Power of Caring
  presented by CIGNA

'98 SEASON PREVIEW

Q & A: Mark McGwire

The most powerful slugger in baseball talks about sending 61, changing leagues, helping children and hitting his prime

Posted: Mon March 9, 1998

"Hey, don't let them mess you up by saying there's such a huge difference between leagues. See the ball, hit the ball," says McGwire.    (John Iacono)

No man alive has hit more home runs in a season than Mark McGwire, who pounded 58 in 156 games with Oakland and St. Louis last year. Having homered 52 times the previous season, McGwire joined Babe Ruth as the only players to go yard more than 50 times in consecutive seasons. McGwire, entering his 13th season, also leads active players in career home runs (387), has hit home runs more often (one every 11.94 at bats) than anybody except Ruth and, at a muscular 6'5", has launched baseballs as far as 538 feet. In short, he goes long like nobody since the Bambino.

This season brings baseball's second expansion in six years, which will dilute what is already weak pitching and further heighten anticipation of McGwire's moonshots. (Roger Maris set the single-season home run record of 61 in another expansion year, 1961.) And unlike last year, when McGwire was dealt from Oakland on July 31, he won't have to play under the specter of trade rumors and adjust to new surroundings in midseason.

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McGwire has taken a shine to St. Louis, so much so that he signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Cardinals on Sept. 16 rather than exercise his lucrative free-agency rights. Upon announcing the deal, McGwire said he would establish a charity for abused children to which he will donate $1 million in each year of his contract. Talk about big.

SI senior writer Tom Verducci sat down with the slugger at McGwire's harborside Orange County, Calif., home to swing away at topics ranging from shooting for Maris's mark to shooting down rumors about steroids. Out back bobbed McGwire's boat, which bears the signature of his playing career on its stern: "Four Bases."

SI: At the time of the trade, did you have any thought of saying no to the deal—to finish out the season with Oakland, take your shot at 61 homers and then take advantage of free agency?

MM: No. It needed to be done. I needed a change in my career. The way I look at it, there wasn't the real positive energy in Oakland you could play off.

SI: So did you want to be traded?

MM: I just needed a change. And it just happened that it was St. Louis. The difference in energy in the clubhouse and in the stadium and the fans was just incredible. I don't see how anybody can't play off that electricity in the ballpark.

SI: Did you know when you went there that St. Louis was going to be the place for you?

MM: Your guess was as good as mine. I knew when the Cardinals made the trade, they said, 'Let's do whatever we can to try to keep Mark here.' I give credit to the whole city. They welcomed me with open arms. I've never felt that way—ever—with a ball club. And we have a really good nucleus of players. We're definitely going to be a force this year.

"No, I never experimented with steroids. It boggles my mind when you hear people talking in those words," says McGwire.    (John Iacono)

SI: What differences did you find between the National League and the American League?

MM: If you allow it to be a lot different, it can mess with you mentally. There's obviously a different strike zone; the American League is more up and down and the National League is more side to side. But if you look at the pitcher, he's the same as in the American League. So I said, Hey, don't let these people mess you up by saying there's such a huge difference. See the ball, hit the ball. Take a whack at it.

SI: Do you like the game better without the DH?

MM: Oh, yeah. Now that I've played in the National League, I see why people are trying to get rid of the DH. That's the way the game was meant to be played. But I see the great things the DH has done for guys who can flat out hit and might not play positions very well.

SI: O.K., then, let's say you are the commissioner of baseball and have the power to change it or leave it. What would you do?

MM: I'd have both leagues without it. It's a much better game. It's more of a thinking man's game. There is much more strategy in the National League.

SI: Now that you have come closer to 61 home runs than anybody in this generation, do you have a greater feel for how difficult it is to get there, or how much more possible it seems?

MM: Last year was the first year—and of course I'm speaking for Ken Griffey Jr.—that I think we'd both agree on how possible it is. We both had really bad Julys and still finished with 58 and 56. So I think—and I'm sure I'll be asked this question a million times—yeah, it's possible. But things have to be perfect to do it.

SI: Do you think the trade cost you 61 last year?

MM: I never look back. I never even thought about that. I couldn't say no, and I couldn't say yes. I'm happy with what I did.

SI: Who's the toughest pitcher you ever faced?

MM: The guy with probably the best stuff is Pedro Martinez. I got to see him one game.

SI: What did you see from him?

MM: Everything he's got in his black hat. He didn't pull out a rabbit, but he pulled out everything else. He has such great command of all his pitches; you can be sitting 3 and 1, 3 and 2, and it feels like 0 and 2.

SI: What did you do against him?

