Mark McGwire had been known throughout his career as a great home run hitter. In 1998, he changed the record books as the whole world watched. He, and Chicago Cub Sammy Sosa, brought back memories of the 1961 Mickey Mantle / Roger Maris home run race. McGwire eventually "won" by hitting the record breaking sixty-second homer seven days before Sosa. McGwire went around the bases eight more times before season's end, leaving the new record at seventy.
McGwire began going over the fence as early as March. He hit consistently through the summer, jockeying for the National League lead with Sosa. The two faced a mass of media, as every eye in the country turned to see who would win the place in the record books. On September 8, McGwire did just that as he hit an 88 mile per hour fastball off of Steve Trachsel of the Chicago Cubs. Sosa was there to celebrate the milestone; he celebrated his own five days later. McGwire and Sosa capped their seasons as the co-holders of Sports Illustrated's Sportsmen of the Year.
McGwire later admitted to using the steroid Androstenedione during his record setting year, among others. Since his retirement in 2001, McGwire has kept a low profile, marrying the following April. McGwire may have been known as Big Mac by his teammates, but during the 1998 season he was known as the Babe Ruth of the nineteen-nineties. Research by Baseball Almanac.
"I threw a ninety-seven mile per hour pitch to (Mark) McGwire, and it went out at a hundred and ten!" - Johnson, Randy. All the Babe's Men: Baseball's Greatest Home Run Seasons and How They Changed America. Ham, Eldon L. Author. Potomac Books. 1 March 2013.
70 Single Season Home Runs by Mark McGwire
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# | Date | Box | Pitcher | INN | Outs | RoB | Cnt | HR Distance |
1. | 03-31-1998 | Ramon Martinez | 5 | 0 | 123 | 1-0 | 364' |
2. | 04-02-1998 | Frank Lankford | 12 | 2 | 12- | 0-1 | 368' |
3. | 04-03-1998 | Mark Langston | 5 | 0 | --3 | 3-2 | 364' |
4. | 04-04-1998 | Don Wengert | 6 | 0 | 1-3 | 2-1 | 419' |
5. | 04-14-1998 | Jeff Suppan | 3 | 1 | 1-- | 1-2 | 424' |
6. | 04-14-1998 | Jeff Suppan | 5 | 2 | --- | 1-1 | 347' |
7. | 04-14-1998 | Barry Manuel | 8 | 0 | 1-- | 2-0 | 462' |
8. | 04-17-1998 | Matt Whiteside | 4 | 2 | -2- | 2-2 | 419' |
9. | 04-21-1998 | Trey Moore | 3 | 2 | 1-- | 0-0 | 437' |
10. | 04-25-1998 | Jerry Spradlin | 7 | 2 | 1-- | 1-2 | 419' |
11. | 04-30-1998 | Marc Pisciotta | 8 | 1 | 1-- | 2-1 | 371' |
12. | 05-01-1998 | Rod Beck | 9 | 2 | --3 | 1-2 | 362' |
13. | 05-08-1998 | Rick Reed | 3 | 1 | 1-- | 0-2 | 358' |
14. | 05-12-1998 | Paul Wagner | 5 | 0 | 12- | 1-2 | 527' |
15. | 05-14-1998 | Kevin Millwood | 4 | 0 | --- | 1-1 | 381' |
16. | 05-16-1998 | Livan Hernandez | 4 | 0 | --- | 1-0 | 545' |
17. | 05-18-1998 | Jesus Sanchez | 4 | 0 | --- | 2-0 | 478' |
18. | 05-19-1998 | Tyler Green | 3 | 1 | --3 | 2-0 | 440' |
19. | 05-19-1998 | Tyler Green | 5 | 0 | -2- | 0-2 | 471' |
20. | 05-19-1998 | Wayne Gomes | 8 | 0 | 1-- | 0-0 | 451' |
21. | 05-22-1998 | Mark Gardner | 6 | 1 | 1-- | 1-1 | 425' |
22. | 05-23-1998 | Rich Rodriguez | 4 | 1 | --- | 1-0 | 366' |
23. | 05-23-1998 | John Johnstone | 5 | 1 | 12- | 2-2 | 477' |
24. | 05-24-1998 | Robb Nen | 12 | 2 | 1-- | 2-2 | 397' |
25. | 05-25-1998 | John Thomson | 1 | 2 | --- | 2-2 | 433' |
26. | 05-29-1998 | Dan Miceli | 9 | 1 | -2- | 0-0 | 388' |
