The Controversial '98 Home Run Race SAVED Baseball 

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.

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.

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

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.

Put em all in the hall and stop acting like they sullied the game. They saved it in a lot of ways, MLB.

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

I’ll always remember that year man, great stuff

I remember this like yesterday, the public loved these guys, both them….but Rogers Record still lives!

This summer was nuts. I'll never forget it

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!

That 30 for 30 special was pretty cool

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.

Let them do all the gear, baseball was way more fun this way

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

I grew up during that era and it made me a baseball fan. Steroids don't affect your hand eye coordination.

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. 😔

Still look back on 1998 fondly. Fun times.

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.

I remember summer 98 in nyc. Ppl would paint their car windows with how many HRs Sammy had

Tha steroid era was fun asf

“Do ya wanna know the terrifying truth? Or do ya wanna see me sock a few dingers?” “Dingers! Dingers!”

great video

I Was 5 when this happened and I REMEMBER 🙏🏾‼️

Sammy did have 40 home run season 2 years before 1998 season looking it up if you didn’t believe me loved this video

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.

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.

Best season in baseball history hands down

“Low dosage” lol. They look like action figures haha

Honestly these guys prolly had juiced bats as well lol the 90s were fun 😂😂😂

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

Steroids or not, I still think it's amazing anybody hit this many home runs.

like it or not steroids were great for baseball lmao mark sammy barry launching balls to the moon were sick af

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

I feel like being juiced in baseball wouldn’t be as helpful as being juiced in football

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.

That's why the MLB didn't want to do anything about steroids/hgh.

Wow it's like bird and magic in baseball

Thought that was Yeezy in thumbnail

Baseball was Awesome Back Then Today Well???😒😒😒

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.

Gahhhhh damn they roids had dem hitting some long dingers

Somewhat analogous to Lance Armstrong's TDF wins...

Bring back the Roids! Man MLB need this kind of excitement again

The only year I watched baseball ever

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

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.

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.

So... we're not going to mention Mr. Barry Potato Head Bonds' use of steroids?

Baseball was awesome then

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

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.

We need more steroids in the mlb 😭

Maris 61 in '61

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.

griffey leagues better than both those dorks

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.

i think steroids should be allowed in professional sports.

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.

Steroid 👑

“Saved” is a funny word. Baseball traded away its soul to the devil to “save” itself.

If steroid use is cool,why hasn't mc guire,sosa,a rod abd bonds been voted ibto hall of fame?

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!

Amazing HR Race that year with Mark "the big Mac of the steroids"

The fun police wrecked baseball, now no hitters are all we have how fun

Idk man.. i started watching baseball coz of MadBum!

Wow they both had the touch of death. Thank steroids 😂

So sad ,, I hope judge hits 62,, that will be the real record

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