Elsewhere in baseball the Cubs also defied expectations by making it to the playoffs as a wildcard team that year. We briefly discussed their wild card loss earlier. What stands out the most from that year was the home run race between Mark McGwire and the Cub's Sammy Sosa. The media attention for the two was constant. First it was to see who could surpass Roger Maris' old 61 home run mark. After both passed that milestone the race was on to see who could hit the most for the year.
Mike and I were at the Cubs game on September 13, 1998. In that game Sammy Sosa hit home run numbers 61 & 62. For a time he held that record to himself. McGwire would surpass it later that night and then go on to win the race for the whole year. But for a brief moment Mike and I witnessed baseball history. It's still one of my favorite live sports memories. Even better that I got to see it with him.
As a post script Sosa actually hit a third ball that day that would have been a home run but it drifted foul and out of the park.
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