MY hope is that by the time you read this, Mark McGwire will have broken Roger Maris' home run record. Schedule adds
to hoopla in
home run raceIt would be fitting if McGwire broke the record on Labor Day. He has worked hard, not just on his batting swing, but at slugging away at all the pressure. That's where he has gone yard every time he's stepped into the batter's box.
Imagine being in his shoes today, with nearly 48,000 giving him a standing ovation as he took practice cuts, and millions more watching the game at home. The expectations alone are Ruthian.
And wearing pinstripes.
McGwire went 0-for-3 yesterday, probably disappointing himself more than the fans. As if to make it up to him, Cardinal teammates Ray Lankford and Fernando Tatis pounded back-to-back homers off John Hudek after Big Mac grounded out in the eighth.
"This one's for you" those home runs seemed to say.
Even the schedule seems to be saying that. Today and tomorrow, McGwire and Sammy Sosa will be swinging at history in the same ballpark, in the same games.
McGwire and Sosa have homered on the same day 20 times this season, twice when playing each other. A third time would more than charm the entire country.
Baseball is back in our living rooms. When was the last time your TV set was tuned to a baseball game instead of a football game on the NFL's opening day?
Thank goodness today is a holiday. Otherwise, how many school children (and state workers) would have begged to stay home to watch THE GAME?
How many would have tried to sneak a radio into class, earphone discreetly tucked down through the shirt? I haven't done that in 30 years, the last time I was rooting for a St. Louis Cardinal (Bob Gibson, 1968 World Series).
WHAT'S great about McGwire and Sosa's chase is that this time, there will be no asterisk. No replay of then-Commissioner Ford Frick's 1961 decision that the home run record would have an asterisk if it wasn't accomplished in 154 games.
Babe Ruth hit No. 60 on the final day of the 154-game season in 1927. McGwire hit No. 61 today, in the 143rd game.
It was a little strange to see the Maris family in the stands today at Busch Stadium. There was Kevin Maris, looking so much like his late father, right down to the crew cut he wears to honor the Home Run King of 61 in '61.
It smacked too much of a P.R. campaign, perfectly orchestrated with Roger Jr. holding onto the bat used to hit No. 61, which was on loan from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
But maybe it's fitting for them to be there. To share in the joy of this pursuit. The joy Roger Maris was denied when he dared to dethrone the Sultan of Swat.
"I think he would be very happy for what is taking place for the game of baseball and how America is responding to the whole thing," Roger Maris Jr. said of his father. "I think he would be happy for Mark getting the welcome he is getting on his march toward breaking 61.
"When the season was over, it was a big sigh of relief for him. I don't think those were fond memories at all."
McGwire and Sosa are giving us plenty of those, pumping some much-needed excitement into the old ballgame.
History is in the on-deck circle. And baseball has again become the national pastime.
Was anyone else rooting for the WAC departees to lose Saturday?
It was nice to see the WAC remainders go 3-2 while the defectors went 3-4. It's never been hard to go against BYU, but San Diego State?
I grew up an Aztecs' fan. With apologies to Haven Moses and Gary Garrison, not anymore.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.
