During , as Sosa battled St. In conjunction with the home run chase, Sosa drove in a career-best RBIs. Sammy Sosa not only hit for power in , but he also hit for his highest career batting average to date finishing the year with a.
While the season will always be remembered as the exciting record-breaking year McGwire and Sosa battled for home run supremacy, offered up an equally impressive duel between the two NL sluggers.
In , on his way to a homer season that would stand for three years as No. When McGwire hit No. Many of his Chicago Cubs teammates fumed at the break with decorum, but in the summer of '98, it was deemed best to shut up and let it ride. That was Sosa's role: the comic-relief sidekick, assigned to play a simplistic stereotype in service of the man who was preordained to play the lead.
He motivated himself by throwing open the door and inviting the world in. There is an element of defiance, even dismissiveness, in sending a ball over the fence and out of the field of play. And the home run accomplishes everything baseball allegedly doesn't; it creates stars, exposes personalities, generates digestible highlights. In , McGwire and Sosa engaged in a season-long quest to take down Maris' single-season home run record of 61, a competition that is the subject of "Long Gone Summer," a 30 for 30 documentary premiering Sunday.
By July of that season, the home run chase became more than baseballs flying over fences. It was a piece of performance art, a morality play and a precursor for what the game would become. This was the beating heart of baseball's steroid era, and it's clear there was something stronger than wholesome Midwest air and good old-fashioned momentum coursing through the veins of the two men captivating the nation.
But for the most part, we weren't overly interested in complications. We were along for the ride, and it was a lot of fun. He understood it, of course, and his understanding was the root of his nearly pathological desire to deflect attention. The paradox is rich: The man Tony La Russa described as a "back-of-the-room guy," whose sole desire was to merge seamlessly into the clubhouse furniture, went to extralegal attempts to set himself apart.
He became a human exaggeration and, in the process, elevated himself above everyone in the game. His teammates were collateral damage, but McGwire was a master of clubhouse diplomacy. He constantly apologized to his teammates for the imposition, and he followed every milestone homer -- 60, 61, 62, 70 -- by signing a box of a dozen baseballs for each teammate. Still, there were so many media members in the Cardinals' clubhouse over the final two months of the season; every day it felt like a convention.
We soon ferreted out McGwire's closest friends on the team, and we created separate groups in our minds: those who wanted to talk about McGwire; those who would talk about McGwire but didn't particularly enjoy it; and those who wanted nothing to do with any of it. After one game, there was a crowd of 20 to 30 reporters surrounding catcher Tom Lampkin, whose friendship with McGwire and overall conviviality made him a regular stop on the Tour of Lockers. As Lampkin spoke, he was interrupted by pitcher Kent Mercker, who was hollering from across the room.
That dude didn't even play today. Before , Sammy Sosa drove in more than runs in each of those three years. In , Sammy Sosa hit 36 home runs, drove in runs and stole 34 bases, achieving just the 22nd homer, steal season in the history of baseball. Sammy Sosa was a star.
Sammy Sosa got MVP votes. Those 20 homers created a home run race that nobody saw coming. Tied and broke Banks'Wrigley Field home run record on September Hit a 1st-inning solo homer off Pittsburgh's Oliver Perez, then hit a grand slam in the 8th off Mark Corey in the Cubs win Has hit homers at Wrigley, while Banks hit Was named to the National League All-Star team for the 7th time in his career and made his 5th start Homered 10 times in July, the 21st double-digit homer month of his career.
Hit his 10th career game-ending home run on July 1 vs. Houston, a 10th-inning solo shot off Brad Lidge to give the Cubs a win Hit 8 game-winning homers in his Cubs' career. Had three 2-homer games, giving him 66 multi-homer games in his career Ranks 4th on baseball's alltime list, one shy of tying Mark McGwire.
In addition to April 18 vs. Cincinnati and September 15 vs. Louis, hitting a 3-run homer off Chris Carpenter and later adding a basesloading single Recorded his 19th career 5-RBI game on September 15 vs. Pittsburgh, hitting 2 home runs, including his 8th career grand slam.
After being a respected hitter for years, Sammy Sosa emerged as one of baseball's greatest players in His home run race with Cardinal Mark McGwire drew the attention of the nation and the scrutiny of the media.
Sosa did achieve the goal of overtaking the sixty-one single season home run mark posted by Roger Maris in , but he happened to hit is sixty-second five days after McGwire. While Sosa did not "win" the race, he gained a large fan following that follows him to this day. Sosa began the season quite normally, hitting six 6 long balls in April and seven 7 in May.
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