SURPRISE, Ariz. – Sammy Sosa feels like a rookie again after sitting out last season.

Sosa went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for the Texas Rangers in a 12-8 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

“I haven’t taken a year off in 17 years since I started playing,” said Sosa, who batted .221 with 14 homers in 102 games for Baltimore in 2005. “I feel hungry again.”

In nine spring training games, Sosa is hitting .464 (13-for-28) with two doubles, a triple, two homers and six RBIs.

“Don’t tell me this is spring training,” Sosa said. “I came here to prove. I came here to play, and I’ve been playing good. Spring training or not, it doesn’t matter to me. I could be playing in Mexico and it would be the same thing.”

Sosa, the 1998 NL MVP, is 12 homers shy of becoming the fifth player in major league history to hit 600.

“I never surprise myself. I’m a good player. I may surprise other people, but I never surprise myself. I know I was out for a year, but give me some credit. You’re talking to me like I’ve never hit before,” he said. “I’m a positive thinker. I never think negative. If I show up for spring training it’s for a reason – because I know I can make it. I’m not here for the money. I’ve got money. I’m not here because I’m struggling. I’m a gamer.”

Rangers manager Ron Washington said Sosa’s work ethic and the time he’s spent with hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo left little doubt in his mind about the former slugger’s chance for success.

“I said from the beginning that I thought he was going to do what he’s doing,” Washington said. “He’s got too much knowledge and Rudy has too much knowledge for him not to do what he’s doing. When you find a guy like him with the work ethic he has, you trust him until he proves you wrong. And he hasn’t proven me wrong yet.”