HispanicBusiness

Retired Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa is back in the news, but this time he's drawing comparisons to Michael Jackson, not Babe Ruth.

The minor tempest was sparked by his appearance last week at a gala honoring singer/songwriter Juan Gabriel as the Latin Grammy Awards' 2009 Person of the Year.

In a photo Sosa took with his wife, Sonia, the color of his normally dark skin had an unusual pallor, prompting many to speculate that he is whitening his skin, a la the late King of Pop.

But a close friend of Sosa -- one of six players in the history of Major League Baseball to hit more than 600 homers -- said the lightened hue is the unintended consequence of a treatment to his skin unrelated to color.

"He is going through a rejuvenation process for his skin," Rebecca Polihronis, a former Cubs employee, told the Chicago Tribune. "Women have it all of the time. He was surprised he came out looking so white. I thought it was a body double."

She added that the lighter appearance of his skin is attributable in part to the lighting for the photo.