Headline events of the year Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Greg Vaughn all hit 30 home runs before the All-Star break (the first time four players had done so in the same season) and engage in a historic chase for Roger Maris's single-season record of 61 home runs. While Griffey (56) and Vaughn (50) would fall short of the record, both Sosa (66) and McGwire (70) shattered Maris's record in an exciting late-season chase that culminated in a final week that saw record-setting performances by McGwire, Sosa, Tom Gordon, Dennis Eckersley, Trevor Hoffman and Jason Kendall. The New York Yankees won a major league record 125 games (114 regular season games and 11 postseason games). Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over San Diego Padres (4-0); Scott Brosius, MVP American League Championship Series MVP: David Wells American League Division Series National League Championship Series MVP: Sterling Hitchcock National League Division Series All-Star Game, July 7 at Coors Field: American League, 13–8; Roberto Alomar, MVP Other champions Baseball World Cup: Cuba Caribbean World Series: Águilas Cibaeñas (Dominican Republic) College World Series: USC Cuban National Series: Pinar del Río over Santiago de Cuba Japan Series: Yokohama BayStars over Seibu Lions (4-2) Korean Series: Hyundai Unicorns over LG Twins Big League World Series: Thousand Oaks, California Junior League World Series: Mission Viejo, California Little League World Series: Toms River, New Jersey Senior League World Series: Diamond Bar, California Taiwan Series: Wei Chuan Dragons over Sinon Bulls Awards and honors Baseball Hall of Fame George Davis Larry Doby Lee MacPhail Bullet Rogan Don Sutton Most Valuable Player Juan González, Texas Rangers, OF (AL) Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs, OF (NL) Cy Young Award Roger Clemens, Toronto Blue Jays (AL) Tom Glavine, Atlanta Braves (NL) Rookie of the Year Ben Grieve, Oakland Athletics, OF (AL) Kerry Wood, Chicago Cubs, P (NL) Manager of the Year Award Joe Torre, New York Yankees (AL) Larry Dierker, Houston Astros (NL) Gold Glove Award Rafael Palmeiro (1B) (AL) Roberto Alomar (2B) (AL) Robin Ventura (3B) (AL) Omar Vizquel (SS) (AL) Jim Edmonds (OF) (AL) Ken Griffey Jr. (OF) (AL) Bernie Williams (OF) (AL) Iván Rodríguez (C) (AL) Mike Mussina (P) (AL) J. T. Snow (1B) (NL) Bret Boone (2B) (NL) Scott Rolen (3B) (NL) Rey Ordóñez (SS) (NL) Barry Bonds (OF) (NL) Andruw Jones (OF) (NL) Larry Walker (OF) (NL) Charles Johnson (C) (NL)