27. | 05-30-1998 | Andy Ashby | 1 | 2 | --- | 0-1 | 423' |
28. | 06-05-1998 | Orel Hershiser | 1 | 1 | -2- | 1-2 | 409' |
29. | 06-08-1998 | Jason Bere | 4 | 0 | 1-- | 0-0 | 356' |
30. | 06-10-1998 | Jim Parque | 3 | 1 | -23 | 1-0 | 409' |
31. | 06-12-1998 | Andy Benes | 3 | 1 | 123 | 1-0 | 438' |
32. | 06-17-1998 | Jose Lima | 3 | 2 | --- | 1-2 | 437' |
33. | 06-18-1998 | Shane Reynolds | 5 | 0 | --- | 1-1 | 449' |
34. | 06-24-1998 | Jaret Wright | 4 | 1 | --- | 1-1 | 433' |
35. | 06-25-1998 | Dave Burba | 1 | 2 | --- | 2-2 | 461' |
36. | 06-27-1998 | Mike Trombley | 7 | 2 | 1-- | 2-2 | 431' |
37. | 06-30-1998 | Glendon Rusch | 7 | 0 | --- | 0-1 | 472' |
38. | 07-11-1998 | Billy Wagner | 11 | 1 | 1-- | 0-2 | 485' |
39. | 07-12-1998 | Sean Bergman | 1 | 2 | --- | 0-0 | 405' |
40. | 07-12-1998 | Scott Elarton | 7 | 0 | --- | 2-1 | 415' |
41. | 07-17-1998 | Brian Bohanon | 1 | 2 | --- | 0-0 | 511' |
42. | 07-17-1998 | Antonio Osuna | 8 | 1 | --- | 1-0 | 425' |
43. | 07-20-1998 | Brian Boehringer | 5 | 0 | 1-- | 2-1 | 452' |
44. | 07-26-1998 | John Thomson | 4 | 2 | --- | 0-0 | 452' |
45. | 07-28-1998 | Mike Myers | 8 | 1 | --- | 2-2 | 408' |
46. | 08-08-1998 | Mark Clark | 4 | 0 | --- | 2-1 | 374' |
47. | 08-11-1998 | Bobby Jones | 4 | 0 | --- | 1-0 | 464' |
48. | 08-19-1998 | Matt Karchner | 8 | 1 | --- | 3-1 | 398' |
49. | 08-19-1998 | Terry Mulholland | 10 | 1 | --- | 2-0 | 409' |
50. | 08-20-1998 | Willie Blair | 7 | 0 | --- | 2-1 | 369' |
51. | 08-20-1998 | Rick Reed | 1 | 2 | --- | 3-2 | 393' |
52. | 08-22-1998 | Francisco Cordova | 1 | 2 | --- | 0-2 | 477' |
53. | 08-23-1998 | Ricardo Rincon | 8 | 2 | --- | 2-2 | 393' |
54. | 08-26-1998 | Justin Speier | 8 | 0 | --3 | 0-1 | 509' |
55. | 08-30-1998 | Dennis Martinez | 7 | 0 | 12- | 1-0 | 501' |
56. | 09-01-1998 | Livan Hernandez | 7 | 0 | --- | 1-1 | 450' |
57. | 09-01-1998 | Donn Pall | 9 | 1 | --- | 0-0 | 472' |
58. | 09-02-1998 | Brian Edmondson | 7 | 2 | --3 | 2-1 | 497' |
59. | 09-02-1998 | Rob Stanifer | 8 | 2 | -2- | 0-0 | 458' |
60. | 09-05-1998 | Dennys Reyes | 1 | 1 | 1-- | 2-0 | 381' |
61. | 09-07-1998 | Mike Morgan | 1 | 2 | --- | 1-1 | 430' |
62. | 09-08-1998 | Steve Trachsel | 4 | 2 | --- | 1-1 | 341' |
63. | 09-15-1998 | Jason Christiansen | 9 | 1 | --- | 0-0 | 385' |
64. | 09-18-1998 | Rafael Roque | 4 | 0 | -2- | 3-1 | 423' |
65. | 09-20-1998 | Scott Karl | 1 | 1 | 1-- | 2-1 | 423' |
66. | 09-25-1998 | Shayne Bennett | 5 | 2 | 1-- | 1-2 | 375' |
67. | 09-26-1998 | Dustin Hermanson | 4 | 1 | --- | 0-0 | 403' |
68. | 09-26-1998 | Kirk Bullinger | 7 | 2 | 1-- | 1-1 | 435' |
69. | 09-27-1998 | Mike Thurman | 3 | 2 | --- | 1-1 | 377' |
70. | 09-27-1998 | Carl Pavano | 7 | 2 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 370' |
# | Date | Box | Pitcher | INN | Outs | RoB | Cnt | HR Distance |
Mark McGwire 70 Home Run Season | Research by Baseball Almanac |
On May 8, 1998, Mark McGwire hit career home run number four-hundred in his four-thousand seven-hundred twenty-sixth at bat, which was faster than any other player at that point in baseball history.
Did you know that on May 16, 1998, Livan Hernandez got rocked for the longest home run of the 1998 season — an estimated shot of five-hundred forty-five feet?
When Mark McGwire hit single season home run number fifty on August 20, 1998, he became the first Major League ballplayer in history with three consecutive fifty plus home run seasons!