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 A closer look McGwire shocked by rare opposite-field homer
Posted: Tuesday April 06, 1999 05:44 PM
By Ryan Hunt, CNN/SI ST. LOUIS -- Maybe Mark McGwire is breaking in another side to his game. Perhaps this is a new-and-improved Big Mac. Or maybe Major League Baseball should have used pencil when it put McGwire's name in the record books. Opposite field? Line drive? On a full count after he fell behind 0-2? Sure enough, McGwire rang in the 1999 season Monday with a blast unlike any of his record-breaking 70 homers from a season ago, scalding a 402-foot, fifth-inning laser that zipped over Busch Stadium's right-center field fence before you could utter the words "Planet Maris." It was a shot that probably left David Weathers and the Brewers, who won 10-8 despite McGwire's fireworks, thinking that this guy is from another planet. "I think I shocked America with where I hit the ball," said McGwire, who hit only three homers to right or right center last season and only two on 3-2 pitches. "I go to right field by accident." While it is only home run No. 1 of the young season, it already has the Cardinal faithful thinking of a repeat performance. He certainly picked up where he left off last September, accident or not. And he did it with patience -- the two hours worth of rain delays notwithstanding. After Weathers got two quick strikes on McGwire, McGwire worked the count full, laying off a couple of biting sliders. Then came the 3-2 fastball. McGwire certainly had his choosing of pitches in the opener. In three of his five at-bats he faced a 3-2 pitch, walking in the first and flying out to center in the seventh. Milwaukee pitchers definitely didn't shy away from McGwire, at least on Monday. They didn't give in to him, either. "They pitched me well," said McGwire, who said he can't remember the last time he went to right field three times in one game. "They stayed away, but I had a couple of pitches to hit." The St. Louis first baseman homered on Opening Day for the Cardinals for the second straight year, while raising his souvenir count to 52 in a mere 107 games in Busch Stadium. McGwire is now only 42 homers away from 500. But how about 71? Maybe. Especially if he can start hitting to the opposite field with power. "Well, he's got the ability," said St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, who boldly predicted in the offseason McGwire could hit 75. "A lot of pitchers try to crowd him. But he's a great hitter. Pick your top hitters in the league and he's among them. He showed that tonight."
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