The Controversial '98 Home Run Race SAVED Baseball
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- The race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to break Roger Maris's single-season home run record is remembered as much for being tied to the Steroid Era as it is for the joy it brought baseball fans at the time.
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Written & Narrated by: Jonah Birenbaum (@Birenball | Twitter)
Produced by: Brandon Jordan (@BrandonJordan3 | Instagram)
Edited by: Zack Underhill (@ZackUnderhill | Instagram)
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#MarkMcGwire #SammySosa #MLB
During the summer of 1998, I lived for baseball. The entire year had such a magical feel that I’ve never experienced before or after. McGwire and Sosa had a friendly rivalry that felt completely wholesome. Griffey was the man in the AL. Ripken stopped his streak on the last game. A-ROD went 40/40. Jose Canseco cracked 46 homers. Such a magical baseball season that no one will EVER make me feel differently about.
Same. I'm not even much of a baseball romantic, but I'll never forget that summer as long as I live. Sports at its very, very best - even with everything that eventually came out afterward.
Bonds also became baseballs first 400/400 man
The Yankees dominated from start to finish and swept the Padres in the World Series.
There was nothing controversial about it until after the owner and commisioner got their money from the homerun race. Then they wanted to blame the players for giving fans and themselves what they wanted.
I got to see McGwire's 62nd homerun.
Put Mac and Sosa in.. Neither of them were bad guys either.
Agreed, the commissioner looked the other way while gloating about how much money they were making. If bud Selig can get in the hall than all the players who played in the Era he presided over should be able to get in as well. I don't care what anybody says baseball was better in that Era than it is now.
they used drugs man. so they were cheats. like lance armstrong ben johnson and marion. ;)
Mac was kinda of a di*k honestly. He turned down getting his own ball back purely because he wouldn't meet the fan that was handing it over and shake his hand.
Sosa wasn't a bad guy?
You must not be a Cubs fan.
i can't hardly believe it somebody else that says what ive been saying i wan't to talk to the comish these people saved baseball
Watching this as a 10 year old in the Dominican Republic was so wild. EVERYONE would stop what they were doing to see if Sammy was going to hit another homer
Yep in Chicago it was like that even people who never watch baseball wanted to see sammy Sosa's at bat
So dope how were all able to communicate about it and anything else from wherever We are now days .
Amazing.
Cool man. Slap Ass!
It's a dang shame this has that tainted feel now. The whole thing was so freaking wholesome while it happened. The relationship between Sosa and Mcgwire was so fun to watch.
not in my mind, I remember it as when baseball was fun. Buuut just like everything else fun in this world the people cry, whinge until we are left with boringness, no hitters aren't even exciting anymore that's how low scoring it is its boring
yeah whats more wholesome then drugs on an apple pie ;)
It's only tainted in the eyes of people looking back trying to pick apart everything and pretending they are superior. This was a moment that literally saved the sport.
@@TheStiggggg We have literally sent our best players to war and baseball survived. "Save Baseball", my ass. Next argument.
@@shelbyshelton5602 You can look at the TV ratings and ticket sales to see what the home run race did. I was about to quit baseball as a child / teen and this race reignited my desire to play. It was exciting and baseball was fun. Its dying again with the pitchers and there "legal" substances.
Put em all in the hall and stop acting like they sullied the game. They saved it in a lot of ways, MLB.
💯
Agreed
It was fraudulent. I can only look back on that with shame.
@@redpillfreedom6692 the pitchers were cheating too. Stop being a baby.
@@chrisbartolini1508 And the pitchers who cheated got rightfully busted.
I remember this like yesterday, the public loved these guys, both them….but Rogers Record still lives!
Aaron Judge may be on pace to break it this year.
This summer was nuts. I'll never forget it
It's like magic johnson vs bird
I went to the Cardinals/Brewers series in Milwaukee that year where McGwire hit numbers 64 and 65. It was a hell of a lot of fun, but it was the first time I thought something was not right. I had seen McGwire play for the A's in Detroit numerous times in the late 1980s and early 90s and he was always a big guy, but when I saw him again in Milwaukee I remember thinking, "My God, the man has become a mountain." It was obvious looking at him that he had ballooned to an unnatural size only achievable through chemical means. And then on the first night of the three game series he hit #64 and in two other at bats he hit balls that landed in the corner of the left-field upper deck at County Stadium which was just inside foul territory and well over 400 feet away. He was also hitting balls in batting practice that carried over the bleachers and bounced into the parking lot. I had never seen anything like it and deep down I knew what was going on, but like everyone else I was just enjoying the ride.
