Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire was born on Tuesday, October 1, 1963, in Pomona, California. McGwire was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on August 22, 1986, with the Oakland Athletics.

He is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1986 through 2001.

McGwire was a prolific powerhitter during the 1990s. For his career, McGwire averaged a home run once every 10.61 at bats, the highest home run ratio in baseball history. In 1998, McGwire broke Roger Maris's single season home run record of 61 by hitting 70. McGwire was known for the length of his home runs, hitting a couple that surpassed 500 feet.

McGwire was raised with his four brothers in a middle-class neighborhood in Claremont. His first sports interest was golf.

In his first full Major League Baseball season in 1987, he hit 49 home runs, a record for most home runs by a rookie, he was named the American League Rookie Of The Year.

McGwire married Stephanie Slemer, a former pharmaceutical sales representative from the St. Louis area, in Las Vegas on 20th April 2002. They reside in Irvine, California with their son, Max. McGwire also has a son, Matthew, by his first wife Kathy.

He also created the Mark McGwire Foundation for Children to support agencies that work with children who have been sexually and physically abused.