Chicago ? Sammy Sosa gingerly stepped down the stairs to the home clubhouse Wednesday, his bad back causing him considerable pain.

“I feel like I’m 95 years old right now,” he said.

The Chicago Cubs’ slugger was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday because of a sprained ligament in his lower back, an ailment that was brought on by two violent sneezes Sunday in San Diego.

“You know the first day it happened, I knew it was something really serious. I couldn’t even stand up,” Sosa said Wednesday.

“I went through a lot of pain. Right now I feel better. Yesterday I went to the doctor. It will take some time.”

Sosa’s setback is the latest in a string of injuries for Chicago.

Pitchers Kerry Wood (triceps), Mark Prior (Achilles’ tendon) and Mike Remlinger (shoulder), second basemen Mark Grudzielanek (Achilles’) and Todd Walker (shoulder) and shortstop Alex Gonzalez (broken wrist) comprise the list of banged-up Cubs.

Sosa said he’s surprised, too, that a sneeze started his problems.

“It’s amazing to me. It’s something that happened,” Sosa said. “But you know that’s life and you got to deal with it.”

And a sore back is nothing to sneeze at, especially for a player who swings as hard as Sosa.

“You got to go through a lot of pain and it’s not easy,” he said. “It’s something you don’t have control over. It happened. I don’t know how it happened or why it happened.”