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All summer, McGwire and Sosa traded home runs while the whole country checked the tally on the nightly news. The 1998 chase for Roger Maris's record turned baseball back into must-see TV—and its record book now reads very differently.
A Little Leaguer falls through an earthquake crack at home plate and lands in King Arthur's Camelot, where a backpack of 90s stuff makes him look like a prophesied savior. Critics hated it; 90s kids wore out the VHS. And look closely: that's a pre-Titanic Kate Winslet and a pre-Bond Daniel Craig.
A foster kid prays for the last-place California Angels to win the pennant — because his dad said that's when they'd be a family again — and real angels start nudging fly balls. When the angels sit out the championship, an entire stadium flaps its arms instead. Christopher Lloyd, Danny Glover, and a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Shredded bubble gum packaged in a foil tobacco-style pouch — dreamed up in the Portland Mavericks bullpen by pitcher Rob Nelson and launched in 1980 with backing from ex-Yankee Jim Bouton. A staple of 80s and 90s little-league dugouts where kids mimicked the professional players they idolized.
The Kid — the backwards cap, the sweetest left-handed swing in baseball, and the Seattle Mariners star who was the face of the 90s game. Ken Griffey Jr. hit towering home runs, made highlight-reel catches, and had his name on the video games kids played and the Wheaties boxes on the breakfast table.
![Video thumbnail — Rookie of the Year (1993) Theatrical Trailer [4K] [FTD-1393]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gUAoirkeaVE/maxresdefault.jpg)
Henry Rowengartner breaks his arm, it heals with the tendons a little too tight, and suddenly a 12-year-old is throwing 100 mph for the Chicago Cubs. Daniel Stern directs — and steals scenes as loopy pitching coach Phil Brickma. When the arm gives out mid-game, Henry wins with playground tricks. A cable staple of 90s childhoods.
David Mickey Evans' 1993 film about a group of kids playing baseball on a sandlot in the 1960s became the quintessential summer movie for 90s childhoods. The Sandlot captured the wonder and terror of childhood adventure — forbidden crushes, a monstrous dog, and a lost ball signed by Babe Ruth — with perfect comedic timing and genuine heart.