McGwire Ends Season With A Bang

Stop the bench presses; it's not over yet.

The home-run race that tantalized the world for these past six months is still an open debate. Not much of one, however, after Mark McGwire smacked homers 69 and 70 Sunday at Busch Stadium to all but establish the single-season major-league record. Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa would have to hit four in Monday's one-game wild-card playoff with San Francisco just to tie.

But isn't this a fitting end -- make that continuation -- of the baseball season? Sosa would have to tie a major-league single-game record just to tie McGwire. The story remains open-ended, just when it became safe to compare Sunday to the remember-where-you-were stuff of moon landings, Pearl Harbors and assassinations.

"I'm not very good at predicting future events," said Cardinals catcher Tom Lampkin, McGwire's unofficial spokesman during the home-run race. "But I would have to say this record is pretty safe for another 4 1/2 months -- until he gets ready for spring training."

The record needs to survive one more day. McGwire launched No. 69 off Montreal's Mike Thurman in the third inning and No. 70 off reliever Carl Pavano in the seventh to put himself into the history books. Probably.

No matter what, McGwire's finishing kick will symbolize his season -- five homers in the final three-game series against Montreal. That made it 10 multi-homer games this seaso, 53 for his career. That's a blistering serve Sosa probably won't be able to return.

"It's not like I call him up on the phone and say, 'Sammy, I hit one. What are you going to do?' McGwire said after the game. "What am I going to do, call the Houston pitchers?. ...If Sammy and I were tied at 70, I'd still be proud."

Mark McGwire is happy he won't have to listen to any more questions from reporters. (AP)

Be proud of this: Since joining the Cardinals after the 1997 trading deadline, McGwire has hit 94 home runs in 206 games. He tied Ted Williams for second place on the all-time single-season list with his 162nd walk Sunday. He was the main cause for a club-record attendance of 3.2 million. His blasts were the main reason why the Cardinals led the major leagues with 223 homers. In winning the world championship in 1982, the entire Cardinal team hit 67.

"It's unheard of for anybody to hit 70 home runs," McGwire said. "I'm in awe of myself for doing it. If you put your mind to something you can do it. I think it will stand for a while. Will it be broken some year? Could be. Will I be alive? I don't know."

Perhaps this stat is most telling: McGwire surpassed Roger Maris' old record of 61 by 9 -- or 14.7 percent. For someone to hit 14.7 percent more homers than McGwire, they'd have to hit 81.

"It's something great to tell your kids," Cardinals veteran John Mabry said. "To see him on the front of a newspaper in Japan is something. If he stays healthy, he might make a run at Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak."

At least one-half of the Sosa-McGwire comet that streaked through this season came to rest. Typically, it touched everything in its path. A shell-shocked Pavano, a 22-year old rookie, stood in front of his locker wondering if he would become history's new Tracy Stallard -- the rookie Red Sox pitcher who gave up Maris' 61st.

"I wonder if people are going to call my house and taunt me," said Pavano, whose first pitch to McGwire in the seventh was sent 370 feet over the left- field wall breaking a 3-3 tie. "I just gave up the 70th home run to Mark McGwire. I can think of better ways to get in the history books. I hope this isn't something that's going to haunt me and be a burden on my career."

Pavano's not upset, just in awe like the rest of us. He grew up in New Britain, Conn. playing Wiffle Ball in his backyard and imitating Oakland's old "Bash Brothers" -- McGwire and Jose Canseco.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals oohed and aahed over developments in the Astros-Cubs game on clubhouse televisions knowing Sosa still has an outside shot of catching their boy.

"He was the guy everybody talked about," Lampkin said. "People would expect us to feel that way. Just like the people in Chicago would have loved to see Sammy do it. It was a race until the final day of the season."

In between the epic shots, Thurman walked McGwire in the fifth inning. History will debate whether Thurman's ball four was purposefully aimed in the general direction of McGwire's head. After No. 69, McGwire collected a high-five from Expos third baseman Shane Andrews and took two curtain calls.

But McGwire probably assured Thurman's immediate health and safe passage from the stadium by dismissing the close shave as a "slipped fastball."

"Back in '91, you're looking at a guy who asked his manager to sit him down (because he was) afraid to hit below .200," McGwire said. "You're looking at a guy who turned it around. I've dealt with so much: injuries, playing terrible. I didn't know if I was getting into the best part of my life as an athlete. Now I'm in the midst of it."

It seems certain McGwire won't capitalize on his celebrity to excess. The beach is his first priority after leaving behind the Great Home-Run Derby of '98.

"I don't do any personal appearances," McGwire said. "This is my vacation. You get caught up in that and next thing you know it's spring."

Dollar signs were dancing in heads elsewhere in Busch Stadium. The fan who caught 69 was considering paying off a student loan. Kerry Woodson, a 22-year old marketing rep from Maryland Heights, Mo., had that entrepreneurial look in his eye after being squired around for interviews.

"I'm not going to make any rash decisions," Woodson said. "If Sammy doesn't catch him, Marcan stay just where he is."

He didn't, of course. Moments later, Woodson's treasure was significantly de- valued when No. 70 sailed out of sight. Nos. 69 and 70 both left Busch -- literally -- with uncertain futures. Philip Ozersky, a 26-year-old scientist who caught No. 70, did not turn the ball over to McGwire Sunday.

Everything else McGwire wore or used Sunday is either in the hands of lucky fans or headed for Cooperstown.

Montreal manager Felipe Alou made friends in the Cardinal clubhouse by stating during the series his pitchers would come right after McGwire. That strategy probably assured history would be made. As early as Friday night, Sosa led the chase. McGwire tied him with No. 66 only 45 minutes later.

"He said, 'We're here to develop players, not cowards,' Cardinals manager Tony La Russa quoted Alou as saying. "Ain't that a comment?"

McGwire already was scheduled to receive the St. Louis Award in a postgame ceremony in front of his adoring fans. But after hitting his fourth and fifth home runs in three days, the civic honor took on more meaning. This is an award that has been shared by Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners. The eggheads will have to make room for one Mac Daddy.

"This will be a season I will never, ever forget," McGwire said. "and I hope a season no one in baseball ever forgets."

That, Mark, is official.

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