MM: I think I walked three times and he hit me [McGwire actually walked twice, struck out looking and was hit]. I saw his whole repertoire. I had a full count on me every time. When you're sitting on a full count, you can usually anticipate what a pitcher's going to throw. But Martinez has such command of his pitches—and he has four of them—you have no clue what he's going to do. That's not a good feeling.

SI: When you look back on the Oakland years—the great players and great teams—and have one world championship to show for it, how do you weigh that success? Was it enough?

MM: We probably should have won three straight. But it just turned out that in two of the three World Series, we played the worst baseball we played all year—in '88 and '90. Were they disappointing? Yeah.

SI: Last year a lot was made of you and Jose Canseco getting back together in Oakland—a Bash Brothers reunion. What's your relationship with Jose?

MM: I respect what he's done in the game. Then again, personally, I can't say that I really know him. I wish Jose Canseco had learned to appreciate the game and play as hard as I do. If he did, there's no question in my mind he would have half a dozen MVP trophies.

SI: What would you like to do before it's time to retire?

MM: I definitely want to get back to the World Series. My feeling for it, knowing what I know now, is so much greater than it was when I was younger. As far as numbers, I haven't really thought about it. Obviously, 500 [home runs], but I wouldn't say it's the most important thing to me. I have 387. It's so amazing to me to even think what I've done. In the minor leagues I was told I couldn't hit the way I hit.

SI: Do you believe that the attention of the media could prevent you or anyone else from breaking the single-season home run record?

MM: I would hope not. I know how it becomes a media frenzy. I've always said George Brett would have hit .400 that year [1980] if the media had just left him alone. If someone gets close to the home run record, they'll have to set up some one-day shot in every city: answer questions before the first game, play the series, and that's it.

SI: So you think you could handle that kind of attention?

MM: I'm a lot better prepared for it. I've dealt with the media frenzy the past two years. I just hope if it does happen, I won't lose my hair.

SI: Wasn't there a point in your career, with all of your injuries, when you thought about quitting?

MM: Oh, yeah. That was in '96. Spring training. I injured my right foot, my third foot problem. I was lucky enough to only miss the first 18 days of the season. But at the time it happened I just said, 'That's it.' I was so tired of having to do rehab that I just wanted to walk away from it. But I was talked out of it by family and friends.

SI: You obviously have a soft spot in your heart for young people. Last year you broke down at your press conference when you announced your foundation.The public hadn't seen that side of Mark McGwire.

MM: Well, not many people have ever seen that side.

SI: Even friends and family?

MM: Yeah. I didn't know I had that much emotion until that day.

SI: Can you explain that?

MM: I think it just came down to the realization that I really wanted to do something for abused children. I have a son, Matthew, and when you have a child you definitely look at things differently. When I announced that I was going to start my foundation, somebody asked me, 'Well, what are you going to do with it?' I think all the emotions of children that have been hurt came out of me. I was trying to get words out of my mouth and nothing would come out—except for tears out of my eyes.

SI: Mark, you're a better player at 34 than you were at 24.

MM: Right.

SI: Why don't many players start hitting their prime at your age?

MM: I didn't start learning the game until my failure season of '91.

SI: But you hit 49 home runs your first year in the majors.

MM: Yeah. Don't ask me how I did it. I couldn't tell you. I can remember going home and saying, 'I have no clue. I don't know what's going on.' I think the wake-up season in '91, and especially the injuries in '93 and '94, made me understand baseball. It's the first time in my life since I was a little kid that I had to sit in the dugout and watch games. So I started learning about how the game is played.

SI: You've probably heard the steroid rumor, especially when you were hurt: 'Oh, he's breaking down because of steroids.' Is that something you experimented with?

MM: Never. No. Of course, I know something about it. But I never experimented with it. It sort of boggles my mind when you hear people talking in those words. I mean, I work hard at what I do to be the best that I can be, and that's all I know to do.

SI: Do you think steroid use goes on in the game?

MM: The only time I've ever heard about it is when [writer Thomas] Boswell said it about Jose. I just sit back and say, 'Why discredit somebody else who's had success?' Because a guy enjoys lifting weights and taking care of himself, why think that they are doing something illegal? Why don't you look at something positive and say, 'This guy works really hard at what he does, and he's dedicated to be the best he can be'? I sure hope that's the way people look at me.

SI: So do you think we still haven't seen your best?

MM: I think I'm right in my prime.

SI: So you're capable of more?

MM: More what?

SI: Pick it: batting average, home runs, RBIs....

MM: I'd love to have a higher batting average. I just don't get a lot of infield hits. Look at Tony Gwynn. He's 37 years old. Every year he gets close to 200 hits. Always wins the batting title. He's in his prime. He does it year in and year out. I think I'm a late bloomer in the game of baseball. The late bloomer is starting to bloom.