'Long Gone Summer' Preview: The epic 1998 baseball season that became the greatest home run chase in history
The 1998 baseball season or better called the greatest home run chase is forever etched in the memories of baseball fans. The Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa competition blew everyone else out of the water. That season was a constant topic of discussion. So much so that it made headlines across various media platforms. It was the talk of that summer, and maybe even after. Now, 22 years later, sports fans get a chance to relive that summer in ESPN's 'Long Gone Summer'.
ESPN dishes out some numbers ahead of the documentary premiere. The game was the most-watched in the network's history with 10.6 million viewers tuning in on September 7. The game between the Cubs and the Cardinals saw McGwire tie Roger Maris' record with his 61st home run. It was like McGwire's record chase revived baseball in the country. Finally, the record chasing ended up between McGwire and Sosa. Ahead of the season, fans hoped it would be the year where Maris' 37-year-old record would be shot down.
Prior to this, ESPN's stats say that McGwire smacked 52 home runs for the Athletics in 1996. He made it 58 the following year. Sosa was actually far behind with 37 home runs and in 1997, he was at 36. For all the talent he possessed, much of the fan conversations and critical analysis was about his gameplay. However, Sosa was about to unleash a game the world never saw coming.
He was off to a rocket start as he hammered 33 home runs by the end of June that year— four short of McGwire's 37. By July, the competition was beyond cutthroat as "Slammin' Sammy" was an integral player of the greatest home run chase in baseball history. He tied with McGwire on August 10, but the latter took the lead eventually to break the record. Sosa might have been the one to have missed out, but there was massive respect that flowed in from fans for the feat he managed to pull off.
It was just one of those exhilarating seasons that baseball saw. And come June 14, fans can relive the season once more. According to ESPN, "the film is a journey back through time that recalls how seismic and emotional the story was." Directed by AJ Schnack, ESPN's '30 for 30' presents 'Long Gone Summer' on June 14, Sunday, on ESPN at 9 pm ET.