September 27, 1998: McGwire Hits Numbers 69 & 70

September 27, 1998: It is the last day of Major League Baseball's regular season, and it has been one of the greatest regular seasons of all time. The biggest story was the home run record chase, with Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals, Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, and Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners all pursuing the single-season record of 61, set by Roger Maris of the New York Yankees in 1961.

Griffey did not surpass it, finishing with 56. McGwire and Sosa both did, with Sosa reaching 66 on September 25, but he would get no more. That day, McGwire hit his 66th. On September 26, in the next-to-last game, McGwire hit his 67th and his 68th.

On this day, against the Montreal Expos at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, McGwire came to bat in the bottom of the 3rd, and hit one of his occasional very long drives, for his 69th home run of the season. In the bottom of the 7th, with Joe McEwing on 3rd base and J.D. Drew on 1st, McGwire hit another drive well over the left field fence, for his 70th home runs of the season, finalizing the new record. For 3 years, anyway. The Cardinals won, the game, 6-3.

For years, baseball fans wondered if 62 home runs was possible. A single-season total of 70, or even 66, didn't seem possible. It seemed like science fiction. And, as it turned out, it was both science and fiction.

Seeing the 70th homer, Cardinals broadcast Joe Buck asked, "How much more can you give us, Big Mac?" Eventually, he gave us what we deserved: The truth.

At the time, who knew he was cheating? And of those who knew, who cared? The Missouri legislature named the St. Louis portion of Interstate 70 the Mark McGwire Highway. When he was exposed as a cheat, the legislature renamed it the Mark Twain Highway. At least they only had to change part of the signs.

On the same day, the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-3 at Yankee Stadium. They closed the season with a 7-game winning streak, and a record of 114-48, the most wins in American League history -- but, like McGwire's "record," this record would also be broken in 2001.

As for New York's other team: The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 7-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. While they couldn't catch the Braves for the National League Eastern Division title, the Mets only needed to win 1 of their last 5 games to win the NL's Wild Card berth. They lost all 5, and Sosa's Cubs and the San Francisco Giants finished in a tie for that berth. They would play a Playoff game. A classic Mets choke.

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September 27, 1998 was a Sunday. These other Major League Baseball games were played:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Cal Ripken struck out in his 1st plate appearance, and was then replaced. What the heck, his streak had ended a week earlier.

* A doubleheader was split at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Florida Marlins won the opener, 6-5. The Philadelphia Phillies won the nightcap, 7-3.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-6 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Richard Hialdo hit a sacrifice fly to score Carl Everett with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Sosa went 2-for-5 with an RBI, but did not hit a home run.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-8 at Coors Field in Denver. For the Giants, Joe Carter hit a home run, the 396th of his career. It was the last, as he was retiring. Barry Bonds went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and did not hit a home run, finishing the season with 37. He became jealous of the attention that McGwire, Sosa and Griffey were getting for pursuing the home run record, so he began using steroids.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-2 at the Network Associates Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known). Rickey Henderson went 0-for-2 before being replaced.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-6 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Griffey went 1-for-2 before being replaced.

It was also an NFL Sunday, and these games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the San Diego Chargers, 34-16 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium).

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-21 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Washington Redskins, 38-16 at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-24 at Ravens Stadium (now M&T Bank Stadium) in Baltimore.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Carolina Panthers, 37-30 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tennessee Oilers, 27-22 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Dallas Cowboys, 13-12 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 13-10 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts, 19-13 at the RCA Dome (formerly the Hoosier Dome) in Indianapolis.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears, 31-28 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the St. Louis Rams, 20-17 at the Trans World Dome (now The Dome at America’s Center) in St. Louis.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-20 at 3Com Park (as Candlestick Park was then known) in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-6 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

* And the New York Jets, the Buffalo Bills, the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots all had a bye week.