Maybe the most remarkable aspect of the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 was that everyone expected Roger Maris' record to fall. Mark McGwire hit 58 the previous season and Ken Griffey Jr. 56, putting Maris' mark of 61 in obvious jeopardy.
Sports Illustrated put McGwire on the cover of its baseball preview issue with the headline "Get Ready for a Slugfest." The cover story was a paean to a homer-happy era featuring "beefy, pumped-up maulers ready to tear down fences," and it extolled the virtues of protein shakes spiked with creatine as well as fish oil supplements and weight training.