By Shira Springer, Globe Correspondent, 12/26/98
Blast-OFF!
Baseball record-breakers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (Reuters Photo)
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The drama built for the better part of 1998.
The prospect of a player breaking Roger Maris's 37-year-old home run record tantalized baseball fans in spring training. More than six months later, on Sept. 8, the reality of Mark McGwire's 62d home run captivated a nation. The focus on America's resurgent pastime continued until the final day of the season. In the end, McGwire emerged as baseball's new home run king. He entered the history books with 70 home runs, beating out Sammy Sosa, who finished with 66.
From St. Louis to Paris to Nagano, records were broken and history written during a grand year in the sporting world.
The Maris chase by McGwire and Sosa headlined a list of remarkable achievements that spanned the ages. From youngster Tara Lipinski to old hand Mark O'Meara, from the US women and their first-ever gold medal in ice hockey to the six-time world champion Chicago Bulls, from France's long wait to win the World Cup to record long runs by Tegla Loroupe and Ronaldo DeCosta in the marathon, the athletes of 1998 surpassed their predecessors and posted numbers some never thought possible.
Big numbers were nothing new for the boys of summer.
Baseball watched records fall with regularity. The Yankees set an American League record with 114 wins on their way to the World Series championship. Sosa hit a record 20 home runs in June, and in May Chicago Cubs teammate Kerry Wood tied a major league record with 20 strikeouts. Barry Bonds became the first player to reach 400 home runs and 400 stolen bases. At 28, Ken Griffey Jr. became the youngest player to total 350 home runs. At 36, Roger Clemens became the first player to win five Cy Young Awards.
And two masters of endurance took a seat, inscribing their long-standing marks in the record books. Cal Ripken rested after 2,632 consecutive game. Boston's Dennis Eckersley appeared 1,071 times on a major league mound, surpassing Hoyt Wilhelm's major league record. He appeared one last time before a Red Sox backdrop when he retired earlier this month.
Yet even Ripken and Eckersley were awed by the home run numbers in a season when the players became fans again and fans cheered news thousands of miles away.
"Break the record?'' said Eckersley as the regular season reached its conclusion and the race its climax. "Sure I figured [McGwire] would do it if he stayed healthy. But 70? Who could ever do that again?''
Added Ripken: "I think we've all been watching in amazement at how Mark and Sammy have answered one another in this. It's almost too bad there has to be an end because they could have gone on and on. It's mind-boggling that anyone could hit 70, but it's been great for baseball.''
There was no grander finale and no longer curtain call than the final month of the season, when the home run race entered the home stretch.
McGwire hit his 62d down the left-field line at Busch Stadium, barely clearing the 8-foot-high outfield fence with the 314-foot liner. What followed was an explosion of flashbulbs, a handshake and hug-filled trip around the bases, a moment with the Maris family, an 11-minute game delay, and an excitement the sport hadn't seen in some time.
"I hit the ball and I knew it was a line drive,'' said McGwire of the pitch by Cubs righthander Steve Trachsel. "I thought it was going to hit the wall. Next thing I know, it disappeared. It's an absolutely incredible feeling. I can honestly say I did it.''
But neither McGwire nor Sosa was done.
The sluggers battled till the end, but McGwire trailed Sosa only twice, the final lead change lasting only 45 minutes. Big Mac hit a home run every 7.27 at-bats. The unfathomable No. 70 seemed almost scripted, coming in his final at-bat off Montreal's Carl Pavano.
"I'm absolutely exhausted,'' said McGwire after 70. "I don't think you can use your mind any more to play baseball. I amazed myself that I stayed in that much of a tunnel.
"I think it's going to take longer for the whole season to sink in ... I can't believe I did it. Can you?''
Nor could anyone believe that Sosa, an outfielder from the Dominican Republic, climbed into the thick of the home run race with his June rampage. Consider that after 47 games and before the month-long streak, Sosa trailed McGwire, 24-9, and did not appear on the record radar. By the end of the regular season, Sosa was a household name. And thanks in large part to the slugger's ability, the Cubs earned a wild-card playoff berth.
It was late November when Sosa stood atop the season's most honored players. The Cubs star was named the Most Valuable Player in the National League. McGwire finished second.
"I will never forget the 1998 season,'' Sosa said. "The month of June. My three grand slams. I hadn't hit any before. Hitting No. 62 was big for me. So was Sammy Sosa Day with my family here [in Chicago]. I promise to work hard next year. But I will continue to be the same guy.''
The players in pinstripes couldn't be the same as everyone else. Not 50 years after the death of Babe Ruth, the man who brought big swings to the Big Apple. Not 25 years after the arrival of George Steinbrenner, the man who brought big money to the Big Apple. In a year of big accomplishments, the Yankees would not be outdone or denied another world championship.
"This will probably be talked about forever,'' said World Series MVP Scott Brosius. "You could look at it and say we had the best single season of all-time.''
New York offered a postseason cast of characters that continued baseball's historic season. From the resurgent Brosius to batting champion Bernie Williams, from cancer-stricken Darryl Strawberry to coverboy Derek Jeter, from rebellious David Wells to refugee Orlando Hernandez, the '98 Yankees won with remarkable record-breaking consistency. After 114 regular-season victories, New York went 11-2 in the postseason and swept the San Diego Padres in the Series. Their total of 125 wins set a major league record.
"We have to take a back seat to no one in my lifetime,'' said Yankees manager Joe Torre.
Continued . . .
