Following the MLB strike of the 1994-1995 season, it appeared as if professional baseball was headed for a major decline. Attendance was down, the action was limited and the NFL was on the rise. The game of baseball was becoming a pitchers’ duel, resulting in several low-scoring games. The sport demanded intense action if it wanted to remain amongst the major sports, and guys like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds gave it just that (with a little help from steroids).

While many say steroids damaged the immaculate history of America’s Pastime, I believe the Steroid Era was just what the doctor ordered. MLB’s attendance rose for six straight years following the strike year, a season which left baseball fans without a World Series winner. The unprecedented rise was directly related to the emergence of power hitters across the league. The game became a slugfest featuring mammoth home runs and high-scoring games.

The summer of 1998 in particular, displayed the epitome of the Steroid Era, with division rivals Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chasing each other in search of the home run record set by Roger Maris in 1961. The developing rivalry made baseball fans everywhere stop what they were doing and watch the race to 61. They caught America by storm and became the poster-boys of baseball. McGwire finished the season with 70 homers, while Sosa trailed with 66, both breaking the previous record of 61. The duo was replaced by the emergence of the Barry Bonds show, who crushed McGwire’s record with 73 home runs in 2001. Bonds would break Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record of 714 on Aug. 7, 2007, becoming the greatest* home run hitter ever. Bonds finished with 762, a record that is sure to stand for years to come. However, many question the validity of his record, as he was soon linked to several steroid reports.

McGwire and Sosa quickly followed in 2005 when they were brought in for a Congressional hearing on the issue of steroid use in baseball. While their image was forever tarnished, they played a major role in the revival of Major League Baseball.