ESPN had a golden opportunity with no sports going on this Sunday night to satisfy the appetite of sports-craved fans like myself and millions of others.
After the incredible success of “The Last Dance” documentary in April and May, they raised the bar for sports documentaries – especially ones that occurred in the modern era where most fans remember it in real-time. The summer of 98 was 22 years ago – long ago that the memories may have faded or some young fans weren’t alive for it but recent enough that they didn’t need to act like it’s news to us.
They did a very poor job on this one.
When it comes to the 30 for 30 franchise, they have done a remarkable job of bringing historical and nuanced moments to life. As a journalist myself, I love this because people have short attention loops and there’s just so much sports content to consume (in every year except 2020) that many things fall by the wayside. This is really true when it comes to stories that only were of interest to a subset of sports fans at the time or perseverance stories. So when you watch their episodes like “Catholics Vs Convincts” or “The U” or “Without Bias”, you are blown away that you didn’t care about these stories sooner.
In the case of the epic home run chase of 1998, anybody that was alive during that time knew about it and was following it in real-time. Anybody not alive for it, surely heard about it considering the massive stir it caused in the sports world and especially when it comes to the baseball record book and PED scandals.
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were larger-than-life and it was one of those rare phenomenons in sports that captivated everyone – not just Cardinals and Cubs fans. People were following their every move on the field, people packed in to watch batting practice and it lived up to the hype throughout the season. Additionally, it was the even rarer sports story that leaked into pop culture as they appeared on episodes of The Simpsons and were mentioned during Presidential Debates. So, there’s no denying it featured immense attention.
Those are sometimes the harder documentaries to do because everyone has their own memory of it so we don’t need to introduce the story line.
Complicating matters, neither player will be fully transparent when it comes to what illegal drugs they put in their bodies. McGwire is kind of cut from the Lance Armstrong cloth where he only feels the need to vaguely allude to mistakes he’s made and not fully come clean. He is probably not getting into the Hall of Fame, he’s fine financially and he has been welcomed back into baseball (hitting coach for Cardinals, Dodgers and Padres), so what does he have to lose? Just admit it and maybe other players will follow suit.
What’s most frustrating about that era is that basically only Jose Canseco and Andy Pettitte and the late Ken Caminiti really admitted to anything. The vast majority of players only release carefully crafted PR statements, others gloss over it entirely. So there’s still so much unknown, yet baseball has basically chosen to pretend that period of time didn’t happen. The holier-than-thou baseball writers won’t allow Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Alex Rodriguez into the Hall of Fame, despite their names occupying large portions of the record books.
That brings me to my next point with the documentary. Since they never will admit to any wrongdoing, it’s impossible to tell an accurate story in the documentary when the two key figures aren’t willing to open up about the biggest questions that every one has. So essentially it was a compilation of Sportscenter highlights that we can all look on YouTube to find.
What they should’ve done with this was one of two things.
Either get the key figures to open up about everything PED related – when did they start, how much did it help them, do they feel remorse about vehemently denying it for years, what was the sentiment in the locker room from their teammates and what was the sentiment from the opposing players that felt cheated. That obviously would’ve been best case scenario and it also isn’t something that either of those guys are capable of doing.
Or they could’ve went for the next best thing and get everyone else to talk about it.
Interview pitchers that gave up the barrage of home runs that had their stats and careers ruined while baseball paraded around their superstars into massive wealth. Interview opposing players that were overshadowed by their success. Find one or two teammates that weren’t starstruck and are willing to talk about their real unfiltered feelings of living in his shadow. They did get Ray Lankford and Kerry Wood to talk but they didn’t offer anything of substance.
What they did do was interview every old-time baseball writer what it was like to cover it. That’s the worst thing they could’ve did because a) we can find their thoughts online already and b) baseball writers of the previous generations completely lack the ability to feel enjoyment and are notorious for coming down on steroid users. That’s not what baseball needs right now. They cast a shadow over players of that era specifically so it was an awful idea to focus on their perspectives.
I really would’ve liked to hear from a local bar owner in St. Louis or Chicago that benefited from the enthusiasm of the fans. Offer up some numbers on how profits grew, talk about how crowded it was during September, share a story about the debauchery that went on after McGwire’s 62nd home run. That’s what people want to hear. If a company like Barstool did this documentary, it would’ve been infinitely more interesting.
From a baseball perspective, yes, they told the story and showed the highlights and had the main characters in. But it was completely shallow and off the mark.
If they wanted a story about a clean, beloved baseball phenom they should just do one on Ken Griffey Jr.
