Mark David McGwire, also known as “Big Mac,” was born on October 1st, 1963, and spent 16 Major League Baseball seasons at first base for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals (1986-2001). He won a World Series as a player with Oakland in 1989 and as a coach with St. Louis in 2011.
With 583 home runs in his career, McGwire was one of baseball’s most prolific home-run hitters. His total now sits at number twelve in MLB history and was fifth at the time of his retirement.
Why did Mark McGwire retire?
Mark McGwire declared his retirement while having problems keeping healthy. After the 2001 season, he gave up playing.
He took part in the summer Olympics in Los Angeles that year as a member of the American national team, where they finished second to Japan and took home the silver medal.
At the University of Southern California, where he played baseball alongside Randy Johnson, Jack Del Rio, and Rodney Peete, coach Rod Dedeaux oversaw his squad. In the 1984 MLB Draft, the Athletics picked McGwire as the 10th overall choice.
McGwire was chosen by the Oakland Athletics with the tenth overall pick in the 1984 Major League Baseball draft after spending three years at USC and a brief period with the American Olympic squad.
In 18 games when McGwire made his major league debut in August 1986, he hit three home runs and scored nine runs.
