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

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UPDATE, 11/13 4:12 AM: Hall of Fame power 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 allegedly 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.

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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

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Comments

[LeftWingLarry]

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

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

[slb83]

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]

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

[Solja]

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]

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]

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.

[truthiness777]

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

[mariopsa06]

I agree with you......A­re we saying anything about whites who spend hours in tanning beds trying to get a little color? No but maybe it is time we did. ........Do they have a problem, because they are trying to get darker? Most of the comments on this blog are from those folks. What is good for the goose.....­.

[Aesthete]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[amorvincitomnia]

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

[gascelebrations]

WHY SO SERIOUS????

[Beermonger]

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]

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]

Right you are!

[Adrienne Williams - Huffpost Blogger]

I knew he was using a cream.... it's sad, he looked fine before. But society is a hard pill to change... Lets hope we don't get other young folks trying to be like Sosa!!!

[Dnietz]

you mean abusing illegal drugs to get ahead in their career and being ashamed of their natural skin color?

yea, i hope not

[JimR]

Riiiiiiight, it's the skin cream (which he apparently puts all over his ears, too). Just like it was those B-12 shots that helped him hit all those home runs.

[bostongreen]

Sosa didn't lighten his skin. This is a side effect of doing way too many steroids.

[slb83]

There is not much empirical evidence to back up that claim. If this was a side effect, then he really likes it and decided to match green contacts with it.

[GravitonX]

Goes to show his defenders are in denial and impervious to facts. He already admitted he bleached his skin in a press release.

[AlligatorShuz]

He bleached his skin but his hair is still greasy with a perm..

[mypov123]

LOL Stop it.

[mypov123]

Now he almost looks like he could be a member of the DeBarge family.

[Chicago48]

Actually he looks like a matinee idol. If he looks better, and looks younger and feels better, I don't see what the problem is.

I want what he's taking.

[slb83]

I sincerely hope you are not a black or brown person, because if you are, you need your head examined. And if you are not, you probably still need your head examined. This is not rejuvenation!! Rejuvenation involves restoring something to to its original form or to make it look like new. Changing his skin to a different color is not rejuvenation, but rather a transformation since it clearly involved not just changing the condition of his skin, but also changing its outward appearance in a major way. If his goal was just to "rejuvenate" his skin by restoring it to a more youthful condition and this was just a reaction (side-effect), then he is really taking his new white skin side effect in stride. Unless he had white skin (which is highly unlikely) before he spent years playing baseball in the sun, then this is not rejuvenation. His skin is not his major problem, it's his mind.

[mariopsa06]

I do not see Sammy or anyone that choses to alter their looks as a problem. It is no different than people adding collagen to lips, etc, having plastic surgery, getting suntans or any other cosmetic procedure.­..wake up people.

[GravitonX]

The fact that you don't see the problem shows your cluelessness.

[Dnietz]

as the philosopher zizek is fond of saying;

ideology and morals are gone. they no longer exist. they are quaint memories of the past.