The 38-year-old slugger hit his ninth career grand slam off Cincinnati's Matt Belisle in the fifth inning, making his trademark hop when the ball headed for the stands. The Texas Rangers outfielder ended a drought of 70 at-bats since his last homer, on May 22.

With his next one, Sosa will become only the fifth player in major league history to reach 600. Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays are the only other players ahead of him.

Sosa's latest came against the team that has given up more of his homers than any other, in a ballpark where he had one of his greatest moments and one of his most uncomfortable.

He hit his 500th homer at Great American Ball Park four games after it opened in 2003, giving the field its first historic hit. After his suspension for using a corked bat later that season, Sosa returned to Great American and homered after getting loudly and repeatedly booed by fans who once adored him.

He was booed again today in his first appearance at the ballpark in nearly three years. He had a run-scoring single in the first inning off Belisle, then struck out and hit his first grand slam since Sept. 15, 2004.

The homer was his 53rd against Cincinnati, his highest total against any team.

The team that started his career have given him a chance to continue it — and chase the 600 mark — after he'd been out of the game for a year.

As a scrawny, 21-year-old rookie in 1989, Sosa hit the first of those 599 homers off Boston's Roger Clemens at Fenway Park. One month later, the Rangers traded him to the Chicago White Sox in a deal for Harold Baines.

George W. Bush was a co-owner of the Rangers when they traded Sosa, figuring he would never amount to much.

Bush went on to become the 43rd president of the United States. Sosa went on to join an even more exclusive group, reviving baseball along the way. He was the pursuer during Mark McGwire's chase of Roger Maris' home run record in 1998.

Sosa finished with 66 homers that season — four behind McGwire — and won the MVP. He hit 63 the next year and, as McGwire faded, kept hitting homers with those bulging biceps, taking a happy hop each time a no-doubt drive left the bat.

Sosa became the first player to hit 60 homers in three seasons, and finished 2002 only one homer away from becoming the 18th player to reach 500. He got it in Cincinnati during the fourth game of the '03 season, with his wife, mother, brother and four close family friends watching from behind home plate.

His solo shot off Scott Sullivan stamped him as one of the greatest home run hitters in history. Two months later, his broken bat raised suspicions about whether he came by all of them honestly.

Umpires found cork in his cracked bat at Wrigley Field. He was suspended for seven games.

Sosa returned at Great American on June 18, 2003, and hit a homer off the top of the batter's eye in center field. This time, fans who had given him a standing ovation after he hit No. 500 booed everything he did and every mention of his name.

Baseball's steroid scandal raised more questions about its golden era for homers — Bonds eclipsed McGwire's single-season mark and is chasing Aaron's record under a cloud of questions. Slammin' Sammy was one of several players who testified before a congressional committee looking into steroid use.