The Summer That Saved Baseball Was a Lie | McGwire vs Sosa 1998 Documentary

September 8, 1998. A 341-foot line drive, the shortest home run of Mark McGwire's season, breaks Roger Maris's 37-year-old record, and the man chasing the same mark is standing in right field: Sammy Sosa. That summer made both of them heroes and supposedly brought baseball back from the dead. A few years later, the same summer turned them into the most argued-about names in American sports. The full story: a dentist's son from Pomona and a shoeshine boy from San Pedro de Macorís; the Bash Brothers; the 1994 strike that cancelled the World Series; Sosa's 20-homer June; the androstenedione bottle on McGwire's locker shelf; 61 on his father's birthday and 62 against the Cubs; Hurricane Georges and Sosa's 66; McGwire's 70; Bonds' 73; the 2005 congressional hearing ("I'm not here to talk about the past"); McGwire's 2010 admission; and the Hall of Fame verdict. Chapters 0:00 Sept. 8, 1998: the 341-foot swing 1:21 Pomona 2:29 The shoeshine boy 3:47 Bash Brothers 4:47 Wrigley 5:24 The dark summer (1994 strike) 6:10 The trade 7:45 The chase 9:01 The bottle 10:12 Sixty-two 11:34 Sixty-six 12:32 Seventy 13:32 Seventy-three 14:42 The hearing 16:14 Cooperstown 17:10 The longest shadow Narration, script, editing and music are original. Some scenes are AI-generated illustrations and are labeled "Illustrative image (AI)" on screen; they do not depict the real people or events. Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons) • Mark McGwire on his Corvette after home run 62, Busch Stadium (1998), 2 photos – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • "62" on the Busch Stadium big screen (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • McGwire and Sosa on the Busch Stadium big screen (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Mark McGwire rounding second (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Mark McGwire homer 61 vs Cubs (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Busch Stadium scoreboard, McGwire HR 61 (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Out-of-town scoreboard: McGwire 63, Sosa 62 (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Fans outside Busch Memorial Stadium (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Sammy Sosa batting (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Sammy Sosa throwing from right field (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Mark McGwire swing at Busch Stadium (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Mark McGwire touching home plate (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Mark McGwire on deck (1998) – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Sosa and McGwire jerseys, Hall of Fame display – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Wrigley Field fans and rooftops – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Sammy Sosa signing autographs – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Barry Bonds batting at Dodger Stadium – Jon Gudorf Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Sammy Sosa batting, Cubs (2004), 2 photos – Jeffrey Hayes, CC BY 2.0 • Statue of Sammy Sosa, San Pedro de Macorís (2004) – Adam Jones, Ph.D., CC BY-SA 3.0 • Roger Maris hitting home run 58, Tiger Stadium (1961) – Tony Spina, Public domain • Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle (c.1962) – Unknown author, Public domain • Busch Memorial Stadium interior – Haaron755 (en.wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0 • Busch Stadium II interior (2004) – Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Wrigley Field with rooftop bleachers (2008) – Unique View, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Wrigley Field outfield panorama (2015) – Uncle Alf, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Barry Bonds, Giants (2006) – Kevin Rushforth, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Jose Canseco (2009) – Glenn Francis, CC BY-SA 4.0 • WGN broadcast booth, Wrigley Field (1997) – David Wilson, CC BY 2.0 • National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown (2012) – Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Mark McGwire (2016) – Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0 Sources include contemporary reporting from the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, CBS News and ESPN, SABR biographies, and the 2005 House Government Reform Committee hearing transcript. #MarkMcGwire #SammySosa #McGwireVsSosa #1998HomeRunRace #MLB #Baseball #90sLegends #SportsDocumentary