Mark McGwire: Home Run Hero [Hardcover]

Rob Rains (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1998

Mark McGwire: Home Run Hero is the first full-length biography of the slugger and beloved star, one of the few genuine role models in today's sports world. It tells the story of his life, from growing up in Southern California to college at the University of Southern California to his years, with the Oakland Athletics as one of the fabled "Bash Brothers", right up to his present career with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's only natural in 1998's season of the slugger, with the focus on the race to break 61, that baseball's most prolific contemporary power hitter would be reduced to size with a quickie bio. The thing about McGwire is that he's soooo big--and not just in physical stature--that he can't be reduced, especially when his biographer produces what is essentially fans' notes.

Rains may have written nothing more than a routine biography, outlining McGwire's growth from Little Leaguer--he naturally hit a homer his first time at bat--to eventual major-league stardom, but his subject is anything but routine. The McGwire that Rains portrays is thoughtful and engaging--a man who, despite his outsized talent, grips priorities as well as a bat. Rains recounts how, on the last day of McGwire's monumental first season with Oakland, with the rookie record of 49 dingers already on the books, his wife went into labor. Instead of staying and going for 50, McGwire immediately flew back to California to take his place beside her. He can always get 50 another time.

McGwire approaches the hallowed home-run record with his trademark poise and perspective. He's only worried about one aspect of chasing the record: even if he fails to break Maris's mark, he will have accomplished something no one, not even Ruth, has done before: hitting 50 home runs in three consecutive seasons. "Is that failure," McGwire asks circumspectly. "Are people going to write that I failed?" Probably. But as Rains observes, "That thought passes after a moment.... Ever since his days growing up playing with friends at the end of a cul-de-sac in Claremont, California, McGwire has been in control of his own fate, just as he is now." --Jeff Silverman

About the Author

ROB RAINS is the author or co-author of eight books, including The St. Louis Cardinals 100th Anniversary History (St. Martin's Press), as well as the autobiographies of Cardinal Red Schoendienst and baseball broadcaster Jack Buck. A frequent contributor to The Sporting News, Rains lives with his wife in St. Louis, Missouri.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (August 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312201621
• ISBN-13: 978-0312201623
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,995,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Basic, covered alot of things twice and three times, July 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mark McGwire: Home Run Hero (Hardcover)

i think this was basic information and Rains touched on the same topics on more than one occasion, interesting for someone who just knows he played for the A's and is the HR king, like me, which is why i gave it 3 stars. if i was following McGwire from his rookie year, i would have hated it. so again, its basic, nothing spectacular

3.0 out of 5 stars A good book, sort of, March 10, 2000

By 

Sam - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mark McGwire: Home Run Hero (Hardcover)

This was a very good book, until I got to the last few pages. There, I found out that the famous 62nd and 70th homers were NOT included or reported about. Obviously, there wasn't much research done because the whole book was full of quotes moving the story along. I'd say that no more than 1/3 of the whole book was actual writing done by Rains himself. But, this was still a fairly good book. The pictures in the centerfold could have been a little bit better and more updated as well. But, the writing is what's important, right?

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT player, great biography -HIGHLY RECOMENDED, February 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mark McGwire: Home Run Hero (Mass Market Paperback)

I have never actually finished a book over 100 pages EXCEPT for this one. That has to say something. Not only that i LOVE Mark McGwire and almost everything he does but that the author, Rob Rains must know what hes talking about. It is a pretty well detailed book the chapters could be a little shorter but otherwise a very interesting book!