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 Making more history Cards' McGwire becomes 16th to reach 500 HRs
Posted: Friday August 06, 1999 07:24 AM
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mark McGwire made history in a hurry. Tony Gwynn will have to wait at least another day. The St. Louis Cardinals star became the fastest player to hit 500 home runs, then launched No. 501 off the left-field scoreboard Thursday night in a 10-3 loss to the San Diego Padres. "I've exceeded everything I expected of myself," McGwire said after the game. "Growing up as a kid, you don't think about things like that. At least I didn't. You just think about playing ball in your yard." While McGwire became the 16th member of the 500-homer club in the third inning, Gwynn fell just short of becoming the 22nd player to reach 3,000 hits. Gwynn got No. 2,999 -- a two-run double in the ninth inning -- in going 1-for-4 with a walk. "In a perfect world, you would have seen history," McGwire said. "There was electricity in the ballpark." Said Gwynn: "I gave it a good run." A sellout crowd of 45,106 had come to Busch Stadium hoping to see a double-dose of history, and watched McGwire make it. He was presented a bronze sculpture in a post-game ceremony. After just missing in his first at-bat, the slugger who hit a record 70 homers last season sent a hanging, 1-1 breaking ball from Andy Ashby an estimated 451 feet over the center-field wall. Gwynn took off his glove in right field and applauded as McGwire rounded the bases. "I'm wondering, 'Should I clap like everybody else or be a professional?'" Gwynn said. "Really, this is his stage, his ballpark. Once again, he delivered." McGwire jumped on home plate with both feet before being greeted by teammates, who exchanged his signature fake gut punches along with high-fives. McGwire, who hit 499th homer Wednesday night, took his second curtain call in as many nights as Ashby stood off the mound, looking out towards center field. Then in the eighth, McGwire homered again off Ashby. This one traveled an estimated 479 feet, the longest this season at Busch, and banged off the scoreboard near his No. 25 in a lineup list before dropping into the seats right above the Padres bullpen. McGwire made it to 500 in 5,487 at-bats, obliterating Babe Ruth's record of 5,801 at-bats. The others in the top five are Harmon Killebrew (6,671) Jimmie Foxx (7,074) and Mickey Mantle (7,300). Big Mac leads the majors with 44 home runs, two more than Sammy Sosa, and tops the NL with 101 RBIs. McGwire's fifth multihomer game of the season and the 58th of his career came in the same ballpark where he broke Roger Maris' 37-year-old homer record last Sept. 8 when he hit No. 62. McGwire went on to finish ahead of Sosa's 66 in a race that captivated the nation. McGwire has 17 home runs in 21 games and remains behind last year's pace. He's catching up in a hurry, however, and is on pace for 65. His 500th homer easily cleared the wall and deflected off the base of an advertisement, then landed in an area of shrubbery beyond the wall as fans scrambled to come up with the prize that experts believe may be worth $1 million. Jim Shearer, a 28-year-old architect from St. Louis, wound up with the souvenir and was whisked away by authorities. Shearer said he'd think about what he might do with the ball for a few days. "I've been hearing that it's worth a lot of money," Shearer said. "But I have to remember it's a piece of baseball history for Mark McGwire and St. Louis." The fan who caught McGwire's 70th homer ball, Phil Ozersky of St. Louis, sold it to Spawn comic book creator Todd McFarlane for $3.2 million. McGwire, who hit his 400th home run last season, couldn't have had a much better foil for his 500th. He's 8-for-16 with four homers and four doubles against Ashby, who congratulated him after the game. "Well, I gave up 500, so I may as well give up 501, too," Ashby said. "It's one of them things. Just thank God it wasn't enough to beat us." McGwire has reached his last four big milestones, starting with Nos. 61, 62 and 70 last year, in front of the home fans. He wanted to hit No. 500 in St. Louis, too, and did it just in time -- the Cardinals begin a trip Friday with a doubleheader at Pittsburgh. The last player to reach 500 homers was Eddie Murray on Sept. 6, 1996, at Baltimore against Detroit's Felipe Lira. Murray is 15th on the career list with 504. McGwire has already passed five players on the list this season -- Lou Gehrig (493), Stan Musial and Willie Stargell (475) and Dave Winfield (465). Musial was at Busch Stadium for the big night and sat next to fellow Cardinals Hall of Famer Lou Brock, the last NL player to reach 3,000 hits. At 35, McGwire is a year older than Ruth was when he reached 500. He's had to make up for lost time after totaling 18 home runs in injury-plagued 1993 and '94 seasons for Oakland, and the homer put him on pace to hit 64 this season. Ashby (10-5) allowed three runs on five hits in 7 2-3 innings and Trevor Hoffman finished for his 27th save. Chris Gomez drove in two runs for the Padres, who won for only the second time in 14 games and avoided a four-game sweep. Cardinals starter Larry Luebbers (1-2) lasted five innings and gave up four runs on five hits. Notes Gwynn will get his chance to become the 22nd member of the 3,000-hit club at Montreal on Friday night. Dan Smith starts for the Expos. ... Cardinals pitcher Alan Benes made his first injury rehab start for Class AA Arkansas and worked 1 1-3 scoreless innings against Shreveport, throwing 28 pitches.
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