McGwire is AP Male Athlete of Year

Mark McGwire did far more in 1998 than shatter the most revered record in sports and set a home-run standard that may outlive even him.

With 70 big swings, he helped save the game of baseball.

And for all he accomplished, Big Mac was picked Monday as The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.

In a season considered by many to be the greatest ever, the 6-foot-5 redhead stood tallest of them all. From his grand slam on opening day to No. 70 on his final swing, McGwire captivated the nation.

“Did he hit one?” became the daily buzzwords among millions of fans and nonfans alike, especially as his riveting race with Sammy Sosa heated up near the end of the season.

And then came the best snapshot of them all: the night he hit No. 62 in St. Louis to break Roger Maris’ 37-year-old record. After rounding the bases, an exuberant McGwire lifted his son, Matt, in a bear hug, embraced Sosa, whose Chicago Cubs happened to be playing against him, and then saluted the Maris family who were on hand to witness history.

That September evening at Busch Stadium, with fireworks exploding overhead and cheers coming from all around the globe, it seemed like baseball had — at last — broken free from its post-strike problems.

“It’s America’s pastime. And if took one person to help get it back on the map, and people say it’s me, that’s great,” McGwire said.

McGwire easily won the Male Athlete of the Year award with 332 points. Sosa was second with 177 in the annual voting by AP member newspapers and broadcast outlets. Ten points are allotted for every first-place vote, nine for second and so on.

Running back Terrell Davis of the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos was third with 63 points, Michael Jordan of the NBA champion Chicago Bulls was next with 54, followed by Broncos quarterback John Elway (50) and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon (42).

This marked the second straight time the AP’s top male athlete was the subject of the AP’s Story of the Year. In 1997, Tiger Woods won the individual award while his victory in the Masters earned Story of the Year honors.

From the day he homered in the Cardinals’ spring training opener to the night he scooped up a foul ball as a guest in a front-row box at the final game of the World Series, McGwire was the focus of baseball.

The slugging first baseman was expected to challenge Maris’ 1961 mark of 61, especially because this was an expansion season, when offensive numbers tend to get out of whack.

And with fans everywhere hoping — even demanding — that he break it, McGwire delivered with 29,598 feet worth of longballs, most of them moonshots far beyond the fences. He punctuated each home run with his signature — a fake punch to the gut of teammates.

“Americans love power,” McGwire said. “Big cars. Big trucks. Big people. Baseball fans have always been drawn to the home run and the guy throwing close to 100 mph.”

McGwire finished with 147 RBIs and an NL-record 162 walks. He led the majors in slugging percentage (.752) and on-base percentage (.470) and batted .299.

Sosa, however, won the NL MVP award when his Chicago Cubs won the wild-card spot while the Cardinals did not make the playoffs.

McGwire’s shots earned him standing ovations in opposing ballparks and gave him 457 home runs. At 35, he’ll start next season 20th on the career list.

Along the way, there were a few bumps.

In early June, back spasms caused him to miss a few games and raised concern that his history of injuries would stall his bid. Later, with so much attention put on his monstrous batting practice shows, he said he felt like “a caged animal” and said he might cut down his BP sessions.

Then, his biggest controversy of all: In August, the AP reported that he used androstenedione, an over-the-counter muscle-building supplement that is banned by the NFL, Olympics and NCAA.

“Everybody that I know in the game of baseball uses the same stuff I use,” McGwire said.

By September, with McGwire far ahead of Maris’ pace, all eyes were on the record. And on Sept. 8, in the Cardinals’ 145th game, Big Mac broke the mark — without a doubt or the kind of asterisk that dogged Maris when he passed Babe Ruth.

No. 62 was a line drive off the Cubs’ Steve Trachsel that barely made it over the left-field fence. At 341 feet, it was McGwire’s shortest homer of the season — four months earlier, he actually hit one 545 feet.

No matter, the record was his. McGwire was so excited he ran past first and had to retouch the bag. He got handshakes and pats from every Chicago infielder, then saved his biggest celebration for his 10-year-old batboy son at home plate; for Sosa, who jogged in from right field; and for the Maris family.

“I have been talking about this since January,” McGwire said. “I can honestly say I did it.”

Sosa eventually tied McGwire at 66 home runs. McGwire, however, won the race by finishing his season with a pair of two-homer games. His shot off Montreal’s Carl Pavano in the seventh inning on the last day gave him the beyond-belief total of 70.

“I think it will stand for a while,” McGwire said. “Will it broken someday? It could be. Will I be alive? Possibly.”

Associated Press