Mark David McGwire is born in Pomona, Calif., the third of five brothers who
would make the Bunyan clan seem tiny. Fully grown, the McGwire boys will
range in height from 6'2" to 6'8". Mark, at 6'5", will wind up right in the middle.
1971
Talk about playground prescience: In his first Little League at-bat, seven-year-old
Mark launches a home run. Three years later he'd set the Claremont (Calif.) Little
League record for dingers with 13, a mark that would stand for two decades
1979
As a sophomore at Damien High in Claremont, McGwire
decides to return to the first sport he learned-golf-and
temporarily quits the baseball team. "The thing I liked about
golf was that you were the only one there to blame when
something went wrong." McGwire would eventually
choose swinging a bat over swinging a five-iron.
1981
As a senior in high school, McGwire impresses pro scouts more with his arm than
his bat. In June, he is selected by the Montreal Expos in the eighth round of the
draft-as a pitcher. Instead of signing, he accepts a baseball scholarship to the
University of Southern California.
1984
The '84 USC squad produces both a premier slugger in McGwire and a vaunted
strikeout pitcher in Randy Johnson. McGwire, who dropped pitching and became
a full-time first baseman after his freshman year, hits 32 homers in 67 games as a
junior at USC. That single-season mark matches the school's career record. The
Oakland A's draft McGwire in the first round. During the summer, he plays on the
U.S. squad that wins a gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics.
August 11, 1987
McGwire, who made the A's in spring training as a
non-roster invitee, becomes one of the most successful
rookies ever. On this date he hits home run No. 38, tying
the major league rookie record. McGwire and wife Kathy
go out for burritos to celebrate. He would break the record
three days later.
August 30, 1987
Mark's brother, Dan, makes his first collegiate start at quarterback for Iowa in the
Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium. The P.A. announcer's introduction: "At
quarterback for Iowa, Mark ... Dan McGwire."
October 4, 1987
McGwire gives up a shot at 50 homers for the chance to greet his first-born child.
Mark becomes the Mac Daddy when, with 49 dingers, he skips the final game of
the season to be there when his wife, Kathy, gives birth to their son, Matthew. "I
said to myself, 'I will never have another first-born, but I will have another chance
to hit 50.'"
October 19, 1988
McGwire's game-winning homer off the Dodgers' Jay
Howell in the ninth inning of Game 3 gives Oakland its only
victory in the 1988 World Series. The home run was
McGwire's only hit of the Series. It was a shocking defeat
for the A's, who were powered by "The Bash
Brothers" - McGwire and Jose Canseco. The duo
combined for 154 homers during the '87 and '88 seasons.
October 17, 1989
McGwire atones for his '88 World Series ineptitude by batting .343 in the
postseason. But his world is shaken-literally-when an earthquake registering
7.1 on the Richter scale postpones the World Series for 10 days. The quake rocks
San Francisco's Candlestick Park just before Game 3, and McGwire helps family
and friends out of the stands and onto the field. McGwire is the only Oakland
regular not to homer in the Series, which the A's sweep from their Bay Area
neighbors.
January 1992
Returning briefly to the links, McGwire caddies for PGA Tour pro Billy Andrade at
the Daikyo Palm Meadows Cup in Australia. Andrade finishes second. "They
couldn't get over how big I was or that I was carrying Billy's bag with one hand
instead of slung over my shoulder." No word on whether Big Mac got a big tip.
1993-1995
McGwire becomes a walking M*A*S*H unit. He spends five long stints on the
disabled list and misses 290 games over three seasons. Assorted ailments
include: a rib cage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a sore back, a stress fracture in
his left heel, and a torn right heel muscle
March 1996
Another injury, this time to his right heel, causes McGwire to contemplate
retirement. The people closest to him help change the slugger's mind. "My dad
and family told me that if I retired, it'd be the biggest mistake of my life."
September 14, 1996
McGwire launches his 50th round-tripper of the season, off Cleveland's Chad
Ogea, to become the 13th player in history to reach that milestone. After the
game, McGwire gives the home run ball to his eight-year-old son, Matthew.
