Cardinals legend Mark McGwire holds an impressive record that no one will repeat

It's hard to think of a more iconic time in baseball history than the 1998 home run chase, and it was on this day, 27 years ago, that St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire did something that no one else in MLB history had done before him.

Going head-to-head with Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. for the 1998 home run crowd, and more importantly, the single-season home run record, McGwire stepped up to the plate against the New York Mets at the old Shea Stadium on August 20th, and proceeded to blast his 50th home run of the season.

While baseball fans remember the number 70 for the single-season record that McGwire set that year, his 50th home run of the year actually set its own record among all sluggers who have played the game. With that home run, McGwire became the first player and only player in baseball history to post three straight seasons with 50 or more home runs.

Mark McGwire is the only player in baseball history with 50 or more home runs in three consecutive seasons.

Not only has no other player in baseball history slugged 50 home runs or more in three straight seasons, but McGwire hit 65 in 1999, putting his streak of 50+ home run seasons at four.

McGwire's home run chase in 1998 will always be complicated by his steroid usage, and it's really unfortunate that one of the most exciting times in baseball history is stained by that. It has to come up when we have conversations about these moments, but I also don't think it should rob us of remembering how special that time was. Many remember that chase as what "saved" baseball.

No, I'm not defending the steroids, but as I see the dwindling crowds at Busch Stadium this year, it is fun to be reminded of a time that is so instrumental in baseball history and how a St. Louis Cardinal was at the center of it.

The magic of the home run race will likely never be replicated again, but I do hope we get to see Busch Stadium rocking again like we saw during that chase, during the Cardinals' run in the 2000s, and even in the early to mid-2010s when the club was firing on all cylinders.