Originally posted on September 8, 2014
As controversial as it may seem to us today in 2014, in 1998 it was simply enthralling. That's right folks, 16 years ago today, Mark McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season - breaking the record of 61* held by Roger Maris. That blast, a strangely un-McGwire-esque home run, was a low line drive that just cleared the left field wall at Busch Stadium. It capped a prolific summer of power from not only Big Mac, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez....and the list just goes on.
As we all know, McGwire went on to hit 70 home runs that magical summer, thrilling fans, baseball writers, and the country in general. He, along with the strange "bro-love" relationship he had with Sosa, brought baseball back into the national picture - and back into our hearts - after the heartbreaking debacle of the 1994 strike. Everyone knows what happened next, and everyone seems to enjoy looking down their noses to present their opinion. I have my own, and you'll be hearing about it when I get around to it. For now, I think it's appropriate that we look back 16 years to this epic season, and notably, this rod that McGwire laced out of the park and simply say..."thank you - that was fun".
