October 24, 1999: The Major League Baseball All-Century Team

Top row, left to right: Johnny Bench, Willie Mays, Stan Musial.

Middle row: Mike Schmidt, Brooks Robinson,

Ken Griffey Jr., Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan.

Bottom row: Bob Gibson, Yogi Berra, Cal Ripken, Warren Spahn,

then-Commissioner Bud Selig, Roger Clemens and Hank Aaron.

October 24, 1999: The New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium), behind the pitching of David Cone and 3 hits from Bernie Williams, and take a 2 games to 0 lead in the World Series.

Before the game, the winners in the fan balloting for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team were introduced. With some older players overlooked by young fans, some "wild cards" were added by a "select panel."

Pitchers
* Cy Young, born in 1867, pitched for several teams from 1890 to 1911. He died in 1955.
* Christy Mathewson, born in 1880, New York Giants, 1900-16. He died in 1925, and was added by the panel.
* Walter Johnson, born in 1887, Washington Senators, 1907-27. He died in 1946.
* Robert "Lefty" Grove, born in 1900, Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, 1925-41. He died in 1975, and was added by the panel.
* Warren Spahn, born in 1921, Boston/Milwaukee Braves, 1942-65. He was added by the panel. He was on hand for the ceremony, and threw out the ceremonial first ball before Game 1, even though he never pitched for the Braves in Atlanta. He died in 2003.
* Sandy Koufax, born in 1935, Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, 1955-66. He was on hand, making a rare public appearance, and joked that Spahn had to be added to the All-Century Team, "because he pitched for most of the century." As of October 24, 2022, he is still alive.
* Bob Gibson, born in 1935, St. Louis Cardinals, 1959-75. He was on hand for the ceremony, and died in 2020.

* Nolan Ryan, born in 1947, and pitched his best years with the California Angels and Houston Astros, pitching overall 1966-93. He was on hand, and is still alive.
* Roger Clemens, born in 1963, pitched his best years with the Boston Red Sox, was then still active with the Yankees, and would start and win Game 4. His career lasted 1986-2007. He was on hand, and is still alive.

Catchers
* Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, born in 1925, Yankees, 1946-63. He was on hand, and died 2015.
* Johnny Bench, born in 1947, Cincinnati Reds, 1967-83. He was on hand, and is still alive.

1st Basemen
* Lou Gehrig, born in 1903, Yankees, 1923-39. He died in 1941.
* Mark McGwire, born in 1963, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, 1986-2001. He was on hand, and then still active. He is still alive.

2nd Basemen
* Rogers Hornsby, born in 1896, best years with the St. Louis Cardinals, 1917-37. He died 1963.
* Jackie Robinson, born in 1919, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1947-56. He died in 1972. Joe Morgan, one of the finalists on the ballot, was part of the NBC broadcasting crew for this Series, and said that if he were one of the 2nd basemen chosen, and Robinson was not, he would forfeit his place to Robinson. Morgan finished 3rd in the 2B voting, so it wasn't necessary.

Shortstops
* John "Honus" Wagner, born in 1874, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1897-1917. He died in 1955, and was added by the panel.
* Ernie Banks, born in 1931, Chicago Cubs, 1953-71. He was on hand, and died in 2015.
* Cal Ripken Jr., born in 1960, Baltimore Orioles, 1981-2001. He was then still active, was on hand, and is still alive.

3rd Basemen
* Brooks Robinson, born in 1937, Baltimore Orioles, 1955-77. He was on hand, and is still alive.
* Mike Schmidt, born in 1948, Philadelphia Phillies, 1972-89. He was on hand, and is still alive.

Outfielders
* Ty Cobb, born in 1886, Detroit Tigers, 1905-28. He died 1961.
* Babe Ruth, born in 1895, Yankees, 1914-35. He died in 1948.
* Joe DiMaggio, born in 1914, Yankees, 1936-51. He had died earlier in 1999.
* Ted Williams, born in 1918, Boston Red Sox, 1939-60. He was on hand despite already being ill, and it turned out to be his last appearance in a big-league ballpark, following his emotional appearance at that season's All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston, his former home field. As he did on that occasion, he tipped his cap to the fans. He died in 2002.
* Stan Musial, born in 1920, St. Louis Cardinals, 1941-63. He was added by the panel. He was on hand, and died in 2013.

* Mickey Mantle, born in 1931, Yankees, 1951-68. He died in 1995.
* Willie Mays, born in 1931, New York/San Francisco Giants, 1951-73. He was on hand, and is still alive.
* Hank Aaron, born in 1934, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, 1954-76. He was on hand, and threw out the first ball that night. He died in 2021.

* Pete Rose, born in 1941, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies, 1963-86. He is probably better known as a 3rd baseman or a 1st baseman. Despite having been permanently banned from baseball, for betting on baseball games while a manager, he was permitted to attend, and did. He is still alive.

* Ken Griffey Jr., born 1969, Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, 1989-2010. He was still active, was on hand, and is still alive.

