Giancarlo Stanton
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton belted his 56th home run this afternoon as his torrid pace towards Roger Maris’ 61 continues, a record that stood for 37 years until it was broken by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in the heart of the steroid era.

https://twitter.com/OzzieStern/status/910590189596286976

To add, Sosa and McGwire eventually were overshadowed by Barry Bonds who managed 73 in a single to set the all-time record. However Bonds’ mark (like McGwire and Sosa) was drenched in PED controversy.

In any sense though Stanton’s 56 is the most home runs in a single season since 2008 when Ryan Howard hit 58 and was simply was mashing the shit out of the baseball for the Phillies.