It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

August 5th, 1999 at Busch Stadium II: Mark McGwire bashes a pair of home run for the Cardinals. The first, (off Andy Ashby) was the 500th of his career, making him the 16th player to reach that milestone. He'd go onto finish that season with 65 homers and retire following the 2001 season with a lifetime total of 583. Sadly, with much of his career under the cloud of PED's, magnified by Congressional testimony that appeared evasive to some, McGwire failed to reach the Hall of Fame during his decade of eligibility.

Ironically, that 10-3 Padres victory almost had a double dose of history. San Diego legend Tony Gwynn flied out twice and walked, before a two-RBI double in the 9th inning left him at 2999 career hits. But he didn't wait long to craft his own headline: Gwynn reached 3000 the next night against the Expos.

(My image of McGwire is from 2015, while he was serving as a Dodgers coach.)

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