Mark McGwire

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Mark McGwire : biography

October 1, 1963 –

Career totals

In 16 seasons (1986–2001), McGwire accumulated the following career stats:

  • G 1,874
  • ABs 6,187
  • Runs 1,167
  • Hits 1,626
  • Doubles 252
  • Triples 6
  • HR 583
  • RBI 1,414
  • GIDP 147
  • BB 1,317
  • IBB 150
  • HBP 75
  • SH 3
  • SF 78
  • Strikeouts 1,596
  • SBs 12
  • CS 8
  • BA .263
  • OBP .394
  • SLG .588
  • OPS .982
  • OPS+ 162

Coaching career

On October 26, 2009, Tony LaRussa confirmed that McGwire would become the hitting coach for the Cardinals, replacing Hal McRae as the fifth hitting coach in LaRussa’s term as manager. McGwire received a standing ovation prior to the Cardinals home opener on April 12, 2010. In McGwire’s three seasons as Cardinals hitting coach they featured a prolific offense that led the National League in hitting and on-base percentage, and were second in the league in runs.

In early November, 2012 McGwire rejected a contract extension to return as Cardinals hitting coach for the 2013 season, instead accepting an offer to fill the same position for the Los Angeles Dodgers, in order to be closer to his wife and 5 children.

Honors

In 1999, The Sporting News released a list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. The list had been compiled during the 1998 season and included statistics through the 1997 season. McGwire was ranked at Number 91. That year, he was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team (though he received fewer votes than any other selected player). In 2005, The Sporting News published an update of their list and McGwire had been moved up to Number 84.

However, in the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 balloting for the Baseball Hall of Fame, McGwire failed to attain election receiving 128 of the 545 cast (23.5% of the vote) in 2007, 128 of 543 (23.6%) in 2008, 118 of 539 (21.9%) in 2009, 128 of 539 (23.7%) in 2010, 115 of 581 (19.8%) in 2011, 112 of 573 (19.5%) in 2012, and 96 of 569 (16.9%) in 2013.

A portion of Interstate 70 (see also: Interstate 70 in Missouri) in St. Louis and near Busch Stadium was named "Mark McGwire Highway" to honor his 70 home run achievement, along with his various good works for the city. In May, 2010, St. Louis politicians succeeded in passing a state bill to change the name of "Mark McGwire Highway", a 5-mile stretch of Interstate 70, to "Mark Twain Highway".