10 years ago today...

[erik316wttn]

10 years ago today, September 8, 1998, perhaps the most storied single-season record in all of sports was broken. Mark McGwire hit home run number 62 into the left field bullpen in St. Louis off of Steve Trachel, breaking Roger Maris's long-standing record.

 

So, a decade later, what is your opinion of this moment, knowing what we know now?

 

I think it was tainted, but I still say the Summer of '98 was the most fun I've ever had as a baseball fan.

[OleMissCub]

Yeah, that was definitely a fun time.

[bcl412]

98 was the year I fell in love with the Cubs and only the Cubs (before then I was a fan of multiple different teams). It kind of sucks that it was kind of tainted but I can't forget that epic home run chace regardless.

[Bote McBoteface]

I really can't believe that was 10 years ago.

 

I was only 11, but I can still remember watching those games like it was yesterday.

[C.C.]

It was a fun summer, but personally 1984 was my favorite summer watching the Cubs...Except for the end.

[Jehrico]

It was a fun summer, but personally 1984 was my favorite summer watching the Cubs...Except for the end.

F'in Steve Garvey.

[jersey cubs fan]

It was a fun summer, but personally 1984 was my favorite summer watching the Cubs...Except for the end.

 

2008 is well on the way to being my favorite summer watching the Cubs.

[FergieJ31]

I'll never forget how po'ed Trachsel was. Not only giving up the dinger but watching his infielders high-five Big Mac as he rounded the bases. I didn't blame him either, given that the Cubs were in a thick WC race.

 

My recollection of the time was that the HR race was a tad overblown; I was more interested in the WC race. Some of those Sept games down the stretch were just over-the-top crazy. I don't know how Ronnie lived through that. The Sep 11-13 series against Milw was one of the most dramatic regular season series I've ever watched (the 5 game set vs Stl in 2003 is probably at the top).

[kujay]

It was very exciting.

 

I try to think back to what I knew about steroids at the time. I remember thinking McGwire was on the stuff, especially when the Andro story came out. But I was pretty sure Sammy was clean. Heh.

[Mugged By Fluffy]

I'll never forget how po'ed Trachsel was. Not only giving up the dinger but watching his infielders high-five Big Mac as he rounded the bases. I didn't blame him either, given that the Cubs were in a thick WC race.

 

My recollection of the time was that the HR race was a tad overblown; I was more interested in the WC race. Some of those Sept games down the stretch were just over-the-top crazy. I don't know how Ronnie lived through that. The Sep 11-13 series against Milw was one of the most dramatic regular season series I've ever watched (the 5 game set vs Stl in 2003 is probably at the top).

 

Home run race was fun, but to me, 1998 is always going to be defined by Kerry Wood and his back to back strikeout games. He made AZ look as bad as he did the Astros in his following start.

[C.C.]

It was a fun summer, but personally 1984 was my favorite summer watching the Cubs...Except for the end.

F'in Steve Garvey.

 

Damn straight...

[sweetpeteman]

I remember knowing that McGuire was about to hit 62 off of Trachsel when he came up. (Full disclosure, I was 12 at the time.)

 

 

I also remember seeing Sammy hit #56 at Wrigley against the Giants.

[C.C.]

This thread makes me feel old.

[mul21]

The thing most ingrained in my memory from that season is Brant Brown dropping an easy fly ball in Milwaukee to cost the Cubs a game they had won. I was in the weight room in LaCrosse, WI with my buddy the Brewers fan. And then later I heard Ronny nearly have a coronary in the booth.

[Schwarber Fan]

The thing most ingrained in my memory from that season is Brant Brown dropping an easy fly ball in Milwaukee to cost the Cubs a game they had won. I was in the weight room in LaCrosse, WI with my buddy the Brewers fan. And then later I heard Ronny nearly have a coronary in the booth.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/news/1998/09/23/cubs_brewers/cubs.html

 

http://www.northtonorth.com/pages/soundclips/santoohno.mp3

[imb]

a guy on my soccer team hurt himself in a game that day and went to the hospital. we all visited him after the game, so i saw the homerun in a hospital room.

