Mark McGwire

Lore & Background

McGwire led the major leagues in home runs in five different seasons, and set the major-league record for home runs hit in a four-season period from 1996 to 1999 with 245. He demonstrated exemplary patience as a batter, producing a career .394 on-base percentage (OBP) and twice leading the major leagues in bases on balls. McGwire also led the league in runs batted in once, on-base percentage twice, and slugging percentage four times. Injuries cut short even greater potential, as he reached 140 games played in just eight of his 16 MLB seasons.

Injuries particularly cut into his playing time in 2000 and 2001 and factored into his decision to retire. A right-handed batter and thrower, McGwire stood 6 ft tall and weighed 245 lb during his playing career. With the Cardinals in 1998, McGwire joined Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa in a chase for the single-season home-run record set by Roger Maris in 1961. McGwire surpassed Maris and finished with 70 home runs, a record that Barry Bonds would break three years later with 73. In 2010, McGwire publicly admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during a large portion of his career.

Reader's Guide

Early life: McGwire was born in the Los Angeles suburb of Pomona, California. His father was a dentist. He attended Damien High School in La Verne, California, where he played baseball, golf, and basketball. He was drafted in the 8th round by the Montreal Expos in the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign.

College career: McGwire played college baseball at the University of Southern California, where he was a teammate of Randy Johnson, Jack Del Rio, and Rodney Peete under coach Rod Dedeaux. McGwire was named the college baseball player of the year by the Sporting News in 1984. Professional career: Draft and minor leagues: After three years at USC and a stint on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, McGwire was drafted tenth overall in the 1984 Major League Baseball draft by the Oakland Athletics.

In 1984 and 1985, he played for the Single-A Modesto A's. He began the 1986 season in the minors, with the Double-A Huntsville Stars and Triple-A Tacoma Tigers. Oakland Athletics (1986–1997): McGwire debuted in the major leagues on August 22, 1986. He did not get a hit until his third game, on August 24. In 18 games with Oakland in 1986, he hit three home runs and had nine runs batted in (RBIs), but had a lowly .189 batting average.

Rookie home-run record and major-league leader (1987): Retaining his rookie status in 1987, McGwire hit four home runs in the month of April, but followed in May with 15 and another nine in June. Before the All-Star break arrived, he had totaled 33 home runs and earned a spot on the American League All-Star team. On August 11, he broke Al Rosen's AL rookie record of 37 home runs. Three days later, McGwire broke the major-league record of 38, which Frank Robinson and Wally Berger had jointly held.

In September, McGwire hit nine more home runs while posting monthly personal bests of a .351 batting average, .419 on-base percentage (OBP) and 11 doubles (2B). With 49 home runs and two games remaining in the regular season for him to reach 50 home runs, he missed the games in order to attend the birth of his first child. McGwire also totaled 118 runs batted in, a .289 batting average, 97 runs scored, 28 doubles, a .618 slugging percentage and a .370 on-base percentage (OBP).

McGwire's 49 home runs as a rookie stood as a major league record until Aaron Judge hit 52 for the New York Yankees in 2017.