Sports' One-Hit Wonders

Sports' One-Hit Wonders — page 3 — Anderson was an unlikely participant in the home run derby at the 1996 MLB All-Star Game Anderson was not much of a power hitter before that season He had hit only 72 total homers in eight seasons up to that point In 1995 he hit 16 home runs In 1997 he hit 18 But that year in between was one to remember Just 29 games into the 1996 season Anderson had already blasted 15 home runs He had 30 at the All-Star break in early July That helped him get voted into the starting lineup for the American League AL All-Star team Anderson didn’t stay on the same pace in the second half of the season But he didn’t disappear either The Orioles rolled into Toronto for the season’s final series with Anderson sitting at 47 home runs He hit three homers against the Blue Jays in the last four games He hit No 50 in the first inning of the final game of the season That gave him Baltimore’s single-season record for home runs at the time Anderson’s breakout season happened during what is now often referred to as the Steroid Era in Major League Baseball MLB Home run totals spiked in the late 1990s and early 2000s Many players later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs but Anderson always denied the use of such substances As quickly as Anderson’s power stroke arrived however it disappeared When healthy Anderson remained a productive player for Baltimore but he never approached 50 homers again He retired in 2002 with 210 career home runs nearly a quarter of them coming in that one magical season

Sports' One-Hit Wonders — page 4

Sports' One-Hit Wonders — page 5 — CHAPTER 2 ROOKIE RACER Trevor Bayne was just one day past his 20th birthday when he shocked the world of auto racing Making just his second NASCAR Cup Series start Bayne became the youngest winner of the sport’s biggest race He won the Daytona 500 on February 20 2011 The race featured 74 lead changes and 22 different leaders Bayne didn’t find himself out in front of the pack until just two laps remained in the 208-lap race He got there after the previous leader David Ragan was penalized Ragan broke a rule and was forced to make a pit stop putting Bayne in the lead The rookie held the lead for the final two laps and took home the checkered flag Bayne broke Jeff Gordon’s record as the youngest Daytona 500 champion by five years Gordon went on to a standout racing career after winning his first Daytona 500 in 1997 But through 2016 Bayne had yet to win another race in the top flight of NASCAR Trevor Bayne was on top of the world after winning the 2011 Daytona 500

Sports' One-Hit Wonders — page 6

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