McGwire, Mark David

McGwire, Mark David

(məgwīr`), 1963–, American baseball player, b. Pomona, Calif. A muscular first baseman who was a college and Olympic (1984) star, McGwire broke into the American League as Rookie of the Year in 1987 with the Oakland Athletics, hitting a record 49 home runs for a rookie season. In succeeding years he sometimes struggled for hitting consistency but showed great power, hitting 52 homers in 1996. In 1997 he was traded in midseason to the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League, and he completed his second successive year with 50 or more home runs, a feat achieved previously only by Babe RuthRuth, Babe
(George Herman Ruth), 1895–1948, American baseball player, considered by many the greatest of all baseball players, b. Baltimore. Early Life

When he was seven years old his parents placed him in St.
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. In 1998 he and Sammy SosaSosa, Sammy
(Samuel Kevin Sosa Peralta) , 1968–, Dominican baseball player. An outfielder and designated hitter, he broke into the major leagues with the Texas Rangers and then the Chicago White Sox (both American League; AL) in 1989, moving to the Chicago Cubs (National
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 of the Chicago Cubs mounted an assault on the single-season home-run record (61) held by Roger MarisMaris, Roger Eugene
, 1934–85, American baseball player, b. Hibbing, Minn. He played (1957–59) for Cleveland and the Kansas City Athletics before joining (1960) the New York Yankees. In 1961, Maris hit 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's record of 60 in one season.
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. McGwire hit two in the year's final game to end with 70; Sosa finished with 66. In 1999 the pair repeated their achievement, McGwire hitting 65 homers, Sosa 63. McGwire's single-season home-run record was broken in 2001 by Barry BondsBonds, Barry Lamar,
1964–, American baseball player, b. Riverside, Calif. Bonds grew up surrounded by baseball; his father, Bobby Bonds, was a San Francisco Giants outfielder (1968–74), and the great Willie Mays was his godfather. Bonds left Arizona State Univ.
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. Plagued by injuries, McGwire retired the same year with 583 lifetime home runs. His achievements have been tarnished by the fact that they were accomplished with the aid of anabolic steroidsanabolic steroid
or androgenic steroid
, any of a group of synthetic derivatives of testosterone that promote muscle and bone growth. Used to treat uncontrolled weight loss in wasting diseases, anabolic steroids have also been taken by bodybuilders and athletes seeking
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 (which was long suspected and publicly admitted in 2010). McGwire became the Cardinals hitting instructor in 2010.