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Sammy Sosa hugs Mark McGwire after the Cardinals first baseman hit his 62nd home run of the 1998 season.  (James A. Finley/AP)

• Mark McGwire's record-breaking 1998 season:
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On Sept. 7, 1998, there were 50,000 people, 700 members of the media, countless baseball dignitaries, two Major League teams and six members of the Maris family at Busch Stadium waiting to see if Mark McGwire would make history.

All he needed was one swing. The huge St. Louis Cardinals first baseman with the Herculean arms had 60 home runs heading into that Labor Day contest against the Chicago Cubs. The single-season record, which once had seemed unattainable, was 61, set in 1961 by Roger Maris.

Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa was right behind McGwire with 58 home runs and right there watching with the rest of the country.

About 25,000 of the sellout crowd arrived early just to watch McGwire and Sosa take batting practice. It had become a hot trend in '98 -- you had to get to the ballpark early to watch Big Mac launch coach Dave McKay's BP fastballs into the upper deck.