ST. LOUIS -- A hour before Tuesday's game, Chicago
catcher Scott Servais walked over to Mark McGwire and
McGwire's son, Matt, at the batting cage. Servais reached out
his hand. McGwire stuck out his.
Only Servais wasn't there to see Mark. He wanted to shake
Matt's hand.
"I told him thanks, because now my son (6-year-old Tyler)
wants to be a bat boy, too," Servais said.
"I told Mark I'd see him later."
Indeed he did. As McGwire
approached home plate after hitting
his record-breaking 62nd home run,
Servais reached out his hand -- this
time to shake Big Mac's, only to be
rebuffed. Instead, McGwire hugged
Servais -- and Servais hugged him
back.
"That was really classy," Servais
said. "It's something I'll always
remember."
So will players from both teams. Ballplayers have a unique
sense of history. And it was on display in both clubhouses
after the game.
"I can't begin to describe it," Willie McGee said as he
entered the St. Louis clubhouse, which was subdued
following the raucous on-field celebration after the game.
"It's wonderful, unimaginable, indescribable."
"I got that chill," added outfielder Brian Jordan, who sat out
the game with an injury. "We all knew it was a special
moment."
Players from both teams sought a piece of history. Cubs
relief pitcher Rod Beck saved an unscathed full ticket from
the game. Sammy Sosa, McGwire's partner in pursuing Roger
Maris' former record, had a limited-edition hat marking the
home run in his locker. Several other members of the Cubs
had momentos of the game as well.
The Cardinals all got hats and shirts with 62 baseballs on the
front and the words, "Mark McGwire, Sultan of Swing."
Sosa called it "a great feeling, a
great moment." He said he ran in
to hug McGwire after the home
run "because he is my friend." He
smiled through wave after wave
of reporters, all while McGwire's
celebration was taking place on
the field.
"It means a lot," Sosa said. "It's a
moment I'll never forget. When he
hit the ball, I was so excited. I
will always remember that
moment."
Steve Trachsel, who gave up the
home run, wasn't particularly
excited as he stood in the middle
of the clubhouse, surrounded by
reporters. But he wasn't bitter,
either.
"I wouldn't say I was getting joyful, but I couldn't help
noticing what was happening," he said. "There's nothing cool
about it. It's just another home run and we lost the ballgame."
But Trachsel knows he'll be the answer to a trivia question
some day -- a modern-day Tracy Stallard, the pitcher who
gave up Maris' 61st home run.
"I just hope they'll be talking about Steve Trachsel and the
Cubs in the World Series," Trachsel said. "The last one is
the one they're going to be focusing on. Not me."
Gary Gaetti, a former teammate and co-owner with McGwire
(and several other players) of a Busch Grand National stock
car, was smiling as he got dressed.
"It's just a blessing to have seen it," said Gaetti. "I was here
for forty-some of these this year. It's ironic to be back for this
one, but I'm sure glad I was."
Gaetti said he was going to let McGwire pass as he rounded
the bases, but McGwire ran over to him. What did he say?
"That's awesome," Gaetti told McGwire. "Simply awesome."
Servais couldn't stop talking about McGwire. He said he had
never hugged an opponent on the field before -- and he won't
again "unless somebody hits 63." He said he told McGwire:
"Congratulations, you're awesome."
"Everybody in the ballpark will remember something
different," Servais said. "I'll remember it in my own way --
only I was closer to it than anybody else."