Cardinals History: Big Mac etches his name into the history books

Mark McGwire entered September sitting at 55 homers and was coming off the fourth month in which he had at least 10 long balls. Even though the St. Louis Cardinals came into the month over 20 games out of the division race and sitting below .500, fans were still packing Busch Stadium to get a glimpse of potential history.

Big Mac's September began as many of his others did during the 1998 season, as he hit five homers in the first five games of the month, putting him just one home run away from Roger Maris' record 61 that he set in 1961. After a series against the Reds, the Cardinals welcomed the rival Chicago Cubs to town. The Cubs came to St. Louis sitting 10 games out of the NL Central race, and future MVP Sammy Sosa, who McGwire had been trading homers with all season, sat at 58 bombs before coming to Busch.

Mark McGwire ties home run record with Cubs, Sammy Sosa in town on September 7, 1998

Over 42,000 fans came into Busch Stadium to welcome the Cubs to town, a number that has been seen a grand total of four times this year. Even with the Cardinals out of the race in 1998, this was proof that the fans will show up if there is something exciting to root for. Well, fans did not have to wait long for their opportunity to cheer on McGwire and the Cardinals. After Cardinals starter Darren Oliver set down the Cubs in order in the top of the first, Big Mac grabbed his spot in the box with two outs in the inning. Chicago starter Mike Morgan would put his name in the record books while facing McGwire, but not for the reason he anticipated as a first-round pick in 1978.

As fans have been accustomed to seeing, McGwire deposited Morgan's pitch into the stands, and Big Mac officially tied Roger Maris' single-season home run record that had stood for 37 years. Incredibly, McGwire hammered his 61st homer of the year on his dad's 61st birthday. Even as a young kid at the time, I remember following this "Race for the Record" and even got to see Big Mac hit his 70th homer on my 7th birthday while we were getting ready to cut my cake.

That 70-homer record would stand until Barry Bonds took the top spot with his 73-homer season, and even now, those numbers are a subject for debate due to the evidence that points to McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds having some type of artificial help. However, what is not up for debate is the fact that the 1998 home run race did wonders to bring baseball back to the limelight after struggling to regain fans after the strike that took place earlier in the decade. With the passion and energy that surrounded St. Louis in the summer of 1998, it was clear that baseball was alive and well at Busch Stadium.