McGwire, Mark (1963– )

US baseball player, a first baseman for the Oakland Athletics and for the St Louis Cardinals who in 1998 set a new major league record of 70 home runs in a season, breaking the previous record of 61 set by Roger Maris of the New York Yankees in 1961. This record was broken three years later by Billy Bonds who hit 73 home runs in the 2001 season. In 1998 he became the first player in major league history to hit 50 home runs or more in three consecutive seasons, and he extended this record with another 65 home runs in 1999. In August 1999, he hit the 500th home run of his major league career, and finished his career with 583 in total, which placed him sixth on the all-time list of home runs.

Born in California, he made his major league debut for the Oakland Athletics in 1986. He was transferred to St Louis during the 1997 season.