Awesome Athletics #4: Mark McGwire

[sanjosefuji]

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I figured I'd celebrate by blogging about my favorite Irish Oakland Athletic... Mark McGwire.

Now before I receive "hate" comments, let me say that I don't condone his PED usage. Nor is this post intended to convince you that he deserves to be enshrined in Cooperstown. It's about an Irish American ball player who put a lot of smiles on Oakland Athletics fans during the late 80's through the mid 90's.

And I'm one of those fans.

Actually, I was more of a Canseco guy but, the Bash Brothers wouldn't be complete without McGwire. And although he's probably more famous for his home run record setting years with the St. Louis Cardinals, he constantly shows up in the A's record books.


Take a peek for yourself:

Slugging %: .559 (3rd All-Time)
Runs: 773 (10th All-Time)
Total Bases: 2,451 (7th All-Time)
Home Runs: 363 (Franchise Record Holder)
RBI's: 941 (4th All-Time)
Walks: 847 (4th All-Time)
Strikeouts: 1,043 (3rd All-Time)
Runs Created: 981 (5th All-Time)
Extra Base Hits: 563 (4th All-Time)
Sacrifice Flies: 59 (Franchise Record Holder)
Intentional Walks: 77 (2nd All-Time)
At Bats Per Home Run: 12.3 (Franchise Record Holder)

In addition to those records, he represented the Oakland A's in nine all-star games, won the 1987 AL ROY Award, earned a Gold Glove in 1990, and won two Silver Slugger Awards (1992 and 1996) with them.

And of course, you can't forget the fact that McGwire was part of the 1984 Olympic baseball team that won a silver medal.

So it's your turn...

When you picture McGwire, is he wearing a Cardinals or Athletics uniform?

Happy Sunday, stay green, and sayonara!



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