The St. Louis Cardinals 1998 season included a home run battle against which Haitian-Dominican slugger?
Samuel "Maiky" Peralta Sosa
1998 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals 1998 season was the team's 117th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 107th season in the National League.
 The Cardinals went 83-79 during the season and finished 3rd in the National League Central division, 18 games behind the Houston Astros.
 First baseman Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record this season by hitting 70 home runs, battling with the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa, who finished runner-up in the National League with 66.
Sammy Sosa
Samuel "Maiky" Peralta Sosa (born November 12, 1968) is a Haitian-Dominican former professional baseball right fielder.
 Sosa played with four Major League Baseball teams over his career, most notably the Chicago Cubs.
 Sosa's Major League career began with the Texas Rangers in 1989 .
 After three seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Sosa became a member of the Cubs in 1992 and became one of the league's best hitters.
 Sosa hit his 400th home run in his 1,354th game and his 5,273rd at-bat, the quickest in National League history.
 In 1998, Sosa and Mark McGwire achieved national fame for their home run-hitting prowess in pursuit of Roger Maris' home run record.
Les Backman
Lester John Backman (March 20, 1888 – November 8, 1975) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for two seasons.
 He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals for 21 games during the 1909 St. Louis Cardinals season and 26 games during the 1910 St. Louis Cardinals season. History of the St. Louis Cardinals (1990–present)
The St. Louis Cardinals, a professional baseball franchise based in St. Louis, Missouri, compete in the National League (NL) of Major League Baseball (MLB).
 Brewing magnate Gussie Busch's 37-year-long ownership of the club ended with his death in 1989, and his brewery, Anheuser-Busch (AB) took over.
 In 1995, an investment group led by Drew Baur and William DeWitt, Jr., purchased the team and have owned the club since.
 Shortstop Ozzie Smith – nicknamed "The Wizard" – collected a staggering array of defensive records and awards while performing acrobatic spectacles such as somersaults and flips that mesmerized Cardinal and non-Cardinal fans alike.
 In 1998, Mark McGwire and the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa collocated national attention with their chase of Roger Maris' single-season home run record of 61.
 In addition, McGwire also set numerous team home run records.
 For the 1990s, the Cardinals captured one division title and finished above .500 five times for a .488 winning percentage Matt Kinzer
Matthew Roy Kinzer, (born June 17, 1963 in Indianapolis), is a former NFL punter and MLB pitcher.
 He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1984 amateur draft.
 During 1987 NFL strike, he served one game as a punter for the Detroit Lions.
 He recorded seven punts for a 34.0 yard average.
 Kinzer begin his pro baseball career in the minor leagues playing from 1984 to 1989, He played for the Arkansas Travelers of the double A Texas League in 1984.
 After stops in Springfield with the Cardinals of the class A Mid West League in 1985 and the St. Petersburg Cardinals of the class A Florida State League in 1986, he returned to the Arkansas Travelers in 1987 and 1988.
 But in 1988 Kinzer also saw playing time in the Major Leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals.
 In 1989 Kinzer played for triple A Louisville Cardinals of the American Association and also saw time with the St. Louis Cardinals. Pat Kelly (infielder)
Patrick Franklin Kelly (born October 14, 1967 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former Major League Baseball infielder who played in the major leagues for nine seasons.
 He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the ninth round of the 1988 amateur draft, but did not make his playing debut at the major league level until May 20, 1991 at age 23.
 In 1995 with the Yankees battling for the AL Wild Card, Kelly hit a crucial 2 run home run in the 9th inning against the Blue Jays in Toronto to cap a Yankee rally from a 3-0 deficit in the 3rd to last game of the season.
 Thanks to Kelly's go-ahead home run the Yankees won the game 4-3 and were able to qualify for the playoffs 2 days later.
 Kelly played seven seasons with the Yankees (1991–1997), spent 1998 with St. Louis Cardinals, and spent the first part of the 1999 season with the Toronto Blue Jays.
 He played his final MLB game on June 5, 1999.
 On March 22, 2000, he retired. Home Run Battle 3D
Home Run Battle 3D (originally Baseball Slugger: Home Run Race 3D) is an arcade-style, Home Run Derby video game developed by Com2uS for mobile phones.
 It was inducted into Apple's first App Hall of Fame on October 10, 2010.
 Home Run Battle 3D is notable for its use of costumes to enhance player attributes, though critics have accused it as a "Pay to Win" game. Ray Yochim
Raymond Austin Aloysius Yochim (July 19, 1922 – January 26, 2002) was a professional baseball pitcher.
 He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals.
 He pitched one game during the 1948 St. Louis Cardinals season and three games during the 1949 St. Louis Cardinals season. Steve Wilstein
Steve Wilstein (born September 1, 1948 in New York) is an American sportswriter, author and photographer.
 Wilstein broke the news of St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire's androstenedione use during his record-setting 70-home run season in 1998—a report that gave the public its first look at what became baseball's "Steroids Era," and ushered in changes in the sport as the story continued to unfold for more than a decade. Hamilton Redbirds
The Hamilton Redbirds were a minor league baseball team that played in the New York–Penn League from 1988 to 1992.
 They were affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals and played their home games at Bernie Arbour Memorial Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario.
 The Redbirds were founded in 1988, but the franchise itself was founded in 1958 as the Auburn Yankees.
 It moved to Erie, Pennsylvania for the 1981 season, beginning its longtime affiliation with the St. Louis Cardinals.
 The Erie Cardinals played at Ainsworth Field in Erie, Pennsylvania from 1981 to 1987.
 The Erie Cardinals then relocated to Hamilton, Ontario to become the Hamilton Redbirds.
 The Hamilton Redbirds set the all-time record for winning percentage by a St. Louis Cardinals minor league team at .651 in 1992, with a record of 56-20.
 Future Major League players Keith Johns and Mike Gulan lead the offensive attack along with unsung centerfielder Brad Owens.
 Lefty David Orlein and righty T.J. Mathews (en route to an MLB career) both posted a 10-1 mark, and closer Jamie Cochrane set a NY-Penn League saves record with 40.