Steroids had nothing to do with McGwires hr ability. He aways could hit them. 49 in his rc season. What they did for him was help his body recover and stay healthy for the entire season. The body mass him, Sosa, Bonds...got had nothing to do with hitting hrs. Y do u think pitchers took them?
I grew up during that era and it made me a baseball fan. Steroids don't affect your hand eye coordination.
Definitely effects that home run Stat though
@@energysurgefitness1738 and it impacts recovery time. If griffey juiced like these clowns he'd have 900 career homers
@@siniister710 he probably did juice. Just because he didn't get caught doesn't mean he didn't cheat. The top guys all cheat. You're not gonna compete with a guy on juice
@@energysurgefitness1738 nah Griffey used a verry very small amount of hgh just one year 2000 but thatsbir
@@nicksatwr4538 still cheating lmao 🤣
Growing up a Cubs who loved Sammy, I was SO damned happy when he started GOING OFF in June! It was just surreal. And that season my dad had bought tickets to Cubs/Cards prior to the start of the season. They just so happened to come into the game tied and Sammy struck first, going ahead of Big Mac for the first and only time during that season. Mac would hit two more homers within a few innings and take back his HR crown. The Cubs lost a close one but no one cared about that. I still can't believe that I was fortunate enough to be at that game!
In the 30 for 30 the pitcher from the Cubs said he wasn't trying to gift the HR to McGwire. You can tell too because that 62nd HR was a hard pitch to and ended up being a line shot. He didn't congratulate Mark after he went around the bases either lol
It seemed a bit hypocritical for the pitcher best known as the human rain delay (Steve Trachsel) would be upset by a on field delay to congratulate a record accomplishment.
That 30 for 30 special was pretty cool
What if I told you that steroids make you a winner
To be honest, I thought the 30 for 30 was pretty much just an updated Race For the Record.
Had The Kid stayed healthy to get His ring and set all the records He was on pace for breaking & setting
There’d be no doubt of whom The Jordan of Baseball is .
Jr. is Thee Greatest to ever play The Game ⚾️
Just didn’t get to stay @ that level His entire career, due to injuries. 😔
Babe Ruth is the fucking goat wtf
I’ll always remember that year man, great stuff
Let them do all the gear, baseball was way more fun this way
I played baseball as a kid, but I never watched MLB. When this was going on I remember my dad watching baseball and having me watch because of the homerun race. Cause it was history. We usually just watched football together. What I am saying is, the home run race made people that did not normally watch MLB watch these games.
like it or not steroids were great for baseball lmao mark sammy barry launching balls to the moon were sick af
And ruining pitchers career. ALBERT PUJOLS IS THE GOLDEN STATUS!!!!!
I remember summer 98 in nyc. Ppl would paint their car windows with how many HRs Sammy had
Tha steroid era was fun asf
Yes, this brought back the fans nationally. But for me, personally, it was the underdog story of the 1996 Yankees. Look into it. That dynasty started out as the scrappy upstart. People forget that.
Honestly these guys prolly had juiced bats as well lol the 90s were fun 😂😂😂
Honestly, who the hell cares about mcquire using PEDs?? The man still had to eye every pitch, as well as connect with it well enough to completely shatter an old record... Unbelievable he's crying on tv. This man was a generational talent that we didn't see again until Pujols.
What about Bonds? That go for all of them. Idc I think the steriod era should get the same attention for saving the game as much as they cry cheater
1) Except Pujols did it naturally, like a true champ.
2) People are still parroting this argument? "Steroids don't help you see the ball"; no, but they turn flyouts into home runs, and they definitely help with bat speed.
@@tinypoolmodelshipyard You're crying just as much about them getting busted.
Theese videos are such great content how do you not have more subs like imagine putting in this much effort into a video to get no outcome. Keep it up your a hard worker
“Do ya wanna know the terrifying truth? Or do ya wanna see me sock a few dingers?”
“Dingers! Dingers!”
Still look back on 1998 fondly. Fun times.
