"What a perfect way to end the home stand, by hitting sixty-two for the city of St. Louis and all the fans. I truly wanted to do it here and I did. Thank you St. Louis"
About this Quote
The repetition of place and people does the heavy lifting. “For the city of St. Louis and all the fans” isn’t just gratitude; it’s an ownership transfer. The number belongs to them now. In 1998, the home run chase was baseball’s national therapy session after the 1994 strike: a feel-good storyline with nightly highlights and a simplified moral arc. McGwire’s thanks leans into that script, positioning him as a vessel for collective joy rather than an individual chasing a record.
“I truly wanted to do it here and I did” is the quiet flex. The “truly” anticipates doubt, as if he’s preemptively insisting on sincerity. It reads as a vow fulfilled, which matters because records can feel abstract unless they’re pinned to a specific crowd and a specific roar. Even the closing “Thank you St. Louis” is pitched like a campaign slogan: short, direct, almost brand-ready.
With hindsight, the subtext gets sharper. In an era later clouded by performance-enhancing drug revelations, this quote captures how the chase was marketed and emotionally experienced in real time: less about purity, more about spectacle, belonging, and the hunger to believe.
Quote Details
| Topic | Victory |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
McGwire, Mark. (2026, January 16). What a perfect way to end the home stand, by hitting sixty-two for the city of St. Louis and all the fans. I truly wanted to do it here and I did. Thank you St. Louis. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-a-perfect-way-to-end-the-home-stand-by-132401/
Chicago Style
McGwire, Mark. "What a perfect way to end the home stand, by hitting sixty-two for the city of St. Louis and all the fans. I truly wanted to do it here and I did. Thank you St. Louis." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-a-perfect-way-to-end-the-home-stand-by-132401/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"What a perfect way to end the home stand, by hitting sixty-two for the city of St. Louis and all the fans. I truly wanted to do it here and I did. Thank you St. Louis." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/what-a-perfect-way-to-end-the-home-stand-by-132401/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
