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| AP PHOTO Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa must try to concentrate on baseball, despite the fact that his hometown was ravaged by Hurricane Georges.
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"This one's for Sammy," the 11-year-old boy said. Hurricane Georges nearly destroyed the stadium in Sosa's hometown of San Pedro de Macoris.
Light towers twisted to the ground and girders stretched skyward where a roof used to be. In the bleachers, soiled laundry dried.
Still, the town that watched Sosa grow up somehow kept up as its favorite slugger tried for the home-run record and a postseason berth.
No matter that Sosa, the Chicago Cubs' slugger, failed to homer in the Cubs' 4-3 loss to Houston Sunday, even as St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire raised his home-run record to 70.
Sosa's hurricane-ravaged hometown of San Pedro de Macoris celebrated his remarkable season, one that has produced 66 home runs.
"We can't ask for any more, because he's done a lot already. He's broken a lot of records," said Arizmendi Nunez, a 22-year-old bartender. "I feel proud because now our flag is raised high."
Hundreds in this baseball-crazed city scrambled to find places to hear Sosa's final regular-season game on radio.
It wasn't easy. The lone TV station broadcasting in the Dominican Republic had a movie about a hurricane on, and without batteries to power their radios, most residents didn't catch the game.
Men craned their necks into taxis stopped at street corners for radio updates. Some crowded into sports betting parlors around the city.
The only place in San Pedro where the game was televised was a bar, where a group TV networks covering fan reaction set up a live satellite feed.
Drinking plenty of Presidente beer, the crowd of 100 people jumped up and down and chanted, "Sammy! Sammy!" every time Sosa batted.
Sosa still has at least one more game, a playoff with San Francisco tonight, to decide the National League wild card. The Giants lost to Colorado 9-8 minutes after the Astros beat Chicago.
The children playing a pickup game in the stadium outfield all lived in houses heavily damaged by Georges. But they still found time to play, giving Sosa's trademark two-fingered salute.
Sosa's seven-bedroom house had little damage - a few broken windows and a toppled yard fence.
His kid brother Carlos, 21, said the Sosa family was thinking about those less fortunate. The storm killed more than 200 Dominicans and made thousands homeless.
"I know what the poor masses are. I was one of the poor masses and I know what it is to have a house one day and the next not have anything," Carlos said.
Sammy, he added, felt the same way and planned to help San Pedro get back on its feet.
Georges' eye passed over this city about 40 miles east of Santo Domingo, and most homes sustained moderate to severe damage.
Eduardo Torreano, 32, said he used to shine shoes and wash cars with Sosa when they were kids. Torreano, who lost his home to Georges, still does.
"We are his people. He hasn't forgotten us," Torreano said of Sosa. "Sammy will come back soon, and he will help."
09-28-98
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