July 31, 1997
Cash-strapped Oakland deals the game's premier slugger, sending McGwire to
the St. Louis Cardinals for a trio of young arms. To say the least, the city rolled out
the red carpet. "I came to St. Louis, and the people just overwhelmed me. I had
never felt anything like that. The energy level was just incredible."
August 8, 1997
After a 71 at-bat drought, McGwire finds his home run
stroke in his Busch Stadium debut. Against Philadelphia's
Mark Leiter, he drills his first National League tater 441 feet
off the left-field foul pole.
September 16, 1997
McGwire elects not to test the positively tropical free-agent waters and signs a
three-year, $30 million deal with the Cardinals. At the press conference, a teary
McGwire announces that $1 million of his annual salary will go to charities to aid
abused children.
September 28, 1997
McGwire hits his 58th and final home run of the season off the Cubs' Steve
Trachsel at Busch Stadium. He becomes the second player in history to hit more
than 50 homers in back-to-back seasons. Babe Ruth did it in 1920-21 and
1927-28.
March 31, 1998
McGwire starts his run for the record in style with a a fifth-inning grand slam off the
Dodgers' Ramon Martinez in a 6-0 St. Louis win. It's the first Opening Day grand
slam by a Cardinal.
May 16, 1998
McGwire clubs a bases-empty shot that travels an estimated 545 feet to
straightaway center, the longest of his career and in Busch Stadium history. "It's
the best ball I've ever hit," McGwire says afterward. "I don't think I can hit a better
one that that." Home run No. 16 merely ties McGwire with Colorado's Vinny
Castilla for the major league lead.
June 12, 1998
McGwire reaches the midpoint of the march to Roger Maris' 61 homers, smacking
a grand slam off of Arizona's Andy Benes for his 31st longball of the year. After
the game, McGwire refuses to talk about the record chase. Heck, he didn't even
know it was a grand slam until he received three high fives at home plate. "I was
into trying to really mentally prepare myself against Andy because he got me out
the first time. So I wasn't aware of who was on base." Now that's concentration.
Aug. 22, 1998
An Associated Press writer spots a bottle of androstenedione in McGwire's locker
and files a story on the slugger's use of the testosterone-producing supplement,
which is available over-the-counter and is allowed by Major League Baseball but
is banned by the NBA, NFL and the IOC. The story causes a minor sensation. "It's
legal and nobody even bothered talking to our trainers," McGwire would respond
the next day. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. The whole basis of this
was some guy from the AP snooping around my locker."
Aug. 29, 1998
After chatting with volatile Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight before a game
against the Braves, McGwire is ejected by rookie umpire Sam Holbrook in the first
inning for arguing a called third strike. Fans at Busch Stadium show their
displeasure by showering the field with trash and assorted knickknacks. "The
farthest thing from my mind of what I wanted to do was eject Mark McGwire,"
Holbrook would say. "I bent over backwards not to do so. I did everything I could
to keep him in the game and he continued to argue. At some point I had to draw
the line."
September 1, 1998
With two swings, McGwire ties and then breaks Hack Wilson's 68-year-old
National League record with home runs number 56 and 57, helping the Cardinals
to a 7-1 win over the Marlins. "They look like pingpong balls going out," Florida
manager Jim Leyland says afterward. "I haven't seen anything like it."
September 8, 1998
A day after tying Maris's mark of 61, McGwire ends the suspense. With two out
and none on in the fourth inning, he lines a pitch from the Cubs' Steve Trachsel
into the left-field corner at Busch Stadium. The ball barely clears the fence,
ending Maris' 37-year-reign. In his excitement, McGwire leaps over first base and
has to go back to tag it. After rounding the bases he lifts son Matthew high into the
air, then goes into the stands to meet with Maris's children. Sosa later comes in
from right field and McGwire picks him off the ground as well. Before the game,
McGwire had been presented with the bat Maris used to hit No. 61. "I touched it. I
touched it with my heart," McGwire said. "Now I can honestly say my bat's going
right next to his and I'm damned proud of it." Ironically, at 341 feet the
record-setting home run is his shortest of the season, but it helps the Cardinals to
a 6-3 win.
