On pace this season to
SHATTER the record
Roger Maris* and Babe Ruth move over, there's a new slugger on the block - Mark McGwire - and he's on pace this season to SHATTER the most prestigious record in Major League Baseball.
St. Louis Cardinals fans are the greatest fans on earth and their luck struck gold on July 31, 1997, when some moron Oakland A's executive traded McGwire to the Cardinals.
Imagine, getting paid BIG BUCKS to trade away a player during a season when he's on track to possibly set a new home run record and hit 50-plus home runs for the second consecutive season, a feat only done by one player before him, Babe Ruth, and only four other players have multiple 50-run seasons. Well, Oakland did trade him and McGwire hit 58 home runs, just three shy of the record!
McGwire was also hitting home runs at a career pace then second only to Babe Ruth in the history of the game and has stayed at the same pace so far this season.
His 38th home run this season, hit Saturday, July 11, was his 62nd as a Cardinal and in only 134 games with the team. That's equivalent to setting the record, but in 21 fewers games than Ruth in 1927 and 29 fewer games than Maris* in 1961! Think about that, Oakland!
Oh yeah, about the asterisk after Maris's name. The record books put it there when he broke Ruth's record, because when Ruth hit his 60 there were only 155 games that season. Maris hit his 61 after the season had been lengthened to 162 games, and he hit #61 during the 163rd game (The Yankees were involved in a tie game that year???).
But don't look for an asterisk after McGwire's name. After a couple of games off during the season to rest and after being off for a three-game series because of a back injury, the most games Mac can play in this year is 155, the same as Ruth in 1927. |
