Home Run Race : 1998

1998-Sep-27 Cooperstown NY

During Major League Baseball's 1998 season, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs pursued the league's long-standing and highly coveted single-season home run record (61), set in 1961 by Roger Maris. The season-long chase culminated on September 8, 1998, when McGwire, facing Sosa and the Cubs, hit his 62nd home run of the season to break the record. McGwire finished the season with 70 home runs, while Sosa finished with 66

Sosa and McGwire shared Sports Illustrated magazine's 1998 "Sportsman of the Year" award.

Hall of Fame - Cooperstown

Mickey Mantle - NY Yankees 1951-1968)

Hall of Fame Induction 1974

Sta Musial - StLouis Cardinals (1941-1944, 1946-1963)

Hall of Fame Induction 1969

Frank Thomas - Chicago White Sox (1990-2005) Oakland Athletics (2006, 2008) 

Toronto Blue Jays (2007-2008)

Hall of Fame Induction 2014

1994-Jul-31 Cooperstown NY

Hall of Fame Induction postmarks Steve Carlton, Phil Rizzuto, Leo Durocher

Phil Rizzuto - In Memoriam

2007-Aug-14 Bronx NY

Phil Rizzuto (Sep25, 1917 - Aug 13, 2007)

New York Yankees (1941-1942, 1946-1956)

Hall of Fame Induction 1994

Baseball Centennial - 70th Anniversary

 

2009-Jun12 Cooperstown NY

70th Anniversary Baseball Centennial

Bevil cachet

Ken Griffey - Sr & Junior

1989-April-03  Oakland, Ca - Oakland Coliseum

1989-April-03  Cincinnati, Ohio - Riverfront Stadium

Ken Griffey Jr major league debut with the Seattle Mariners, while his father was playing for the Cincinnati Reds

1990-Aug-31 Seattle, Wa

First father/son teammates to take the field in the same game

1997-May-31 Seattle Wa

Most home runs in first 2 months of the season

1997-Oct-22 New York NY - Gold Glove Award

1997-October-30 Cooperstown, NY

Player of the Year

Bevil cachet #/450

2000-Feb-10  Cincinnati - Traded

2000-April -04  Cincinnati, Oh - Cinergy Field

Wild Horse painted cachet

Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 Cincinnati Reds

Griffey's first game with the Reds, 0-4 with 2 strikeouts

2004-June-20 - St Louis, Mo

500th Career Home Run

Ken Griffey Sr played  from 1973-1991 for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Seattle Mariners. A 3-time All-star, he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2004

Ken Griffey Jr followed in his father's footsteps. Junior played 22 years (1989-2010) for the Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox. 

• Batting Ave .284
• RBI - 1,836
• Home Runs - 630
• 13-time All-Star
• AL MVP - 1997
• 10-time Gold Glove
• 7-time Silver Slugger
• 4-time AL Home Run Leader
• AL RBI Leader - 1997
• Seattle Mariners retire #24 - 2016
• Seattle Mariner sHall of Fame - 2013
• Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame - 2014
• Baseball Hall of Fame - 2016

Junior was honored by St Vincent July 23, 1989

Greg Maddux

March 31, 1998 Atlanta, Ga Opening day

The Atlanta Braves defeat the Milwaukee Brewers at Turner Field, 2-1

Greg Maddux pitched 7 innings giving up 6 hits and 1 run. Kerry Ligtenbergd picked up the win as the braves scored in the bottom of the ninth to take the victory.

The cachet honors Greg Maddux, winner of 4 Cy Young awards (1992-1995)

Hall of Fame - 2007 - Cal Ripken Jr, Tony Gwynn

Tony Gwynn - H&M Bevil cachets

Armstrong cachet

Oriole Advocates Charitable Foundation
Cal Ripken Signature postmark - Baltimore, Md

Oriole Advocate Charitable Foundation

with standard Cooperstown circular date stamp postmark

Uncle Sam Stamp Club - Troy NY

There were three pictorial postmarks available for this day at Cooperstown. The Hall of Fame Induction postmark with a batter decorative bunting. There were also two additional designs that were similar, honoring the Class of 2007 and a baseball. Legends Station honored both Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn, while the Iron Man Station honored Cal Ripken

Joe DiMaggio

Joe DiMaggio Day - October 1, 1949 Yankee Stadium - C. George cachet

May 3, 1986 - 50th anniversary Major League Debut

March 8, 1999 - Joe DiMaggio Death cover - Bevil cachet

Photocopy, hand folded death cover, with 56-game hitting streak information on reverse

photo of DiMaggio and Mantle

Joe DiMaggio (Joltin' Joe or The Yankee Clipper) played for the New York Yankees from 1936-1951.
In 1941 DiMaggio achieved a hit in 56 consecutive games

3-time AL MVP (1939, 1941, 1947), 13-time All-star, 361 home runs, .579 slugging percentage, 10 american League pennants, 9 World Series Championships, 2-time AL Batting Champion (1939, 1940), 2-time AL Home run Leader (1937, 1948), 2-time RBI Leader (1941, 1948)

New York Yankees retired jersey #5 - April 18, 1952
Baseball Hall of Fame 1955
Major League Baseball All-Century Team - 1999

His brothers Vince (Boston Bees, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants) and Dom (Boston Red Sox) were also major league center fielders

1984 Sports Memorabilia Show

1969 Ajman Champions of Sport

2014 Republic of Guinea celebrating Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe

Softball - 1995 Recreational Sports

USPS Commemorative Panel

USPS Souvenir sheet

Art craft

Postal Commemorative Society

Postal Commemorative Society - Gold Replica

Bevil cachet #/125

CCC

House of Farnum

Artmaster

These stamps showcase five recreational sports played by millions from the serious competitor to the amateur. 

Softball was invented in 1887 in Chicago, credited to George Hancock, to be played as an indoor variation of baseball. The ball used was softer than a baseball. A tournament held at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair spurred interest in the game. The Amateur Softball Association of America would be founded in the same year.

Softball today played with variation of Fast-pitch, slow-pitch and modified has gone beyond the realm of just being a recreational sport. Softball made it's Olympic debut in 1996 Atlanta.

Softball is played in over 100 countries around the world. The European Softball Federation was formed in 1976