With the steroid accusations against Clemens and McGwire, the ban on Rose, and the "kid vote" for Griffey in mind, the next-highest vote getters at the positions in question were Greg Maddux (who was on hand as an active Brave) for Clemens' spot, Jimmie Foxx (who died in 1967) for McGwire's, and Roberto Clemente (who died in 1972) for Griffey's and Shoeless Joe Jackson (who died in 1951) for, with some irony, Rose's. So if Jackson, also banned permanently for gambling-related offenses, is also removed, the next-highest outfielder was Reggie Jackson (who was on hand, being a Yankee front-office man).

*

October 24, 1999 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the New Orleans Saints, 31-3 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to the Oakland Raiders, 24-23 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* The New England Patriots beat the Denver Broncos, 24-23 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Carolina Panthers, 24-9 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Chicago Bears, 6-3 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 16-13 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-10 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 40-16 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Cleveland Browns, 34-3 at the TWA Dome (now the Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat their arch-rivals, the Washington Redskins, 38-20 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the San Diego Chargers, 31-3 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Buffalo Bills, 26-16 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The preceding Thursday, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, 35-8 at PSINet Stadium (now M&T Bank Stadium) in Baltimore.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 13-9 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* And the Arizona Cardinals, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans all had a bye week.

The NBA season started 9 days later. There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Florida Panthers, 2-0 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the brand-new Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

October 18, 1988: “Roseanne” Premieres

Left to right: Roseanne Barr, Lecy Goranson,

Sara Gilbert, Michael Fishman and John Goodman

October 18, 1988: Roseanne premieres on ABC. At the time, she was a feminist, blue-collar, and hated rich guys. A lot can change in 30 years.

The show was based on the standup comedy of Roseanne Barr. Although she was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, the show was based in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. Lanford was apparently outside Chicago, but it was no comfortable suburb: It was a run-down "Rust Belt" town, where factories had closed and laid people off.

Roseanne Barr played Roseanne Conner, formerly Roseanne Harris, a waitress at a diner. Eventually, she and a fellow waitress started their own diner, the Lanford Lunch Box. She was nasty and sarcastic, traits she inherited from her mother, Beverly (Estelle Parsons).

Her husband, Dan Conner (John Goodman), was a drywall contractor, who later ran a motorcycle shop. They had a few things in common: They were both fat and poor, and each could match the other for banter. And they each came from a broken home: Roseanne's father was a jerk and a womanizer, while Dan's mother was mentally ill, which left him emotionally stunted.

They had an older daughter, Becky (alternately played by Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke), who was more like Dan; a younger daughter, Darlene (Sara Gilbert, sister of Little House On the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert), who was athletic like Dan but, personality-wise, was just like Roseanne; a son, David Jacob, always referred to by his initials, D.J. (Michael Fishman); and, to reflect Roseanne's real-life pregnancy, 7 seasons into the show, another son, named Jerry in honor of Jerry Garcia, the lead singer of Roseanne's favorite band, The Grateful Dead, who had just died in real life.

Roseanne's sister, Jackie Harris (Laurie Metcalf) was in most episodes, and appeared to have more personal trauma from their rotten parents than Roseanne did: Unlike Roseanne, who married the first guy she ever dated (because she was pregnant), Jackie went through men like tissues, including an abusive boyfriend that Dan spent a night in jail for beating up, and an idiot husband with whom she had a child.

On July 25, 1990, the real Roseanne was invited to sing the National Anthem before a San Diego Padres game at Jack Murphy Stadium. In a conservative city with a large naval base, she yelled and screeched the Anthem, and got heavily booed.

In the 1995-96 season finale, Darlene married David, but Dan had a heart attack. In the 1996-97 season premiere, Dan recovered, and Roseanne won the lottery. They started splurging, and Dan had an affair. It all seemed so out of character. The show's ratings collapsed, and it was canceled. In the series finale, Roseanne is shown finishing a book, and says that the last season was her fantasy of what would have happened if Dan hadn't died from his heart attack.

At some point, the real Roseanne began veering to the political right, and became a supporter of Donald Trump, the kind of man that the 1988 version of Roseanne Conner would have hated -- on the basis of Trump's misogyny and his elitism.

In 2018, ABC revived Roseanne, with the same actors showing their characters' present-day lives. And the "retcon" was "retconned": Dan was alive and well, and there was no lottery win.

But after 1 season, Barr made a racist remark, and she, not the show, was canceled: The show was rebranded as The Conners, and it was revealed that Roseanne Conner had died due to her abuse of prescription drugs.

*

October 18, 1988 was a Thursday. This was also the day DC Comics issued the issue of Batman: A Death in the Family in which Jason Todd, the 2nd Robin, died. I have a separate entry for that event.

Game 3 of the World Series was played at the Oakland Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1. Mark McGwire hit a game-winning home run for A's, just as Kirk Gibson of the Dodgers had in Game 1. That Gibson homer gave rise to the name "walkoff home run." This remains the only World Series with 2 walkoff homers. This turned out to be the only game the A's won in the Series.

Football was in midweek. The NBA season began 17 days later. There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* And in an "Original Six" matchup and an arch-rivalry, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Steve Yzerman scored the winning goal, with 1 second left in overtime.

