome! The solution: just let everybody look like they want to so we can all forget about it, move on to more important matters, and get on with life. If you're really happy with your own color, leave others alone!

[mypov123]

07:27 PM on 11/14/2009

I don't think you fully understand that changing one's skin color (especially if you're going from "dark" to "light") reflects a much deeper and more complex societal issue than if a person changes their hair color.

[mariopsa06]

08:30 PM on 11/14/2009

What makes you an authority? So in other words it okay for some people to go darker but bad for others to go lighter? Live and Let live.....

[Aesthete]

02:31 PM on 11/16/2009

I do understand---very well, thank you---and I'm still sick of it. I don't see Sammy Sosa's pigmentation or lack thereof as any of my business. Sure, I thought he was more attractive darker, but it's his choice, not mine to dictate and I make no assumptions, judgements, or presumptions about why he did it. I'm too busy living MY life.

[JWB2012]

09:37 AM on 11/13/2009

So how many of of are truly happy with our face? I know, I know. Go to India and try to buy a facial cream that does NOT "lighten" your skin. They're very hard to find. Yes, it's an esteem issue, but not so rare as one might think. How many cauccasions go to the beach, lay out on their patio, or even go to tanning salons to "darken" their color? It's a societal symptom based on " only the beautiful" can "make" it. Nearly all of us subscribe to this hogwash.

[Shisha7]

08:08 AM on 11/13/2009

The white Sammy Sosa shouldnt be allowed into the Hall of Fame unless he breaks some home run records.

[amorvincitomnia]

01:12 AM on 11/13/2009

Skin bleach, colored contact lenses and tons of hair slicked with pommade....oy vey!

[gascelebrations]

12:30 AM on 11/13/2009

WHY SO SERIOUS????

[Beermonger]

11:10 PM on 11/12/2009

Why the double standard? IF Sosa purposely lightened his complexion, how is this any different than celebrities having their tans sprayed on? They are doing it to make their skin appear as something that its not. I know deep dark tans can appear naturally for those of us that have time to sit in the sun the whole day but due to the adverse health effects such as skin cancer, premature aging, etc., its clear that as caucasions, we arent supposed to bake ourselves brown.

If everyone here is going to call Sosa mentally ill for wanting to be lighter, then why don't we accuse Karina Smirnoff and Paris Hilton of the same illness for wanting to appear darker?

[afrographia]

05:50 PM on 11/13/2009

Social context: Do you really think that "black" and "white" mean the same thing in our society? Do "male" and "female" mean the same? Do "straight" and "gay"?

Treating everyone equally does not mean treating them the same. For example, if a young gay kid says, "I hate straight people!", is it the same as if a young straight kid says, "I hate gay people!" Neither may be right or proper to say; we would want to talk to each child about his or her words. But do you really think they are the same?? Are they having the same experience? Are they feeling the same pain?

Surely, understanding the social context can keep us from being so simplistic...

[mariopsa06]

08:49 PM on 11/14/2009

Right you are!