Sammy Sosa doesn’t tip-toe into any town – least of all New York City, where he’s one of the few visiting players cheered almost universally.

So there he was in last night’s 3-0 Cub win over the Mets, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead by hammering a monstrous home run over the left-field bleachers and into the picnic area in the fourth inning.

The Mets called the homer an “estimated 442 feet.”

Considering the fact that the wall it went over was 371 feet and it cleared an entire section of bleachers and went completely out of the yard, that estimate probably was on the conservative side.

Sosa, of course, wasn’t finished. He also doubled to start a two-run insurance rally in the top of the ninth and walk twice. For those of you scoring at home, the Mets did not get Sosa out last night.

Neither, though, did the Cubs’ batting practice pitcher, as Sosa put on a Ruthian display from inside the cage in between signing autographs to the masses of Dominican fans who packed the visitor’s side of the stands to scream, “Sammmmmy, Sammmmmy,” and pressing the flesh with Donald Trump and his girlfriend, Melania Knauss.

Sosa, who dined on Italian with Trump and Knauss at Da Silvano in Manhattan on Monday night, is loving life right now and his happiness has nothing to do with home runs.

“New York is something special to me, because of the people I have here that have known me for a long time,” Sosa said after the game.

This season is special for Sosa, because it’s more about his Cubs being in first place with a 48-33 record than it is about how many home runs he might hit.

“We have an opportunity to shock the world, and that’s nice,” Sosa said, referring to the laughingstock tag that seems to be forever attached to the Cubs, who were an abysmal 65-97 in 2000.

“This has been something that I have been working so hard for and now that it’s about to become reality. It’s a good feeling we have here. We know we can compete against anybody.”

For the last three seasons, the entire focus surrounding the Cubs had been directed toward Sosa and how many home runs he might hit.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, Sosa homers didn’t necessarily translate into victories – something that ate at him. Now, with Sosa much less a focal point – albeit still the most feared hitter in the Chicago lineup_- the Cubs are prospering, because they’re more of a team.

“I always envisioned this, because I’m a competitive guy – I like to win every day,” Sosa said. “I’m so happy to have the chance to win. We have a chance right now to win it all.”