October 7, 2001: A Day of Records In Baseball

Rickey Henderson (left) and Tony Gwynn

October 7, 2001: On the last day of the regular season -- delayed a week, due to the 9/11 attacks -- the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 14-5 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Rickey Henderson, now with the Padres, bloops a double down the right-field line off John Thomson of the Colorado Rockies. It is the 3,000th hit of his career.

Tony Gwynn, who is playing in his last game, meets him at home plate, 2 members of the 3,000 Hit Club together. Gwynn retires with a .338 lifetime batting average, which remains the highest of any player who debuted after the 1939 season. (That was Ted Williams' rookie year, and he finished his career at .344.) It is also the highest of any black man, whether American or Hispanic.

Also on this day, Barry Bonds extends his major league record for home runs in season to 73*, as he drives a 3-and-2 1st-inning knuckleball off Los Angeles Dodger Dennis Springer over the right field fence at Pacific Bell Park (now named Oracle Park). The blast also secures two more major league records * for the San Francisco Giants' left fielder, as he surpasses Babe Ruth (1920, .847) with a .863* season slugging percentage, and bests Mark McGwire (1998, one homer every 7.27 AB *) by homering in every 6.52 at-bats *. The Giants beat the Dodgers, their arch-rivals, 2-1.

Indeed, it is a day of records. The Chicago Cubs lose to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4–3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. They become the 1st team in major league history to not allow an opposing pitcher to throw a complete game against them all season. Sammy Sosa closes out 2001 with his 64th * home run in his final at-bat of the game, and sets a new franchise record with 98 * extra base hits, one more than Hack Wilson had in 1930.

Sosa also finishes with another franchise record of 425 total bases (the 7th-best all-time total), 2 ahead of Wilson. His 160 RBI are the highest total in the NL since Wilson set the MLB record with 191 in 1930. Chuck Klein had 170 that year. Sosa's RBI total for the past 4 years also breaks Klein's 4-year mark set in 1929-32. To finish out the record day, 5 Cubs pitchers combine for 12 strikeouts as the staff sets a major league record with 1,246 strikeouts. The Yankees do the same, setting an AL mark with 1,266 strikeouts.

As for the guy with whom Sosa battled for the single-season home run record in 1998, Mark McGwire plays his last game. He pinch-hits for Jim Edmonds in the bottom of the 9th, and flies to center, as the St. Louis Cardinals lose 9-2 to the Houston Astros at Busch Stadium. He finishes with 583 home runs.

It hadn't been all that long since people were thinking he had a shot at breaking Hank Aaron's record of 755. But it would be Bonds that broke it. At 38, McGwire should have had something left. But he battled injury and batted just .187 that season. The steroids caught up to him.

*

October 7, 2001 was a Sunday. These other MLB games were played on this final day of the regular season:

* The New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 1-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Mike Mussina (4 innings), Orlando "El Duque" Hernández (4 innings and the winning pitcher) and Mariano Rivera (1 inning) combined on a 2-hit shutout. The only run of the game came on a home run by... Clay Bellinger? The Yankees only got 3 hits of their own, the others being by Chuck Knoblauch and David Justice.

* The New York Mets lose to the Montreal Expos, 5-0 at Shea Stadium. Britt Reames (5 2/3rds innings), Scott Stewart (1 1/3rd) and Scott Strickland (2) limit the Mets to 3 hits.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

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

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 15-5 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-5 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Anaheim Angels, 6-2 at Edison International Field (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. The Mariners had won 116 games, setting a new American League record and tying the major league record of the 1906 Cubs. But they wouldn't even win the Pennant.

It was also an NFL Sunday:

* The New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 23-9 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 42-36 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 21-20 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Tennessee Titans, 26-7 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-3 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Green Bay Packers, 14-10 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots, 30-10 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings, 28-15 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers played their 1st game at Heinz Field, it having been postponed after the 9/11 attacks. They beat the Cincinnati Bengals 16-7. (In 2022, the stadium was renamed Acrisure Stadium.)

* The Cleveland Browns beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-16 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field).

* The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs, at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Carolina Panthers, 24-14 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-15 the Husky Stadium in Seattle.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Dallas Cowboys, 28-21 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the St. Louis Rams beat the Detroit Lions, 35-0 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

October 4, 2022: Aaron Judge Hits His 62nd Home Run of the Season

October 4, 2022: First batter of the game between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers: Aaron Judge. Pitcher: Jesus Tinoco. On a 1-1 count, Judge drilled a ball deep into the left-field stands at Globe Life Park in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas, 391 feet.

It was his 62nd home run of the season, surpassing Roger Maris, the most that any American League player -- the most that any player has ever hit without evidence of cheating -- in a single season in the 152-season history of Major League Baseball.

As for the rest of the game: Giancarlo Stanton, who hit 59 with the Miami Marlins in 2017, hit a home run in the 5th inning, but that was all that the Yankees were going to get. Gerrit Cole started for them, and pitched 6 innings, striking out 9, setting a new Yankee single-season record of 257 strikeouts, breaking the 1978 record of 248 set by Ron Guidry. But he didn't get the run support he needed. After the Stanton homer, the Yankees got only 2 baserunners, both walks. The Rangers won, 3-2.

It was the 2nd game of a doubleheader, forced by the postponement of the 1st week of the regular season due to the MLB lockout. The Yankees won the 1st game, 5-4.

There was 1 game left to play in the regular season, and Judge was given the day off, so he finished the season with 62 home runs. He also led the AL with 131 RBIs, and batted .311, which was nearly enough to win the AL batting title and thus the Triple Crown.

Judge, who grew up in Linden, California, less than 100 miles from San Francisco, and grew up as a San Francisco Giants fan, told an interviewer that the 73 home runs hit by Barry Bonds in 2001, recognized as the official MLB record in spite of his proven cheating, should still be considered the real record.

He is the only person who could look better instead of worse by saying that. Everybody else saying that Bonds holds "the real record" is saying 1 of 2 things:

A. "I don't believe that Bonds cheated." Which makes them dumb. Or:

B. "I know that Bonds cheated, but I don't care." Which makes them rotten.

And don't tell me that throwing out Bonds' record means you have to throw out all pre-1947, pre-Integration records. That's not the same thing at all. As evil as it was, it was the owners doing it. It wasn't the players choosing to take an unfair advantage. Babe Ruth's 60 in 1927 was legitimate. Roger Maris' 61 in 1961 was legitimate. Aaron Judge's 62 in 2022 is legitimate. The totals exceeding those by Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa are bogus.

Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Aaron Judge. All Yankees. All right fielders.

UPDATE: The difference was, when Ruth hit 60 in 1927, the Yankees won the World Series; when Maris hit 61 in 1961, the Yankees won the World Series; when Judge hit 62 in 2022, the Yankees were knocked out of the Playoffs in the American League Division Series. The 1927 and 1961 editions of the Yankees are considered finalists for the title of greatest team of all time. The 2022 edition is considered a failure, in spite of Judge's feat.

*

October 4, 2022 was a Tuesday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Mets swept a doubleheader from the Washington Nationals at Citi Field, 8-0 and 4-2. In the opener, Taijuan Walker (4 1/3rd innings), Stephen Nogosek (2 2/3rds, winning pitcher) and Tylor Megill (2) combined on a 9-hit shutout, striking out 17 and walking none. The nightcap was the Mets' 100th win of the season, the 4th time they had reached that milestone.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-0 at Fenway Park in Boston, in a game shortened to 5 innings due to rain, a remnant of Hurricane Ian that had devastated Florida and also soaked the Carolinas a few days earlier.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins, 2-1 at LoanDepot Park in Miami.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Juan Yepez singled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Cleveland Guardians beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-3 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-0 at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Eric Lauer (6 innings) and 2 relievers combined on a 1-hit shutout.

* The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-0 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. Justin Verlander and 2 relievers pitched 8 innings of no-hit ball, before Will Smith allowed 3 hits in the 9th. Combined, the Astro pitchers struck out 16 and walked 2.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the RingCentral Coliseum). Ryan Tepera walked Shea Langeliers with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving the A's the win.

* And the Seattle Mariners swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers, 7-6 and 9-6 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. Abraham Toro won the 1st game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th.

* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays were rained out at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

September 8, 1998: Mark McGwire Hits His 62nd Home Run

September 8, 1998: The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Ray Lankford and Ron Gant hit home runs for the Cardinals. Nobody remembers those. What they remember is the home run hit by Mark McGwire. It is his 62nd of the season, setting a new single-season record.

Babe Ruth had raised the record to 29 in 1919, 54 in 1920, 59 in 1921 and 60 in 1927. Another right fielder for the New York Yankees, Roger Maris, raised it to 61 in 1961. In spite of the media, especially in New York, seeming to not want Maris to break the record, he ended up holding it longer than Ruth did: 37 years to 34.

While there were serious challenges to Ruth's 60 before Maris' 61 -- Hack Wilson hit 56 in 1930, Jimmie Foxx 58 in 1932, and Hank Greenberg 58 in 1938 -- challenges to Maris' 61 were fewer. In 1969, Reggie Jackson, in his 2nd full season with the Oakland Athletics, had 41 home runs through August 2, and, in his memoir, said, "People were now saying I was dating a lady named Ruth Maris." But he only hit 6 more the rest of the way, and didn't even lead the American League: Harmon Killebrew topped him, 49 to 47.

Willie Mays hit 52 in 1965, but no other National Leaguer hit 50 again until George Foster hit 52 in 1977. And no American Leaguer hit 50 after Maris until 1990, when Cecil Fielder hit 51. When the Strike of '94 hit, Matt Williams was leading the majors with 43, and Ken Griffey Jr. led the AL with 40. Both were thought to have a chance at 61, but that went out the window.

And despite accusations of a "juiced ball" in 1987, no player hit 50 that season. Each League's leader hit 49: Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs and... Mark McGwire of the Athletics. McGwire thus set a record for home runs in a season by a rookie.

