Retirement, or something, appears to be changing Sammy Sosa(notes). He and wife, Sonia, were recently in Las Vegas for the Latin Grammys, which included a tribute on Wednesday to singer Juan Gabriel. Photogs caught the Sosas on the red carpet and Sonia looks fabulous as always. As for Sammy ... well, there's no getting around it, but Sammy looked kind of pale.

His skin is undeniably lighter than at any time since he broke into the majors in 1989. Is it an illness, or a condition such as Vitiligo, in which depigmentation occurs? Is Sammy just bleaching his skin for fashion's sake? (Heh, "just.")

I wonder if he is changing his look, simply because his eyes are a different color. Sammy was born with brown eyes. He's taken to wearing green contact lenses and, quite frankly, they are extremely creepy. Is he co-starring in the upcoming "Twilight" sequel? The plastic suit also bothers me, just because it does.

Sammy, who hasn't played since 2007, has been accused of using modern chemistry to help him attain 609 career homers — including three seasons of 60-plus. Perhaps he's turning to science to give him a different veneer as he approaches his 41st birthday. Below, check out a few comparison shots to judge for yourself.

Shiny suit: check. Shiny hair: check. New fake eyes: check. Skin: as you were.

There's our brown-eyed handsome man. He generally resembles the skinny kid from San Pedro De Macoris. He also married well.

Sammy liked to do stuff to his hair back in the day. Has it lead to some kind of total obsession about his look?

The King of Pop underwent a similar kind of transformation.

• Due credit: 'Duk checked his e-mail and found this link from Jerod at Midwest Sports Fans. They discovered, to the best of my knowledge, the Sammy Sosa lightening. If you will.

• Sports By Brooks also puts its own slant on the Sammy-turning-white saga, so check them out too.

Related: Sammy Sosa