Mark McGwire

Lore & Background

McGwire was born in Pomona, California, and attended Damien High School in La Verne, where he played baseball, golf, and basketball. He 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, and was named college baseball player of the year by the Sporting News in 1984. He was drafted tenth overall in the 1984 MLB draft by the Oakland Athletics after a stint on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.

McGwire debuted in the majors on August 22, 1986. In 1987, he set the major-league rookie home run record with 49, and led the AL in home runs. He won two World Series championships: one with Oakland as a player in 1989 and one with St. Louis as a coach in 2011. With the Cardinals in 1998, he 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.

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 and twice leading the major leagues in bases on balls. Injuries cut short even greater potential, as he reached 140 games played in just eight of his 16 MLB seasons. In 2010, McGwire publicly admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during a large portion of his career.

Reader's Guide

Mark McGwire's significance lies in his extraordinary home run power and his role in one of baseball's most famous record chases. His 70 home runs in 1998 captivated the nation and helped revive interest in baseball after the 1994 strike. He holds the major-league career record for at bats per home run ratio (10.6) and was the first to hit 30+ home runs in each of his first four full seasons. However, his legacy is complicated by his 2010 admission of using performance-enhancing drugs, making him a central figure in baseball's steroids scandal. Despite injuries limiting his playing time, he led the league in home runs five times and slugging percentage four times. His career 583 home runs ranked 5th-most in MLB history at retirement and currently ranks 11th. McGwire also contributed as a coach, winning a World Series with the Cardinals in 2011.

Did You Know?

• McGwire hit 49 home runs as a rookie in 1987, a major-league record that stood until Aaron Judge hit 52 in 2017.
• He holds the major-league career record for at bats per home run ratio (10.6).
• McGwire was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals on July 31, 1997.
• He won a Gold Glove Award in 1990.