NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT SAMMY SOSA HE DOSENT HAVE THE DISEASE MICHAEL JACKSON HAD! HE JUST BLEACHES HIS SKIN!

Sammy Sosa's health is fine, and his fans need not worry about any dire medical condition afflicting the former Cubs slugger, who chased Roger Maris' single-season home run record alongside Mark McGwire in 1998.
And no, the Dominican-born Sosa says he is not trying to imitate the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who suffered from the condition vitiligo, when the skin loses its pigment.

"I'm doing well, doing well, thanks to God. A little surprised by the tsunami of attention," Sosa said in a Spanish interview with Univision reporter Tony Dandrades Tuesday on the program "Primer Impacto." It was the first of a two-part interview.

Photographs of Sosa during a recent appearance at the Latin Grammys in Las Vegas showed his facial skin tone to be almost white. He last played in the majors in 2007 with Texas.

"What's going on with your skin?" asked Dandrades.

"I use a cream to keep my skin smooth and soft. I apply it before I go to bed. When I was playing for Chicago all those years, I was in the sun a lot for 1 o'clock games," said Sosa, who turns 41 tomorrow. "The flashes (from the cameras) also made my skin look lighter. I'm surprised with the controversy this has caused."

Sosa, who would not tell Dandrades the name of the cream he uses, did say that it is European and that he is in negotiations to market the product. He added that he wears colored contact lenses because he wanted to "try something different. I'm not trying to be superficial."

Asked by Dandrades if Sosa was trying to be like Jackson, the 1998 NL MVP laughed.

"Not at all, I respect him very much," said Sosa, who gave the interview at his Miami penthouse apartment on Monday. "I'm not a racist. I'm not like that. I'm just a happy person."

Sosa, who is sixth on baseball's all-time home run list with 609, said he started using the cream after finishing his playing career. He said that he cannot stay in the sun too long if the cream is applied. Sosa also chuckled when Dandrades asked if the rest of Sosa's body had the same skin tone as his face.

"That would be a problem," said Sosa.

Sosa was reported to have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during MLB's 2003 survey testing year. He also made an awkward appearance before Congress in 2005 when he said, "I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything. I have not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic."

Steroids are legal in Sosa's native Dominican Republic.