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 Mac’s back bad McGwire puts on BP show, then leaves game in pain
Posted: Tuesday August 10, 1999 11:46 PM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Mark McGwire, stuck on 501 career homers after passing the historic mark last week, left the St. Louis Cardinals' game Tuesday night with tightness in his lower back. McGwire, who thrilled a large crowd at Veterans Stadium with a power-hitting show in batting practice, walked in his only at-bat against Philadelphia starter Robert Person. He did not take the field for the bottom of the second inning, replaced by Craig Paquette. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said he won't know until Wednesday if McGwire will miss any more games. "It's tight," McGwire said after Tuesday's 7-5 loss to the Phillies. "I don't want the disc to move. This muscle is pretty tight. And we're playing on not the greatest turf. "Sometimes you can save yourself a trip to the DL by sitting out a couple of innings." McGwire, who leads the majors with 44 homers, hasn't hit one in 13 at-bats since hitting his 500th and 501st last Thursday against San Diego. He was 1-for-10 with no extra-base hits in a four-game series at Pittsburgh over the weekend. His longest homerless drought this season was 41 at-bats, between his fifth and sixth of the season. He has gone 15 at-bats without a homer only five times this season. McGwire, who has battled back problems since 1989, missed three games last month due to back spasms. During a news conference Monday before the opener of this three-game series in Philadelphia, McGwire commented that this is the first season since then that he hasn't missed at least 10 days because of his back. "I deal with it every day," McGwire said. He showed no ill-effects during batting practice. With most seats in the left-field upper deck filled, McGwire homered on 14 of 15 swings at one point. A couple of his massive clouts landed nearly halfway to the top of the upper deck.
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