The 1st baseman was 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, and had an even taller younger brother, Dan McGwire, who played quarterback for 5 seasons in the NFL, mostly as a backup for the Seattle Seahawks. Still, at the time, Mark was seen as big and solidly built, but not out of regular human proportions. He didn't look like a superhero, or a bodybuilder such as Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He and Jose Canseco became known as the Bash Brothers, helping the A's win 3 straight Pennants and the 1989 World Series. Through the 1992 season, he was 29 years old, and had hit 220 home runs, making 6 All-Star Games, and had even won a Gold Glove. He looked like he was headed for the Hall of Fame. So did Canseco, who was 28 and already had 231 home runs.

But between the A's perennial cash flow problems and his bad attitude, Canseco became expendable, and was traded after that season. McGwire wasn't, falling victim to injuries, making only 279 plate appearances in '93 and '94 combined.

The fact that Canseco used steroids wasn't publicly known, but it was one of the worst-kept secrets in baseball. McGwire found out that a steroid called androstendione, or "andro" for short, could make it easier to return from injury and regrow lost muscle. He came back with a bang in 1995 -- 39 bangs, in fact, and made the All-Star Game again.

In 1996, now with a goatee and his arms bulging like the cartoon character Popeye's, he led the AL with 52 home runs, the most any AL player had hit since Maris. And he was doing this while playing his home games at the Oakland Coliseum, a pitcher's park. Suddenly, the idea that Maris' record could fall was taken seriously for the 1st time.

But, again, A's management was losing money, and on July 31, 1997, with McGwire having hit 34 home runs already, he was traded to the Cardinals for pitchers Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews and Blake Stein. Ludwick won just 1 game for the A's, and was traded after the season. Stein did poorly, and was traded in 1999. Mathews pitched well in relief for them, but they traded him in 2001. None of these men appeared in a major league game after the 2002 season. Still, the A's had Jason Giambi coming up, and he replaced McGwire at 1st base, so the trade was pretty much a wash for them.

McGwire was warmly embraced by Cardinal fans. He seemed just the kind of wholesome player that fit in with the Midwest, and "the Best Baseball City in America." He finished the season with 58 homers, while Griffey, with the Seattle Mariners, finished with 56. Now, the national media seemed to treat the breaking of Maris' record no longer as an "if," but as a "when." In cheering on McGwire, and to a lesser extent (because he was black, of course) Griffey, it was as if the media was once again rooting against the considerably less "likable" Maris, who died in 1985, and could not speak up on his own behalf.

And it wasn't just that McGwire and Griffey were hitting so many home runs, it was how far they were going. Griffey was the only batter who ever reached the upper deck of the Kingdome in Seattle, and he had now done it a few times. McGwire was hitting balls 500 feet. Not since Mickey Mantle -- not even Killebrew or Jackson -- had a guy hit the ball that far that often. McGwire may have been a righthanded batter, playing outside New York, and hadn't pitched since he was at USC, but he really was treated as if he was the closest thing to Ruth since Ruth. He was a folk hero.

As it turned out, 1998 became not only "The Year of the Home Run," but it was a 3-way race: McGwire and Griffey were joined by Sammy Sosa of the Cubs. A Dominican, Sosa had never hit more than 40 in a season, and had made just 1 All-Star Game by age 29. But he kept pace with McGwire and Griffey. In June, he topped both of them, and everybody else, too: He hit 20 home runs, still a record for a single player in a single month. When June was over, it was McGwire 37, Sosa 33, Griffey 33.

Neither McGwire nor Sosa added any homers by the All-Star Break on July 7, while Griffey had overtaken Sosa with 35. But all 3 got going after the Break: July ended with McGwire 45, Sosa 42, Griffey 41. McGwire got to 50 on August 20, Sosa on August 23. Griffey went into a slump, so, when August ended, it was McGwire 55, Sosa 55, Griffey 47.

August was also the month that the scandal surrounding President Bill Clinton and his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky got more serious, with Special Counsel Kenneth Starr and the Republican-controlled Congress amping up the pressure. The general consensus was that Clinton had done something immoral, but there didn't appear to be anything illegal, and that Starr and Congress were going too far in trying to prove it.

The home run race provided a distraction, much as Hank Aaron's pursuit of Babe Ruth's career record of 714 helped to distract from Richard Nixon and Watergate in 1973 and '74, Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak and Ted Williams' pursuit of a .400 batting average did from the war fever of 1941, and a few Pennant races did during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Vietnam War in the 1960s.

By this point, the scoreboard at Busch Memorial Stadium was keeping a running total of McGwire's and Sosa's totals -- but not Griffey's. After all, Sosa was playing for the Cubs, the Cards' arch-rivals.

Also by now, Steve Wilstein, a reporter for the Associated Press, had made public the fact that he had seen a bottle of andro in McGwire's locker. McGwire said it was legal -- which, at the time, it was. He said it was no big deal -- which, at the time, the public accepted. They wanted to believe this whole thing was totally legit.

Indeed, fans turned on Wilstein for reporting it: How dare he ruin this wonderful story with an accusation that "Big Mac" was cheating! What next? Was "Slammin' Sammy" also cheating? Was Junior cheating?

