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61 lost In translatIon Voice, Masculinity, Race, and the 1998 Home Run Chase —shelley luCas intRoDuCtion After being exalted for their athletic performance and sportsmanship in the 1998 home run chase,Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa slowly lost their place on the pedestal reserved for baseball heroes and, specifically, in this case, home run sluggers. A succession of controversies, allegations, investigations, and exposés have pelted away at the base onto which Big Mac and Slammin’ Sammy have been hoisted during the feel-good 1998 season.This chapter will explore the elevation of Sosa and McGwire during the 1998 season and the subsequent denigration of the two players’ reputations. Although these two men shared the spotlight during the home run chase and have since had their sporting achievements tainted by similar allegations of steroid use, the discourses surrounding them have diverged in significant ways.During the 1998 season, for example, McGwire was exalted as a father, a family man, and an advocate for child abuse prevention, while Sosa was routinely highlighted for his comedic persona, good-natured relationship with the press, and devotion to his mother in the Dominican Republic.When confronted with suspicions of steroid use in the ensuing years, both men suffered a loss of voice—a loss featured prominently in mainstream media. Yet this loss of voice generated different meanings for each player. A collective disappointment in McGwire registered in media coverage of the steroid speculation and investigations, while derision and disdain dominated many reports about Sosa. I explore the relationship between their loss of voice and masculinity, race, power and privilege. An analysis of mainstream media coverage shows that similar to the home run chase, media discourse concerning the suspicion of illegal performance-enhancing drugs highlighted Sosa’s racial identity, while McGwire ’s racial identity remained unnamed. the 1998 home Run Chase In 1998, St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa of the rival Chicago Cubs battled each other (and a few others, early on) in a season-long Shelley Lucas 62 home run hitting competition. As the season progressed, both men were on track to break Roger Maris’s record of sixty-one home runs in a season, set thirty-seven years earlier.To make a long season short,both McGwire and Sosa broke Maris’s record, but McGwire finished on top with seventy home runs to Sosa’s sixty-six. The two players were the subject of much media attention, not just for their batting performance but also for their good-natured relationship and sportsmanship as the competition heated up and the pressure intensified. McGwire and Sosa were lauded for saving baseball and rejuvenating America’s pastime,and the home run chase was credited with providing a national diversion from a presidential impeachment inquiry.At the conclusion of 1998, Sosa and McGwire received numerous accolades and awards from sports-related organizations and publications. Sosa was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player, and both the Sporting News and Sports Illustrated named McGwire and Sosa Sportsmen of the Year.1 The two men were also recognized for their humanitarian and philanthropic efforts: McGwire reportedly made a million-dollar-a-year commitment to assist abused children,while Sosa helped raise funds and contributed to relief efforts for the Dominican Republic and neighboring countries in the aftermath of Hurricane Georges.Moreover,at the 1999 State of the Union address, Sosa sat next to First Lady Hillary Clinton, an honor intended to acknowledge his baseball skills and his philanthropy. He also received the Humanitarian of theYear award at the 1999 ESPY awards.The home run hysteria surrounding these two players continued the next season, albeit at a reduced pitch. McGwire ended the 1999 season with sixty-five home runs,two more than Sosa.Just a few years later,however,a series of public confessions , criminal investigations, and government inquiries began that would cast dark shadows on the good feelings and memories of 1998. Various events added to the speculation that the home run chase had been tainted by the use of illegal performance-enhancing substances, and media coverage of these events frequently included references to Sosa, McGwire, and the 1998 season. •฀ In฀May฀2002,฀Sports Illustrated printed an article in which former player Ken Caminiti admitted to using steroids and estimated that 50 percent of players used steroids, stoking concerns about recent hitting records and the use of illegal performance enhancers in baseball.2 •฀ In฀June฀2003,฀Sosa฀got฀caught฀using฀a฀corked฀bat,฀leading฀some...

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