SOUVENIR EDITION HIGHLIGHTS SEASON

After three years of discontent brought on largely by a major league baseball strike in 1994, Americans once again this year turned their attention to baseball in a season that will go down in history as one of the best ever.

The home run race between the St. Louis Cardinals' Mark McGwire and Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa sparked a flame for the love of the game in the hearts of most and drew worldwide attention. Devoted fans watched history unfold, and casual viewers of the game turned to their TV sets just to watch McGwire and Sosa go after the home-run record.

To commemorate the season -- and McGwire's 70 home runs -- the Southeast Missourian has included a special, 16-page publication in today's newspaper.

To help preserve the keepsake edition, color sections of the souvenir edition are printed on a higher grade of newsprint.

The regular sports section is also there, starting today only on Page 10B. As always, it delivers to readers the latest in weekend sports news, including the baseball playoffs

Helping make the home-run derby especially interesting was the good-natured competition between McGwire and Sosa, which today's special edition addresses.

The special section also looks at this year's pitchers, including the New York Yankees' David Wells, who hurled a perfect game, and the Cubs' upstart rookie Kerry Wood, who fanned 20 batters in his fifth major league start.

In September, the Southeast Missourian printed a special 12-page souvenir package when McGwire broke Roger Maris' 1961 home-run record of 61. That package sold out and helped raise $44,000 for area literacy programs through the sale of the newspaper's YELL edition.

We hope our readers enjoy equally well today's special edition on a season that won't soon be forgotten.