It was Always Roger's


The record was always Roger's, or at least it was his ever since October 1, 1961. For almost thirty years, there were never any real challenges and now it seems that the thirty years can be extended to more than forty years. Oh, Reggie had a great first half in 1969 but tailed off and wound up with 47, and George Foster had 52 in 1977 but never really hit them at a pace that made him a serious threat. Then came 1994 and the season of no World Series. When baseball resumed, offense increased dramatically and so did home runs.

Baseball's rulers had to get the fans to return to the ballparks and offense is directly related to attendance. Shrink the strike zone, juice up the ball, and let the players get bigger and stronger any way they could. After all, isn't America a free country? It worked. Fans returned in greater numbers than ever before, little infielders blasted opposite field home runs, and the players were the greatest in the history of the game. Right.

Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs in 1998. He had hit 52 in 1996, 58 in 1997, and followed the 70 in 1998 by hitting 65 in 1999.

Sammy Sosa hit 66 in 1998, 63 in 1999, 50 in 2000 and 64 in 2001.

Barry Bonds set the "new" record with 73 in 2001. A record that had stood for thirty seven years was surpassed twice in 1998, twice in 1999, and twice in 2001. Kind of makes one wonder.

McGwire retired after the 2001 season in which he batted .187 with 29 home runs. How many times did Babe Ruth or Ted Williams or Willie Mays bat .187? McGwire had undergone surgery to correct patella tendonitis but the knee remained too weak for the new "record holder" to perform efficiently. McGwire used androstenedione, which is a natural forerunner of testosterone. He had always been an outstanding power hitter, but the closest he came to Maris' record was when he hit 49 in 1987. He was never close to being a great hitter, as his .263 lifetime batting reveals.

Sammy Sosa's home run high before the strike year was 33 in 1993. He reached 40 for the first time in 1996 and then began his streak of hitting at least 50 a season in 1998. Sosa has been caught using a corked bat although the supplement issue is still in the realm of speculation.

The copyright of the article It was Always Roger's in Baseball is owned by Harold Friend. Permission to republish It was Always Roger's in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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