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''Summer of ’98: When Homers Flew, Records Fell, and Baseball Reclaimed America'' is a 1999 book written by Mike Lupica a sports columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and an ''ESPN'' analyst.〔Lupica, Mike (1999) ''Summer of ’98: When Homers Flew, Records Fell, and Baseball Reclaimed America.'' Chicago: Contemporary Books〕 The book follows the 1998 baseball season that featured Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chasing Roger Maris home run record. Lupica’s book approaches the subject in a three generational context where his father, himself, and his son are all passionate baseball fans following the home run competition. ==Book Summary== ''Summer of ’98: When Homers Flew, Records Fell, and Baseball Reclaimed America'', is presented in eight chapters plus a prologue and an epilogue. * Prologue: March. Lupica writes about the relationship between himself and his son, Alex, through the prism of baseball.〔Lupica, pages 1-15〕 * Chapter 1: April. Lupica, a New York Yankees fan, writes about McGwire’s first home run of the season, a grand slam for the St. Louis Cardinals, and then brings the reader to opening day at Yankee Stadium where Joe DiMaggio throws out the first ball. Lupica also introduces the reader to his father, Bene Lupica. Buck Showalter and Chuck Knoblauch are also presented to the reader in this chapter.〔Lupica, pages 16-32〕 * Chapter 2: May. Sosa and other members of the Chicago Cubs are introduced to the reader in this chapter to include Cubs’ pitcher Kerry Wood who tied the major league strikeout record of 20 in the course of throwing a one hit shutout on May 6, 1998. Two weeks later, Yankees pitcher David Wells pitched baseball’s fifteenth perfect game.〔Lupica, pages 33-56〕 * Chapter 3: Omar Minaya discusses how he scouted and signed Sosa while working as a scout for the Texas Rangers. As June progresses, Sosa begins to catch up to McGwire’s home run count. In the American League, the Yankees extend their lead as Roger Clemens has another successful season.〔Lupica, pages 57-71〕 * Chapter 4: July. At the all-star break, the Yankees were 61-20 and held a large lead over other teams in the American League’s Eastern Division. Lupica writes about Yankee leaders Paul O’Neill and Derek Jeter and how the veteran O’Neill and young star Jeter provide leadership for the team. The chapter ends with Lupica discussing Jim Bouton’s reconciliation with the Yankees and his appearance in the Yankee’s 1998 Old Timer’s Game.〔Lupica, pages 73-85〕 * Chapter 5: August. Darryl Strawberry, playing for the Yankees discussses his career and life challenges with Lupica, confident that his troubles are behind him. The Yankees, lengthening their lead in the American League East, were baseball’s main story at the beginning of August, but as the month continued, the race between Sosa and McGwire took center stage.〔Lupica, pages 87-108〕 * Chapter 6: September (first half): Lupica writes about the Yankees, Wells’ quest for a second perfect game, and the home run race between McGwire and Sosa, both of them were attempting to break Roger Maris’s home run record of 60 set in 1961. Maris, a native of Minnesota spent much of his youth in Fargo, North Dakota and Lupica writes about Maris, who died in 13 years earlier in 1985, his hometown and his boyhood friends. McGwire broke Maris’ record on September 8 when he hit his 62nd home run. Lupica watched it on television with his sons and then called his father so that three generations of Lupica could share the experience. As the chapter draws to an end, Sosa also hits his 62nd home run and he and McGwire are tied for the lead as the season enters its final two weeks.〔Lupica, pages 109-142〕 * Chapter 7: September (second half): The race between McGwire and Sosa continues to the end of season with McGwire hitting 70 home runs, five in the last three days of the season, and Sosa hitting 66. The Yankees won their division with a record of 114 wins and 48 losses.〔Lupica, pages 143-171〕 * Chapter 8: October. The 1988 baseball season ends with the Yankees defeating the San Diego Padres in the 1998 World Series. Lupica discusses the American League Championship Series play where Chuck Knoblauch committed a mental lapse when he argued with an umpire instead finishing a play, thereby allowing a winning run to score in the series’ second game. Darryl Strawberry is unable to finish the season as he was diagnosed with colon cancer at the beginning of the month.〔Lupica, pages 173-201〕 * Epilogue. Lupica reminisces with his father and sons and hopes that he and his sons have the same relationship when they get older.〔Lupica, pages 203-209〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Summer of ’98」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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