Phillies dominated in Long Gone Summer by McGwire, Sosa
The Phillies fell victim to an all-time slugfest during the summer of ’98
On Sunday night, ESPN premiered the documentary Long Gone Summer, which showed Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s run to the single-season home run record, which greatly impacted the Phillies.
Philadelphia gave up 188 home runs during the 1998 season, tied for most in the National League. Seven percent of the home runs they gave up that year were hit by McGwire and Sosa, who hit a combined 136 home runs in their chase for Roger Marris’ record 61 home runs, which both of them would pass.
How did Mark McGwire do against the Phillies in 1998?
In eight games against Philadelphia, McGwire hit 5 of his 70 home runs with 12 RBI and a .286 batting average.
On April 17 McGwire entered the game with seven home runs in his first 14 games. He launched number eight off Matt Whiteside for a two-run home run in the fourth inning in an 8-5 Cardinals win.
McGwire’s 10th home run of the year came against Jerry Spradlin on April 25 in Philadelphia. St. Louis also won this game 8-5 despite multi-RBI games from Doug Glanville and Rico Brogna.
The most infamous McGwire game against the Phillies came on May 19 in front of 16,541 fans at Veteran’s Stadium.
In the top of the third against Tyler Green McGwire hit a two-run home run to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. Back up again in the fifth against Green, McGwire hit a second two-run home run, making it 5-2.
Philadelphia would come back to make it 8-7 going into the top of the eighth, but Wayne Gomes would blow that lead. After a Ron Gant home run to start the inning, McGwire hit his third two-run home run of the game and the Cardinals won 10-8.
As Harry said, none of them were El Cheapo’s.
McGwire hit 13 of his 583 career home runs against the Phillies over 30 games.
How did Sammy Sosa do against the Phillies in 1998?
In nine games Sosa hit eight home runs with 18 RBI and a .368 batting average
Five of those home runs came in the last three games of a four-game series in Philadelphia where the two teams played each other 7 times within 10 games. In the nine games played against Philadelphia, Sosa had a home run in five of them.
Sosa’s first home run against the Phillies came on May 27 in the bottom of the ninth down 10-3 off Wayne Gomes. Mickey Morandini scored on the line drive to right field but the Phillies hung on to win 10-5.
More from Phillies History
- 11 Free-agent deals the Philadelphia Phillies wish fell through
- Philadelphia Phillies achieve franchise feat for first time since 2011
- Phillies History on August 23: Eric Bruntlett records historic triple play
- Remembering Vin Scully: Dodgers voice’s first game was against Phillies
- Phillies in hot water for inviting Pete Rose to 1980 World Series celebration
On June 13, Sosa hit a two-run home run off Mark Portugal to drive in Morandini in the top of the sixth to make it 6-4 Phillies. Chicago would win 10-8 in 10 innings at Veteran’s Stadium.
Then, that four-game series in Philadelphia in late June came and Sosa went off.
June 19, Sosa hits a solo home run off Carlton Loewer in the second inning to make it 1-0 Cubs. In the bottom of the fifth, he faced Loewer again and hit a game-tying two-run home run in a 9-8 Cubs loss in 12 innings.
The next day, Sosa hit his 28th and 29th home runs of the season against Toby Borland and Matt Beech.
Two days later, Sosa came up with his 30th against off Tyler Green in the fourth inning in a 7-2 Phillies win.
Sosa finished the 1998 season with 66 home runs, a league-high 158 RBI, and an MVP award.
He finished his career with 35 of his 609 career home runs in 101 games against Philadelphia.
Related Story. Greatest Power Hitters in Phillies History. light
Luckily, none of these games really changed much for Philadelphia. They finished 31 games behind the Braves and 12 games below .500 in third place for the National League East.