Monday, August 31, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 3
Commentary
McGwire has salvaged baseball's crumbling rep
In the summer of 1986, baseball fans, especially those in the Midwest, had plenty to be excited about. Both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals were at the top of their games, having just completed one of the greatest seven-game World Series in baseball history.
Both Kansas City's George Brett and Milwaukee's Robin Yount continued their charge toward 3,000 hits. Houston's Nolan Ryan added to his all-time
Pete Bore broke Ty Cobb's career-hits record.
One of the few downers was pitcher Joe Neilro, who was charged with scuffing baseball with sandpaper in his glove, but that just seemed an amusing side note.
All seemed right in the baseball world. Small-market teams were competing, players were staying with a team their entire career, and kids could pick any player (with the exception of Reggie Jackson or
Seth Hoffman
any of the '86 Mets) and have a perfectly acceptable role model.
But as with any good story, there is a definite turning point. I believe Major League Baseball began its steady descent the day Dick Howser, then the manager of the reigning World Champion Kansas City Royals, announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
diagnosed.
As a 9-year-old kid, I hadn't yet been introduced to the tragedies that are as much a part of baseball as hot dogs and peanuts. I hadn't been around for Roberto Clemente's plane crash, nor had I understood Roy Campenella's accident, and I certainly had never been hit with anything like Lou Gehrig's tearful retirement.
In the period between Howser's retirement and his death a year later, baseball was in a transition toward a gloomy future.
The next eight years wrote a litany of baseball woes far worse than anything before. Wheaties hero Pete Rose was banned from baseball for allegedly betting on his own team. Bart Giammatti, the commissioner who banned Rose, died of a heart attack. In 1989, an earthquake rocked a World Series game between the A's and the Giants in San Francisco.
In the early 1990s, the news was worse. The players went on strike in 1994, and, for the first time in
90 years, no World Series was held.
To signal that baseball had completely bottomed out, Roberto Alomar spit in the face of an umpire. Instead of apologizing, he told America that theump made a bad call because he was upset aboutthe death of his son.
In the dark years that followed, the iron-horse heroes of the 1970s and 1980s slowly started their journeys from the playing field to Cooperstown. Gone were the Bretts, Younts and Fisks. Taking their places were names like Rodriguez, Griffey Jr. and a kid named McGwire.
As a baseball card-collecting second-grader, the only thing I knew about Mark McGwire was that he played in Oakland and had a 1985 Topps Olympic team card. My brother will tell you that I immediately traded that card—now worth a fortune—to a pair of kids who spent their young lives plotting against me. All I got out of the deal was a bent-up 1984 Dick Howser card. I was a sentimental kid.
As McGwire's career progressed, however, I slowly became aware of his power-hitting potential. Since winning the 1987 Rookie of the Year award, Mark McGwire has poured out more than 440 homers.
In the last three years, during which he has remained relatively injury-free, he hit more home runs than any other player.
I don't pretend to be any sort of baseball scientist, but it's my assertion that had Mark McGwire stayed healthy throughout his career, he would be closing in on the 500-home run mark with a chance of breaking Hank Aaron's record before his career ended.
The point of this column isn't to highlight McGwire's achievements. Barrels of ink have already been dedicated to that.
The point is that, finally, America's kids have a ball player who is a good dad himself and can be looked up to. Finally, people are coming back to the ball parks, not just to see McGwire — though he is a guaranteed draw — but to watch baseball in general.
For that feat alone, Mark McGwire's place in the Hall of Fame should be assured.
Hoffman is a Lenexa junior in journalism.
Mad Mac: McGwire ejected
Argument over strike call ends slugger's day
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Just because Mark McGwire threw a bit of a tantrum does not mean the homerun chase is getting to him.
McGwire was able to shrug off his ejection in the first inning of Saturday's game, staying loose as he entered last night's game against the Atlanta Braves.
With 54 home runs, McGwire needs only eight more to break Roger Maris' record for home runs in a single season. In chasing the record, McGwire has learned how to keep things casual. Friday night, he spent time playing table tennis with his 10-year-old son, Matthew, and ioking with visitors.
A few hours after being ejected for arguing a called third strike in the first inning Saturday, he was glib enough to blame it all on a pregame chat with Indiana men's basketball coach Bobby
Knight
MeGwire is not about to apollo gize for showing some fire on the
field, much less drawing a line in the dirt with his bat during the argument with rookie ampire Sam Holbrook, which led to McGwire's third ejection in two seasons.
"I thought it was ball four."
McGwire said that this sort of thing was not rare in baseball. He said he knew it was big news only because he is eight home runs away from breaking baseball's most hallowed record.
McGwire: Thrown out of game after arguing call
"In the heat of competition, he threw me out of the ball game."
McGwire said he did not need or want any favors.
McGwire said. "And I let him know what I thought. Period."
McGwire said. "He's not going to be back behind the plate thinking, 'Oh, I can't throw him out.' I have a thing to do, he has a thing to do. Did I cross the line? Yeah, I probably crossed the line, and I own up to it."
"it's part of the game," he said. "It happened. Let it die. It's just one game."
About 30 minutes after getting kicked out, he was ready to move on.
Manager Tony La Russia did not mind that McGwire blew off some steam.
"For a number of years, big-league baseball has come across as too cool," La Russa said. "Managers are always talking to their players about playing harder, which means, get your emotions into it. He responded emotionally. I think that's fine. He cared about that at-bat."
La Russa said that if he were the umpire, he probably would have thrown out McGwire, because Holbrook gave McGwire three warnings before ejecting him.
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