On September 5, McGwire hit his 60th, Sosa hit his 58th, and Griffey hit his 48th. Griffey was having a historic season, and yet was hopelessly behind the Southern Californian and the Dominican. On September 7, Griffey hit Numbers 49 and 50. That same day, McGwire hit Number 61, and Cardinal broadcaster Jack Buck said, "Flight 61, now leaving for Planet Maris!"

Fox broadcast the September 8 Cardinals-Cubs game at Busch live, on its regular national network, not Fox Sports, figuring that it would be the night that the record was broken. The Cardinals, for whom Maris had played his last 2 seasons, 1967 and '68, invited his widow, Pat Maris, and their 5 now-grown children to attend. Pat felt ill and couldn't go, but the kids all did.

McGwire grounded to short in the 2nd inning. With 2 out in the 4th, he again came up against Cub pitcher Steve Trachsel. He hit a screaming liner down the left-field line. Joe Buck, Jack's son, had the call: "Down the left field line! Is it enough? Gone! Number 62! Touch first, Mark: You've made history!" In his excitement, McGwire rounded 1st base without touching it, and Dave McKay, who had also been manager Tony La Russa's 1st base coach when he and McGwire were in Oakland, had to tell him to go back to do so. At 341 feet, it was his shortest home run of the season.

Greeting him at home plate was his 11-year-old son, Matt, a Cardinal batboy, whom he gave a huge hug. Sosa had run in from right field, and he hugged McGwire as well. McGwire then went over to where the Marises were sitting, and hugged them, too. With those andro-boosted arms.

But the home run race wasn't over: There was no guarantee that McGwire would even end up leading the NL in homers. Sosa hit his 59th on September 11 and his 60th on September 12. A week earlier, in the entire history of Major League Baseball, there had been only 2 men ever to hit 60 home runs in a season. Now, that total had doubled. On September 13, Sosa hit his 61st and his 62nd. He and McGwire were now tied. Griffey was at 51.

McGwire hit his 63rd on September 15, Sosa his the next day. McGwire hit his 64th on September 18, and his 65th on September 20. On September 23, Sosa hit his 64th and 65th. Griffey was up to 55. On September 25, against José Lima of the Houston Astros at the Astrodome, Sosa hit his 66th, making him the all-time single-season leader -- for a few minutes. This was shortly followed by McGwire's 66th.

There were 2 days left. Nobody knew it yet, but Sosa wouldn't hit another homer, finishing with 66. Griffey would finish with 56. On September 26, the next-to-last day of the season, back at Busch, McGwire hit his 67th off Dustin Hermanson, giving him the lead for good; and hit his 68th later in the game. On the last day, September 27, he hit his 69th, and finally, he cracked a barrier that nobody thought was possible, hitting Number 70 off Carl Pavano, then a rookie with the Montreal Expos. Joe Buck had the call: "Into left field! Number 70! How much more can you give us, Big Mac?"

The answer, at least for that season, was, "No more." The Cardinals finished 73-89, and were nowhere near the NL Pennant race. But the Cubs had finished in a tie with the San Francisco Giants for the NL's Wild Card berth, and won a Playoff at Wrigley Field. Sosa did not hit a homer, which, since this was officially a regular-season game, would have counted as his 67th. But the starting and winning pitcher for the Cubs? Steve Trachsel. That, not giving up McGwire's 62nd, was his most important moment of the year.

And, since the Cubs made the Playoffs, and the Cardinals didn't, Sosa was named the NL's Most Valuable Player, not McGwire. Nevertheless, Sports Illustrated named them joint Sportsmen of the Year -- not their first retroactively problematic choice for that title, and not their last.

In 1999, McGwire hit 65 home runs, while Sosa hit 63. Griffey led the AL with 48. Both McGwire and Sosa had, by comparison, off-seasons in 2000: Sosa 50, still enough to lead the NL; McGwire, 32. Griffey had been traded to the Cincinnati Reds, and hit 40. In 2001, Sosa hit 64. But McGwire battled injuries, hit 29 homers, and retired after the season, with 583 for his career. Griffey also faced injuries, and was limited to 22 homers.

In 2001, the Fox TV show Dark Angel, set in a dystopian future of 2020 -- the dystopia being due to an electromagnetic pulse in 2009 having led to an economic depression and a fascist government, not an epidemic and a nearly-fascist government, as actually happened -- had a story about the theft of the ball that Sosa hit for his 756th home run, breaking Hank Aaron's career record.

Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit 37 home runs in 1998, having reached a career high, to that point, of 46 in 1993. But, already known for having a surly personality, he was respected as much as baseball's other big stars, but not liked as much. He became intensely jealous of the attention heaped on McGwire, Sosa and Griffey, and, knowing he was a better all-around player than any of them (well, maybe not Griffey), began using steroids after the 1998 season.