Give them all steroids and make the MLB great again. I dont think anyone gives a shit about them taking steroids as long we are entertained
It's not like it's a big bad secret anymore
The list of “acceptable” things you can do to the body to enhance athletic performance is staggering. Tendon/ligament transplants, laser eye surgery, stem cell injections, and prescribed amphetamines are kosher. But a weekly hormone injection to keep your T levels where they were when you were 18? CHEATING!!
Baseball is better with PED’s. I want to see superhuman performance. Apparently the general MLB audience agrees, but still feels icky about it.
We need to stop with the magical thinking and get with the times. Give them anything and everything to make them better (except aluminum bats, ew, gross).
@@DemoDick1If you can't do it naturally you don't belong in the game. Period
Best season in baseball history hands down
“Low dosage” lol. They look like action figures haha
Low dosage does a lot more than u can imagine. But the body mass had little to do with the hrs. The body recovery from steroids is the main factor players used them.
Mcgwire, sosa and Griffey Jr were the 3 biggest stars in 98 and they put them ina HR race to break the Maris/Ruth record
Wow it's like bird and magic in baseball
I Was 5 when this happened and I REMEMBER 🙏🏾‼️
My mom would watch the games while she was pregnant and I could hear the games from her womb.
Steroids or not, I still think it's amazing anybody hit this many home runs.
Sammy did have 40 home run season 2 years before 1998 season looking it up if you didn’t believe me loved this video
Baseball was Awesome Back Then Today Well???😒😒😒
I dont understand why they cant just push all the fences back 60 feet again. Homeruns are tremendously boring. The original design of baseball was to put the ball in play often. Homeruns were typically incredibly athletic feats. About 75 percent of the homeruns hit could have been caught today.
I feel like being juiced in baseball wouldn’t be as helpful as being juiced in football
Gahhhhh damn they roids had dem hitting some long dingers
Who cares if they juiced. That was the breasted single season in mlb history. They should both be in the hall of fame for saving baseball alone.
That's why the MLB didn't want to do anything about steroids/hgh.
I know for a lot of people the PED scandal ruined this era, but looking back now - I don't care. People can cry all they want about PEDs, but I don't care. I was 7 in 1998, and it was the year I got the closest I ever came to actually becoming a baseball fan until I got back into the game recently - I started watching Inside Baseball after Saturday morning cartoons, I started watching games with my dad and grandpa, I would pretend to be Maguire and Sosa out in the backyard hitting balls i'd pitch to myself and I even asked to join the little league team (parents couldn't get that last one done, though).
I still have a lot of nostalgia for this era of my life and this era of baseball. Guys like Maguire, Sosa, and Griffey (who was clean throughout his career, but if I'm talking about this era, I can't not mention one of its biggest stars) were and still are my favorites and heroes. So some of them took some PEDs (PEDs over half the league was taking so was it really an unfair advantage? And how are PEDs an unfair advantage if theoretically anyone can take them but stuff like being 7-feet tall in basketball - something you can't change no matter hiw hard you work - isn't an unfair advantage? And isn't there supposed to be sone old saw about skill being the ultimate equalizer anyways?) so they could bounce back quicker from injuries and maybe they hit a few extra homers because of that - I don't care. I have memories I can look back fondly on that I'm not going to let a bunch of fragile old whine-asses ruin with their "sanctity of the game" BS (the same old guys who endorse pitchers beaning batters for batflips or "hitting too much" because that's "how it's always been done.") They can talk about asterisks all they want, but it doesn't change the fact that I could take 3× the steroids Maguire did, it doesn't mean I can now hit 3× as many homeruns as he did in 98, so why should i give a shit about PEDs? I'm not letting their pearl-clutching stop me from liking what I liked as a kid anymore.
Still don't care for Bonds though.
I never expected to hear someone refer to McGwire as gorgeous.
"The Steroid Era" is a misnomer.
Steroids were not the reason the MLB as a whole hit more HRs and scored more runs than ever before.
It was changes to the ball in 1993/94.
Baseball was awesome then
Cheaters. Every one of them. Baseball is much better without the shit.
So... we're not going to mention Mr. Barry Potato Head Bonds' use of steroids?
He wasnt in 98 hr chase
No timmy. We're not.
@@TheBatugan77 Oh, the "timmy" comeback! Why is it that homosexuals always think that is so witty?