[CarolinaCubFan]

1 unopened case of 84 Fleer Update

12 unopened cases of 87 Donruss

4 unopened cases of 87 Fleer

19 opened cases of 87 Topps

2 unopened cases of 85 Topps........I could go on and on.

 

WOW!!! I'm going to blow my top just thinking about it. I thought it would be a good investment for the future.

[C.C.]

1 unopened case of 84 Fleer Update

12 unopened cases of 87 Donruss

4 unopened cases of 87 Fleer

19 opened cases of 87 Topps

2 unopened cases of 85 Topps........I could go on and on.

 

WOW!!! I'm going to blow my top just thinking about it. I thought it would be a good investment for the future.

 

What do you mean?

[FergieJ31]

The thing most ingrained in my memory from that season is Brant Brown dropping an easy fly ball in Milwaukee to cost the Cubs a game they had won. I was in the weight room in LaCrosse, WI with my buddy the Brewers fan. And then later I heard Ronny nearly have a coronary in the booth.

 

Sitting in the LF bleachers, I could clearly see that ball had some bite on it, a hooking drive near the sun. It was a tougher catch than people might realize, but still it was a no-doubt-about-it error -- Brown was right there.

 

Here's a pic of Ronnie when he clanked it:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:The_Scream.jpg

[CarolinaCubFan]

1 unopened case of 84 Fleer Update

12 unopened cases of 87 Donruss

4 unopened cases of 87 Fleer

19 opened cases of 87 Topps

2 unopened cases of 85 Topps........I could go on and on.

 

WOW!!! I'm going to blow my top just thinking about it. I thought it would be a good investment for the future.

 

What do you mean?

 

I invested a lot of money in a hobby that I love. I won't have any fond memories of the steriod era.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Speaking of which...

 

Mark McGwire May Be Open To Idea Of Playing Again

By Cork Gaines [september 8 at 3:45pm CST]

Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch interviewed Mark McGwire about the 10th anniversary of breaking Roger Maris' single-season home run record. At the end of the article McGwire indicates that he thinks he can still play.

 

Today, McGwire says, he works out twice a day and still weighs 245 pounds. "I can still hit, if somebody wants me," he said. "Now, wouldn’t that be a shocker?"

 

Let me say that McGwire may have been joking. However, Hummel gives us no indication that this is the case.

 

Earlier today, Joe Stiglich reported that the A's would seek to add power to the lineup this off-season and that they would be more likely to acquire a power-hitter through free agency. Would Billy Beane try to coax McGwire out of retirement? McGwire did play 11 seasons for the A's and they do have an opening for a DH in '09 along with a dire need to add an impact bat.

 

The possibility does seem far-fetched, but this is the type of move that Beane would not shy from. And if McGwire did decide to lace up the sneakers for one more season, this is the exact situation under which it would have to happen.

[Andy]

I wasn't even a Cubs fan yet when this happened, but I was rooting for Sammy to win the HR race since he had come out of essentially nowhere. I converted to being a Cubs fan about the turn of the century.

[Post Count Padder]

Barry Bonds would want McGwire to play again to take away some of the heat.

[bhogg]

'89 was THE summer for me. I was 12, played baseball, and made my first trip to Wrigley that August.

 

However, after Sandberg called it quits in '97, then Harry passed. The cubs were not good. I was down on baseball. I really didn't care much for it.

 

However, the home run race heated up. The Cubs played good baseball for the most part, and it all came back to me. That summer, my wife (fiance at the time) and I went to our first Cub game together. We saw the Cubs in Houston. Sammy hit #47 and Kerry Wood pitched a great game.

 

I very much remember watching the McGwire game. It was awesome, but now it's tainted. I enjoyed the moment, but that's all it was.

[ELCABALLO45]

I was 9. I can't belive it was 10 years ago...

 

I was downstairs with my dad and I remember watching it. Its funny that I was 9 and I can still remember everything about it. I thought it was the greatest thing ever at the time. Never heard of steroids. I probably didn't realize how big of a moment it was when it happend but im glad I remember watching it.