September 25, 1998
When Sosa hits No. 66 in Houston, McGwire falls behind in the home run race for
the second time this season. Big Mac needs only 45 minutes to respond-his No.
66 is a fifth-inning, two-run shot off Montreal's Shayne Bennett at Busch Stadium.
September 27, 1998
The challenge from Sosa seems to ignite a torrid streak. With a pair of homers-his
fourth and fifth in the last three games of the season-McGwire takes the home
run record to a new plateau. The first shot, No. 69, comes with none on in the third
inning off Montreal's Mike Thurman. Then, in the seventh, in what would be his
last at-bat of 1998, McGwire scorches a Carl Pavano offering into a luxury box in
left, a three-run laser shot eerily similar to the homer that broke Maris's record.
The final number that will go into the record books: 70. "I can't believe I did that,"
McGwire says. "It's absolutely amazing. It blows my mind."
May 22, 1999
McGwire becomes just the third player -- after Willie Stargell (1969 and 1973)
and Mike Piazza (1997) -- to hit a ball out of Dodger stadium. Big Mac's
484-foot shot off the Dodgers' Darren Dreifort soared over the left-center field
pavillion.
August 5,
1999
With two home runs off San Diego's Andy Ashby, McGwire becomes the 16th major
leaguer to join the exclusive 500 career home run club. He accomplished the feat
in fewer at-bats (5,487) than anyone else in the history of the game.
"Every time he's gotten close to a number he's just shrugged off the
pressure," said St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. "It's like
he's oblivious to the pressure. In fact, he thrives even more on
it."
August 22,
1999
McGwire crushes home runs 49 (a 502-foot blast off Octavio Dotel) and 50 against
the New York Mets to extend his record for consecutive 50-homer seasons to four.
Babe Ruth is the only other player to hit 50 or more homers in four seasons
(1920, 21, 27,
28).
September 26,
1999
McGwire goes yard off Cincinnati's Scott Sullivan to become one of two players
in major league history to hit 60 home runs in back-to back seasons. Sammy Sosa
of the Cubs had accomplished the feat eight days earlier in Chicago. "I
didn't think I'd hit 60 again," McGwire said. "I thought someone would
be capable some day, but to have two people do it in two consecutive seasons is
amazing."
October 3,
1999
One the final day of the season, McGwire goes deep against Chicago's Steve
Trachsel to finish the season with 65 round-trippers. It was the fourth straight
season McGwire led all big leaguers in home runs. Still, Big Mac would gladly
take a winning season over the home run title. "The message that's being
put out there today is that individual statistics are more important than the
team," McGwire said. "That's wrong. That's not good for little kids to
hear."
May 24,
2000
McGwire reaches 20 home runs in a season in record time when he belts a dinger
off Florida's Vladimir Nunez in his 35th game of the year. "There's nobody
else like him," said Florida manager John Boles. "If I lived in St.
Louis, I'd run out and get four season tickets, for my family dog and everybody
else, just to see this guy on a daily basis. He dwarfs everybody
else."
June 23,
2000
Big Mac passes Mike Schmidt to assume seventh place on the all-time home run
list by hitting No. 549 off Los Angeles' Matt Herges. Even the slugger himself
is amazed by the accomplishment. "(Schmidt) was one that I watched growing
up," said McGwire. "I always admired him."
August 11, 2001
McGwire takes another step in his climb up the all-time home run list. He moves past Frank Robinson into fifth place after blasting his 574th career homer -- an opposite field shot against the Mets' Glendon Rusch.
November 11, 2001
After 16 home-run filled seasons, Mark McGwire announces his retirement, citing
a lingering knee problem as the cause. The slugger finishes his career fifth
on the all-time home run list with 583. When all is said and done, McGwire
goes out with one championship, four home run titles and 12 All-Star game
appearances. He will perhaps be best remembered, however, for giving baseball
one of its all-time great seasons with his pursuit of the single-season home run
mark in 1998.
Photos by (top to bottom) Courtesy of the McGwire Family, Jacqueline Duvoisin, Mickey Pfleger,
Ronald C. Modra
