Delino DeShields, a native of Seaford, Del., returned to the mid-Atlantic when he signed with the Orioles in December 1998, but that decision was hardly the only reason that year was so special for DeShields.
The 6-foot-1, 170-pound second baseman had previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals, meaning he was teammates with Mark McGwire when the slugger hit 70 home runs in 1998 to break Roger Maris’ 37-year-old single-season home run record (61). McGwire’s record stood for three years, with Barry Bonds hitting 73 homers in 2001.
DeShields will be watching June 14 when ESPN debuts “Long Gone Summer,” a 30 for 30 film on the historic home run chase in 1998 between McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who were both chasing Maris’ record. Sosa ended up finishing with 66 homers. The home run chase energized the sport, which was still reeling from the 1994-95 work stoppage.
“It was an exciting time, not just in St. Louis but just throughout the game,” DeShields said on Glenn Clark Radio June 10. “Sammy and Mark created a lot of excitement during that time. I mentioned to somebody it was almost like we were the Beatles.”
DeShields hit .290/.371/.429 with the Cardinals in 1998, part of a 13-year career. Now the first base coach for the Cincinnati Reds, DeShields recalled with amusement that nearly half of McGwire’s hits that year were home runs (70, 152). He was still surprised that pitchers didn’t make more of an attempt to pitch around McGwire, a strategy that would be applied to Bonds in the coming years.
The Cardinals finished 83-79 in 1998 after fading down the stretch, placing the spotlight squarely on McGwire.
“We had a good ballclub, but we kind of fell out of it sometime after the All-Star break, so we weren’t playing particularly well and Mark was really … what was going on for us at the time,” DeShields said. “Everything was kind of centered around him. You do your best to try to stay focused, but there was definitely a lot going on.”
As electric as the 1998 season was for baseball, history hasn’t been particularly kind to what fueled that summer – and baseball’s power surge as a whole. McGwire was accused of having taken steroids by former Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco in “Juiced,” an autobiography released in 2005. McGwire admitted in 2010 that he used steroids during his career, including in 1998.
Despite Hall of Fame numbers (583 homers), McGwire fell off the writers’ ballot in 2016. A number of others have fallen off the ballot or are struggling to gain traction due to PED ties, including Bonds, Sosa, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and Manny Ramirez. Alex Rodriguez is expected to join that list as well. Sosa publicly denied using PEDs as recently as 2018, though he was reportedly one of 104 players who tested positive as part of MLB’s survey testing in 2003.
Mandatory testing began in 2004, and penalties for first-time positives were implemented in 2005. Palmeiro was the first high-profile player to serve a suspension for PEDs (a 10-day penalty with the Orioles in August 2005).
“Honestly, it was part of the game back then,” DeShields said. “It was part of the culture. There was no testing program for hGH and steroids and things of that nature, so it was a big part of the culture at the time. It’s just the way it was. I’m not going to say if Sammy or Mark or anybody else was using it or what, but it was definitely a big part of our culture.”
DeShields cautioned against thinking that steroids created certain players.
“You still have to be very skilled to hit a 90, 95 mph fastball. I don’t care whether you’re on steroids or whatever you’re on,” DeShields said. “You still have to be very skilled to do that. To me, I don’t know. I have mixed emotions about it all. I just think that for a player like Barry Bonds, for instance, Barry was a four-time MVP, the best player in our game, headed to the Hall of Fame way before any of this stuff ever happened. So for him not to be in the Hall of Fame is a shame, and there’s quite a few guys I feel the same way about.”
McGwire played from 1986-2001, posting a .263/.394/.588 career line. He earned 12 All-Star selections, three Silver Sluggers and the 1987 American League Rookie of the Year award. He also played a big role on the Athletics’ World Series team in 1989. He rates among the best first basemen ever, according to Baseball Reference.
DeShields still has a momento from that magical 1998 season.
“I wasn’t the kind of guy to go around and ask my colleagues for autographs and different things like that. I was too competitive for that,” DeShields said. “But Mark did give me a pair of autographed shoes that I still have, that I keep. And [McGwire] was a great teammate, too, man. I don’t know what kind of stories are being written about him and what’s been said about Mark McGwire, but in my opinion he was one of the best teammates I ever had. He cared about his team, he cared about winning, just a real good guy.”
For more from DeShields, including his thoughts on playing in Baltimore, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles