Cardinals Slugger Has Answer in St. Louis

By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 26, 1998; Page E1

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 25 – This was no shot heard 'round the world – why, St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire stood obliviously, punching his glove at first base, as Sammy Sosa circled the bases 700 miles away in Houston. Sosa had just hit his 66th home run to steal the home run lead from McGwire for the first time in 38 days.

But an event that could neither be seen nor heard at Busch Stadium very quickly infiltrated. Within minutes, a hole opened on the outfield scoreboard, the second digit in Sosa's home run tally receiving an incremental boost. The tiny change was observed by a few thousand fans, most of whom responded with boos. It also was, apparently, noticed by McGwire.

Two at-bats and precisely 45 minutes later, McGwire stroked his 66th homer, restoring the tie with Sosa, sending this crowd of 48,159 into pandemonium and making it clear – his comments to the contrary – that his vision is tightly locked on the home run race.

McGwire, painstakingly selective at the plate for three straight games, came up swinging immediately after Sosa had taken the lead. McGwire's next two at-bats produced arguably more furious cuts than in his three previous games combined.

It was in third at-bat in the fifth inning that McGwire ended his three-game home run drought with a 375-foot shot over the left field wall off Montreal Expos right-hander Shayne Bennett. The two-run homer broke a tie and sent the Cardinals on to a 6-5 victory.

In the first inning, before Sosa's home run, McGwire was walked by Miguel Batista on six pitches. It was McGwire's fourth walk in three games. In McGwire's second at-bat, nine minutes after Sosa's homer, McGwire faced Batista again and this time took two fierce cuts before finally making contact on the third pitch. That slicing drive was caught in left field.

McGwire's next trip to the plate brought a new pitcher and a new result. McGwire pounced on the first pitch he saw from Bennett and sent it sailing into the upper deck – only it landed foul. McGwire then let a ball go by, swung and missed with another big cut, and hit a foul ball down the third base line.

And then, on a 1-2 pitch, he buried No. 66 in the left field seats. There was no doubt about it. As soon as the ball left his bat, McGwire leaped out of the batter's box, flicking his bat toward the dugout. He slapped hands with first-base coach Dave McKay and banged forearms with third-base coach Rene Lachemann.

Called out once he reached the dugout, he doffed his cap for the crowd.

McGwire later singled and struck out on a check swing, making him 2 for 4 for the night.

Hours before the game, McGwire bemoaned an apparently errant ruling by an umpire that cost him a home run Sunday – which would have been No. 66 – against the Milwaukee Brewers. In that game, the umpire ruled that a long drive by McGwire, caught by a fan near the outfield wall, was interfered with in the field of play and thus was a ground rule double instead of a home run.

"It truly was a home run, but I totally understand and respect the ruling by the umpire," McGwire said. "If I could do it all over again, I wish running down the line I was following the flight of the ball. . . . I never saw it."

Prior to tonight, McGwire trailed Sosa only one other time this season – and he erased the deficit in 57 minutes. On August 19 in a game against Sosa's Chicago Cubs, Sosa hit his 48th home run to take the lead. Less than an hour later, McGwire hit his 48th. He finished the day with one more, and hadn't – before the third inning tonight – looked back since.

"I'm not going to go away hanging my head at all if he's up by one or we're tied or whatever," McGwire said before the game. "It's going to be an exciting weekend no matter what. . . . It's almost like you flip a coin. It comes down to just seeing balls to hit."

Added McGwire: "If we hit one, two or three . . . that last one is the most meaningful."