Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated event in recent sports history finally happened. Tuesday, September 8, 1998 was the day that Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris’ 37 year record of most home runs in a season with his 62nd homer.

However, there’s more than just history here. The entire home run chase between McGwire and Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa has brought a new appreciation and new respect to baseball and to professional sports as well.

It has been amazing to watch these two men each day, fielding hundreds of ‘when will you break the record?’ and ‘how does it feel to be your position?’ questions on breaking Maris’ record, while, at the same time, trying to help their teams win its games.

Both men showed great class and dignity by acknowledging each other’s home run hitting prowess at every chance they could. You could see that, as McGwire eventually got closer to the record, he and Sosa developed almost a competitive kinship.

Best of all, they were having fun and enjoying themselves. What a change for baseball, huh?

Wasn’t it just four short years ago when a strike interrupted the baseball season and canceled the World Series? Baseball was in trouble, as the owners and the players could not agree on key financial issues.

The names Donald Fehr and Bud Selig became more familiar than Cal Ripken, Greg Maddux and Juan Gonzalez.

Fans everywhere began to lose respect for the game, viewing both players and owners as money-hungry individuals who cared less about the fans and even less about the game.

Once the strike was resolved, the scars left by that difficult period hurt baseball. Attendance plummeted. Television ratings took a downward spiral. Merchandising sales declined. Heck, even our baseball cards went down in value.

Since then, two full seasons have passed since the strike, and even as attendance, ratings and merchandising numbers have begun to climb again, there was still something missing from the game.

Baseball is America’s game. It’s a unifying force that brings people from all generations and places together.

When we get to the ballpark, we’re all just a bunch of kids. We cheer on our team and yell at the opponents. We eat popcorn, peanuts and Cracker Jacks. And we love it.

If we’re lucky, maybe, just maybe, we can catch a foul ball and have a souvenir of our own to treasure.

The strike un-did a lot of that magic, at least it did for me. For the past two years, I couldn’t watch an entire game without thinking in the back of my head that this could be the last game before another strike.

I was upset at the players for not realizing that they’re playing a kids’ game and getting paid too much money for it.

Then the home run chase began. Day after day and night after night, McGwire and Sosa went back and forth with their onslaught on history.

If you blinked, you probably missed Sosa hitting two home runs in one game, or McGwire hitting a mammoth 545 foot shot.

Excitement continued to build as both men grew closer to 61 home runs. Sports (and in the past few days, even prime time) programming was interrupted each time one of the men was at the plate. You could just feel the tension building to an exciting climax.

Then, after weeks of near round-the-clock media coverage, it happened. Just like that, history was made and baseball was changed forever.

I’ll never forget McGwire’s loving embrace of the Maris family after breaking the record.

I’ll never forget McGwire and Sosa exchanging hi-fives and hugs after Big Mac crossed home plate.

But what I’ll never, ever forget is the way the game just stopped. Without even blinking, the Cardinals stormed the field and congratulated Big Mac.

The entire Cubs team applauded graciously for McGwire and the fans exploded with non-stop cheers as the flash bulbs from thousands of cameras clicked in unison, trying to capture a piece of history.

The game, while a crucial game for the wildcard-leading Cubs, became second fiddle to this celebration. Not even the umpires could prevent it.

Number 62 was a celebration for sports fans everywhere and, in effect, a celebration of baseball. And while it may not have been the final step in restoring the nation’s faith in professional baseball, it was a memorable start.