As baseball continues to wait things out along with the rest of the sports world, TSN digs into the archives to bring you a bundle of classic Montreal Expos games. Relive some of the best memories from the 36-year history of Canada’s first Major League franchise right here on TSN. On tap for today? Mark McGwire’s 70th homer from an unforgettable 1998 season that saw him go toe-to-toe with Sammy Sosa for baseball’s slugging supremacy.

It wasn’t long into the 1998 season when it became clear Roger Maris’ single-season home run record could be in jeopardy. With 61 homers in the 1961 season, Maris’ record had stood several decades. But times were changing in baseball and home run numbers were climbing.

That era is best exemplified by the famous home run race of 1998 between Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa and St. Louis Cardinals masher Mark McGwire. For the most part, we now know a lot of that was due to the common usage of performance enhancing drugs brought into the public eye by the Mitchell Report in 2003. But at the time, it was a thrill for fans and is generally credited with playing a crucial part in bringing back those alienated by the strike in 1994 that wiped out the World Series.

McGwire burst out of the gate, hitting an incredible 27 home runs to lead baseball by the end of May. Sosa had some catching up to do as his 13 – while not half bad – paled in comparison. Not for long.

The Cubs’ right fielder broke Rudy York’s all-time record of homers in a month (18) by mashing 20 and establishing a new mark that still stands to this day. Still, McGwire kept on launching. At the end of June Sosa and Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. were tied for second at 33, four behind McGwire’s 37.

Relive McGwire’s 70th home run of the 1998 season against the Montreal Expos tonight on TSN4, TSN.ca and TSN Direct at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

The race stayed close. As of Aug. 8, McGwire’s tally stood at 46 with Sosa right on his heels at 44. Griffey had fallen back a bit but still was in contention at 41. At the end of August, both Sosa and McGwire were dead even, tied at 55 while Griffey lagged back at 47, essentially eliminating him from the race.

After tying the record the day before, McGwire took down Marris’ mark of 61 with home run No. 62 off Steve Trachsel in a game against Sosa’s Cubs. Slammin’ Sammy would get there himself five days later, hitting two round-trippers in an extra-innings win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Entering the final series of the season on Sept. 25, Sosa’s total stood at 65. So did McGwire’s.

Despite getting an extra game because of a one-game do-or-die playoff with the San Francisco Giants that Chicago ended up winning, Sosa went deep only once over the final weekend to end his season with 66. Facing the Montreal Expos at Busch Stadium II, McGwire put on a show to claim the crown in style. Three home runs in the first two games of the series put him at 68 with one game to go. With the home run title all but locked up, the only question left was could he make it to 70?

As if going deep once in a big-league game isn’t hard enough, connecting twice is even harder. But McGwire was no stranger to multi-homer games as he already owned nine on the season. It was tough, but 70 was in reach.

North of 46,000 packed the stands as McGwire dug into the box in the first inning against Expos starter Mike Thurman. On a 2-2 pitch, McGwire squared one up into centre field for a single. Good for the team, not so much for his chase at 70.

In the third inning with two out, Expos catcher Michael Barrett set up on the outside part of the plate and called for a 1-1 breaking ball. Except Thurman missed his spot and it hung out over the inner half. McGwire connected for a solo shot to tie the game at 2-2 and move within one of a feat previously presumed to be unthinkable for a big-league hitter.

After a walk in the fifth inning, McGwire stepped to the plate again in the seventh against rookie right-hander Carl Pavano. Looking to get ahead, Pavano challenged McGwire with a fastball. Big mistake.

McGwire’s home runs were often towering shots that soared majestically through the air deep into the outfield seats. That wasn’t the case here. McGwire’s 70th homer of the 1998 season was a low line drive that almost went through the wall rather than over it. But as the saying goes, it doesn’t matter how, just how many.

Though McGwire’s season might be the more memorable of the two, it was Sosa who got the last laugh. His Cubs finished six and a half games ahead of St. Louis in the NL Central and Sosa took home that season’s National League MVP Award. McGwire’s single-season record only stood for three seasons as Barry Bonds hit 73 homers in 2001.

The ball he hit for No. 70 sold the following January at auction for $3 million to collector Todd McFarlane. At the time, it was the most ever paid for a sports artifact.

McFarlane also owns other home runs balls from the race and turned his collection into a travelling exhibit. But like everyone else, McFarlane has mixed memories when it comes to the summer of 1998.

"The reason it’s still a dagger in the heart is because we fell in love," he told the New York Times in 2009. "We wanted it to be romantic and pure and innocent and fun, but it wasn’t."

TSN’s run through Montreal Expos history continues this Sunday when Pedro Martinez has his perfect game broken up in extra innings against the San Diego Padres in June of 1995.