With that out of the way, McGwire arrived from Oakland midway through the 1997 season bringing the power and excitement that he was known for and in 1998 (again, let’s not go into the how) he shattered Roger Maris’ record by blasting 70 Home Runs with a disgusting Slash Line of .299/.470/.752 with 147 Runs Batted In. McGwire was the runner-up for the National League MVP.
While the hoopla around his 1998 gone, McGwire put forth a 1999 almost as good with 65 Home Runs and a Slash Line of .278/.424/.697 and was fifth in MVP voting. McGwire regressed the next two years as injuries mounted but in his four and half years he would hit 220 Home Runs with a .270/.427/.683 Slash Line.
A few things before we finish off on McGwire. For those thinking we should penalize for PED use, we don’t do that here, especially when it occurred in an era where there were many users and a Commissioner who allowed it. If you think his rank his too high based on the amount of games he played we get that but we do count impact in individual seasons, which he did have. If you think he is too low, we also count defensive attribute of which McGwire had none.In 2017, the Cardinals inducted McGwire into their franchise Hall of Fame.
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