New York Yankee Roger Maris' single-season home run record of 61 dingers set in 1961 was of the things dreams were made of. People talked about how totals of that magnitude would never been seen again. It was unreal. It was magical.

It was untouchable ... or so they thought.

The 1998 season, which contained the infamous home run race between Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals, brought an end to that delusion. 60-plus home run totals could be achieved and they could occur more than once. After the dust had settled a decade after the race between the two NL Central rivals, Maris' lofty record would be reduced to little more than an afterthought.

After all, Maris had slid all the way to seventh place on the all-time single-season home run list. He had been passed by Sosa three times ('98, '99 and '01), McGwire twice ('98 and '99) and by Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants once ('01). Maris' record of 61 long balls, much like Babe Ruth's of 60 had been prior to the 1961 season, was no longer worthy of the praise that it had been in the past. The new brand of sluggers in the mold of Sosa, McGwire and Bonds were the future and a bright future it appeared to be.

That is, until the steroid controversy began to develop into such a large issue that even the youngest baseball fan today has probably heard the s-word atleast once. Sosa, McGwire and Bonds now are looked upon as cheaters, conartists and whatever other term best fits their character. No longer are they looked upon as heroes. No longer are they hoisted to the plateaus of the elite in the history of the game. Instead, they are looked upon as the lowest form of filth to have ever picked up a bat, folks who decided to put themselves ahead of the game.

Their totals have also been questioned. If they were achieved as a result of cheating, they should be stricken from the record books. That would make Maris the all-time single season home run king as he once was.

Unreal. Magical. Untouchable.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. If you have not heard of him yet, that's ok. You will soon.

After all, the Missouri native is only one season removed from his Rookie of the Year campaign last year, when he hit 22 home runs, drove in 63 runs and had a batting average of .288 in only 88 games. The opportunity to play came when former Phillie first baseman Jim Thome was injured and the Phillies decided to let their young star-to-be take his spot at first base until he returned from the disabled list.

A year later, Thome is no longer in the city of Philadelphia. The Phillies shipped him to the Chicago White Sox over the offseason to allow Howard to bat in the lineup everyday. At first, the decision to trade Thome to Chicago looked like it may have been a bad one as the Sox slugger hit 10 long balls in the month of April while Howard had just half of that. However, as the season progressed, it would become quite apparent that trading Thome away and starting Howard at first would be one of the best decisions in the history of baseball.

Both sluggers were selected to the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, Pa. and were rumored to be in the running to participate in the Century 21 Home Run Derby. Howard accepted the invitation and participated in the competition but it was Thome's teammate Jermaine Dye who took a crack at winning the title, not the Sox first baseman/designated hitter.

The lack of Thome's presence at the Derby did not matter as the young Phillie emerged on top, beating out New York Mets third baseman David Wright for the title. Winning the Derby had been a double-edged sword over the past few years - for some reason, whoever won the competition faced a power shortage for the second half of the season and that spelled bad news for Howard's chances at adding onto the 28 home runs he had in the first half.

But Howard did not flinch, finishing the month of July with eight homers and hitting a gaudy 14 balls out of the park in August. Already, the first baseman has four dingers in only five games for the month of September.

Add all of the numbers up and Ryan Howard currently has 53 home runs with 30 games left to go until the end of the regular season. That means that he is only eight short of tying Roger Maris' 1961 total and nine short of passing it. What makes that possibility greater and more enjoyable than that of Sosa, McGwire and Bonds is that Howard appears, atleast right now, to be a legit player. No steroids, no andro, nothing. He seems to be totally clean.

Which means that if Sosa, McGwire and Bonds' records are thrown out the window, Ryan Howard is on the warpath to set the single-season home run record that has stood for nearly 40 years.

What is even more interesting is that he has gotten as far as he has recently with little focus by the fans and media outside of Philadelphia. Washington Nationals outfielder Alfonso Soriano and Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols have been the talk of the baseball world this season. At one point, Pujols was on pace to hit over 70 homers by the end of 2006 but an injury suffered during a game against the Cubs towards the middle of the season put an end to those talks as the Dominican-born slugger has struggled to maintain his torrid pace since coming off of the DL on June 22. Soriano's switch from being a second baseman to an outfielder, a much documented change, and the rumors that he would be traded prior to the trade deadline fueled Soriano-based discussion.

Howard apparently noticed that no one was talking about him and thus found it easier to go out every day and get the job done.

What is even greater is that he has also almost single-handedly (second baseman Chase Utley helped out for a while with his long hit streak and ability to get on base and score), Howard has propelled the Phillies into playoff contention after they were left for dead following the trade deadline, when Philly dealt right fielder Bobby Abreu and starting pitcher Cory Lidle to the Yankees for basically nothing in what was looked upon as the Phils packing things up for the season.

Ah, how things have changed for Ryan Howard and the Phillies.

As of early morning on Sept. 6, Philadelphia was two games back in the National League Wild Card standings behind the San Diego Padres and in a position to fool those who counted them out after the trade deadline deal and their shaky play earlier this season. And what is even greater - they have a young star and likely 2006 National League Most Valuable Player who is still years away from fully reaching his potential taking aim at one of baseball's most cherished records.

If Howard can eclipse Maris, it is possible that the sports world will look upon him as the new all-time home run king, excluding those so closely linked to the word "steroid" that one would assume that it is tattooed right across their forehead. If that happens, Howard would vault himself to a level that only few in the history of the game have ever achieved.

Unreal. Magical. Untouchable.

(Howard running Photo Credit: http://i.a.cnn.net./si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0608/gallery.MLBphotos/images/Howard.jpg, Howard batting Photo Credit: http://i.a.cnn.net./si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0609/gallery.mlb.photos.0904/images/015991310.jpg)