In 1999, he hit 34 homers. In 2000, he hit a new career high, 49. Neither of which was out of the ordinary. But in 2001, he set a new single-season record, with 73. That record still stands. Sosa, who again led the NL in 2002, with 49, would end up with 609. Griffey would finish with 630, and, as far as is publicly known, he did that without ever using steroids. Bonds would be the one to break Aaron's record, finishing with 762 in 2007.

By then, McGwire and Sosa had already irreparably damaged their reputations: The 2005 Congressional hearings into steroid use in baseball had made them both look foolish. Sosa has never confessed to using steroids. McGwire has, after having put it off during those hearings (saying, "I'm not here to talk about the past"), and this admission allowed him to get back into baseball's good graces, as he has served as a hitting instructor for the Cardinals and the San Diego Padres. However, the section of Interstate 70 -- a convenient number -- running through St. Louis had been named the Mark McGwire Highway. In 2010, the signs were changed to honor an earlier local hero, who was a baseball fan: It became the Mark Twain Highway.

Through the 2022 election, neither McGwire, nor Sosa, nor Bonds has ever been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Griffey was elected in his 1st year of eligibility. However, with known steroid cheats David Ortiz, Mike Piazza and Iván Rodríguez already in, keeping McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and any other player known to have used steroids -- or, like Roger Clemens, widely believed to have used them, though in his case acquitted in court -- out of the Hall on the basis of steroid use seems stupid: Either cheating matters, or it doesn't. If it doesn't bother you, let all of them in; if it does, keep all of them out. Be consistent.

Jose Canseco would finish his career with 462 home runs. In other words, he's a borderline candidate for the Hall of Fame even with his admission of cheating.

The Summer of '98 has been called baseball's best season, for all the home run heroics. Certainly, Yankee Fans, getting to watch a team go 114-48 in the regular season and 11-2 in the postseason, loved it. But the knowledge that McGwire and Sosa cheated to reach and pass 61 home runs taints it, irrevocably. The U.S. Senate may have acquitted Clinton, but history has convicted McGwire, Sosa and Bonds.

*

September 8, 1998 was a Tuesday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. David Cone was the winning pitcher, striking out 11 and walking none. Derek Jeter went 0-for-2, but did draw 2 walks and score a run. The next night, with a 7-5 win at Fenway, the Yankees clinched the American League Eastern Division, on their way to a 114-win regular season and their 24th World Championship.

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 16-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-7 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 12-6 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-6 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 13-7 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Florida Marlins, 11-10 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-5 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix. Eric Karros won the game with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th inning.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 5-1 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Bonds went 0-for-3 with 2 walks. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3, the hit a solo home run.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Anaheim Angels, 5-0 at Edison International Field (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Brad Radke (7 innings) and Eddie Guardado (2) combined on an 8-hit shutout.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-2 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). Cal Ripken went 2-for-4. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4, but did draw a walk and steal a base.

* And the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-0 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Wilson Alvarez and 2 relievers combined on a 2-hit shutout. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-3 with a walk. Wade Boggs went 2-for-5 with the Rays.

July 31, 1997: The McGwire and "White Flags" Trades

July 31, 1997: The Major League Baseball season comes to its trading deadline. From 1923 until 1986, the deadline had been June 15.

Despite his already having hit 34 home runs this season, the Oakland Athletics trade Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals for Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews and Blake Stein. They were 3 pitchers, and, between them, they went 30-30 for the A's. By the trading deadline 2 years later, July 31, 1999, none of them were still with the A's; by July 24, 2002, none of them were even in the major leagues anymore.

McGwire finished the 1997 season with 58 home runs; 1998, a new record of 70; 1999, 65. When he retired after the 2001 season, he had 583 home runs, and was one of the most beloved players of all time. Of course, it was eventually revealed that he did it with steroids, costing him so much goodwill. Perhaps no player in history, except for Pete Rose, ever had such a fall from grace.

Less publicized, but more shocking, was the trade the Chicago White Sox made. They sent pitchers Danny Darwin, Wilson Alvarez and Roberto Hernandez to the San Francisco Giants, getting pitchers Keith Foulke, Bob Howry, Lorenzo Barcelo and Ken Vining, shortstop Mike Caruso and outfielder Brian Manning.

The White Sox were only 3 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central Division, but it looked like they were giving up. They were mocked as "The Chicago White Flags." To make matters worse, the Giants ended up winning the National League West that season.

Was it a good trade anyway? Well, Foulke did help the White Sox win the Division in 2000. And he did help the Sox win the 2004 World Series -- but that was the Boston Red Sox. For a team that had made just 6 postseasons and won just 5 Pennants in their 1st 97 years, maybe 1 postseason made the trade worth it. On the other hand, the White Sox did win the World Series in 2005 (not as a result of this trade), while the Giants had to wait until 2010 to do so.

UPDATE: Since the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the deadline is no longer a constant: It can fall between July 28 and August 3.