If the owners give the money back they made from the steroid era then you can keep them out that won't happen it's interesting that the managers that coached the teams Hof status regardless
great video
Baseball has been unwatchable these past years. With the Astros cheating, players strike as well as the 2020 MLB season. It’s gonna take more than roids to bring it back.
Honestly, electrical sign-stealing has been around for over a hundred years and there were plenty of teams that did it better than Houston, who got busted for it.. I don't think MLB is going to stop it.
The only year I watched baseball ever
Baseball doesn't need you asshole.
Bring back the Roids! Man MLB need this kind of excitement again
Thought that was Yeezy in thumbnail
Somewhat analogous to Lance Armstrong's TDF wins...
I was 14. Loved the chase. Sosa was my fave player.
I never tuned out baseball like most due to the strike. I stayed.
Still will always love this BUT its tainted now. No longer a sammy fan (for multiple reasons)....for me, Maris still holds the record.
I will say this about 98...my parents who dont like baseball, watched that game where Mc hit 62.
Sammy Susser
Finding out all my hero's were roided out as a kid turned me off of baseball completely until only very recently. I realize there are plenty of dudes still juicing and looking for an edge where ever they can get it. I even know its not as if these dudes were talentless. But it was a rude awakening to the reality of the world as a young kid and ngl ..it ruined baseball for me for a really long time.
You’re a mental case
Maris 61 in '61
Ruth 60 in '27
Less games a season than Maris in '61
Amazing HR Race that year with Mark "the big Mac of the steroids"
griffey leagues better than both those dorks
Then why didn’t Griffey ever hit 70
“Saved” is a funny word. Baseball traded away its soul to the devil to “save” itself.
Traded away it’s soul it’s a wild statement considering they’re not in the HOF
roids has nothing to do with hand eye contact and hitting the ball. only thing it did was allow big mac play a full season without getting hurt. Big mac hit 49 as a rookie without roids so yes without roids he couldve done it.
Juiced ball in 1987.
If steroid use is cool,why hasn't mc guire,sosa,a rod abd bonds been voted ibto hall of fame?
We need more steroids in the mlb 😭
Steroids made baseball a multi billion dollar sport, and it was in the game for decades. Who really knows who was in steroids prior to this Era. If Bud Selig can get in than why penalize the guys who played in the Era he was the commissioner of? Hypocritical bullshit and lack of accountability which is Seligs legacy. They should all be in.
I'm not a big fan of him but Bonds is one of the greatest to ever play the game and that was the case before he started juicing, they should all be in. Period!
It’s so weird for me to look back at this era. I was 10 that year, started following baseball a couple years prior. I knew nothing about the strike. I just loved the game and my hometown Mariners! I remember being excited about the home run race, but was more interested in my M’s. I feel so much nostalgia when I look back, but definitely see these two as cheaters and their records (Bonds included) not legit.
Yeah. I had just started middle school when the '98 home run race was in full swing. I also knew nothing of the '94 strike, but looking back on that era and the ensuing steroid scandal, it makes them less credible.
This is when The Score started trash sports stories. This dude narrating continues today. Voice a little deeper
Steroid 👑
The fun police wrecked baseball, now no hitters are all we have how fun
Then don't watch asshole. Nobody gives a flying fuck.
Wow they both had the touch of death. Thank steroids 😂
i think steroids should be allowed in professional sports.
💉💉💉💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽
Idk man.. i started watching baseball coz of MadBum!
So sad ,, I hope judge hits 62,, that will be the real record
Nah the real record is still 73.
@@kalebdegroot7825 I'm saying the real record as far as doing it without cheating and the right way. Judge being a Yankee makes it that much better because of the history of the Yankees.. plus the new dead balls this year,,, of course 73 will be the record with the astrixs next to it for bonds, McGuire and Sosa,, but a naturally built guy doing it the right way will be the record in 95 percent of people
@@kalebdegroot7825 your the 5 percent 🤣
He might do it because he's on a roll to hit 62.
@@kalebdegroot7825 73************************************************************************************************(CHEATING ASSHOLE)
2 cheaters wooptie woop.
Griffey was natural
It wasn’t controversial at all
I remember summer 98 in nyc. Ppl would paint their car windows with how many HRs Sammy had