*

July 31, 1997 was a Friday. These games were played:

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Diego Padres, 9-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Rickey Henderson was with the Padres that season, and went 1-for-3.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Midre Cummings singled Gregg Jeffries home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ricky Bottalico was the winning pitcher, in relief of Curt Schilling, who struck out 11 batters in 9 innings.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 1-0 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Troy Saunders pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and 3 relievers completed the 4-hit shutout. They outpitched Paul Byrd. The only run came in the 4th inning, when Darren Daulton singled Édgar Rentería home.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Dave Nilsson singled Fernando Viña home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Anaheim Angels, 14-12 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Yes, that's a baseball game, not football.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. The game was scoreless after 10 innings. In the top of the 11th inning, the O's scored 4 runs on 1 hit, 3 walks (1 of them intentional), a hit-by-pitch, and an error.

* And the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Indians, the Houston Astros, the Minnesota Twins, the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers were not scheduled.

March 17, 2005: Congress vs. Baseball's Steroid Cheats

Rafael Palmeiro: Slugger, Cheater, Perjurer

March 17, 2005: The Government Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives holds a hearing on the topic of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball.

A few weeks earlier, former Oakland Athletics slugger Jose Canseco published a book titled Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. In addition to details about his career and his personal life, he named names, revealing that some of the biggest stars in the game -- some already having been suspected as having done so, some not yet widely suspected -- used steroids.

He also gave the opinions that steroid use is not in and of itself a bad thing, as long as the person is being monitored by a physician and the dosages are small; that steroids cannot only improve the game of baseball but also improve and lengthen lives; and that more research needs to be done on the topic.

Canseco himself testified before the Committee, and asserted that his opinions on steroids were sincere, and that the facts he had given in the book were true. Among the other players who were called to testify were 3 players that Canseco named in the book as having used PEDs: Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro.

McGwire had been Canseco's teammate on the Oakland Athletics' American League Pennant winners of 1988, 1989 and 1990. Palmeiro had been his teammate with the Texas Rangers in 1992 and 1993. He was never a teammate of Sosa.

In the 1998 season, McGwire and Sosa both surpassed Roger Maris' single-season record of 61 home runs, with McGwire finishing with 70 and Sosa with 66. In 1999, they both surpassed Maris again, with McGwire hitting 65 and Sosa 63.

Palmeiro, like Canseco born in Cuba and taken to Miami by his family as a boy, had twice hit 47 in a season, hardly an outrageous total, and never topped that. But, entering the 2005 season, he had 551 career home runs, while Sosa had 574, and McGwire had retired after the 2001 season with 583. Even with the advantage of steroids, Canseco last played in 2001, and had "only" 462 homers, hitting 46 in that homer-happy season of 1998.

In his testimony, Sosa, a native of the Dominican Republic, played dumb, pretending that his ability to speak proper English had declined. His attorney read a statement: "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself, or had anyone inject me, with anything. I have not broken the laws of the United States, or the laws of the Dominican Republic. I have been tested as recently as 2004, and I am clean."

McGwire avoided the question as best he could: "My lawyers have advised me that I cannot answer these questions without jeopardizing my friends, my family, and myself. I will say, however, that it remains a fact in this country that a man, any man, should be regarded as innocent unless proven guilty." He added, "I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to be positive about this subject."

Except the Committee was there to talk about the past.

Palmeiro did not avoid the question the way McGwire and Sosa did. He pointed his finger at the Committee members, and said, "Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids, period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never."

Not called to testify at that time was Barry Bonds, who had already broken McGwire's record by hitting 73 home runs in 2001, and was on his way to surpassing Hank Aaron's career record, finishing with 762 after the 2007 season.

On July 15, 2005, playing for the Baltimore Orioles, Palmeiro collected his 3,000th career hit. At the time, the only players to have previously achieved that milestone and 500 home runs were Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray.

But on August 1, it was revealed that Palmeiro had tested positive for steroids, and he was suspended for 10 games. Upon his return, he was heavily booed by the Baltimore fans, and was held out of the lineup after August 30, and was released after the season. He was just short of turning 41, and was still a productive player. But he was now unhireable, and never played in the major leagues again. He was never charged with perjury for lying to Congress under oath.

In 2009, by then retired with 609 home runs, Sosa was exposed as having failed a steroid test in 2003. He was not prosecuted for perjury, either.

In 2010, offered a coaching position, McGwire knew he had to finally come clean, and talk about the past: "I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish, and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the Steroid Era."

Major League Baseball cracked down on steroids more heavily after 2005. Nevertheless, some exposed steroid cheats were allowed to continue to play. In 2022, David Ortiz was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, and Gary Sheffield -- like Ortiz, all members of the 500 Home Run Club who were caught using performance-enhancing drugs -- have not been.

Jose Canseco is a cheater and a domestic abuser. That said, he did expose the cheating. He is baseball's answer to Joseph Valachi and John Dean.

*

March 17, 2005 was a Thursday. Baseball was in Spring Training, with Ortiz and the rest of the cheating Boston Red Sox as defending World Champions. Football was out of season, with the cheating New England Patriots as defending Super Bowl Champions. And the NHL team owners had locked out their players, resulting in the cancellation of the entire season. So this was a dark time in North American sports.

There were, however, 3 games played in the NBA that night:

* The Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 102-89 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 98-94 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings, 100-97 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland). Jason Richardson led all scorers on the night with 40 points.