Rico Brogna, Kevin Sefcik and
Bobby Estalella each homered
twice as Philadelphia pounded the
New York Mets 16-4.
The game was halted in the
seventh inning for a few minutes to
show McGwire's record-setting
62nd homer on the big screen.
"I don't know if I was inspired by
him. All I know is I was in shock,"
Sefcik said. "It was awesone to
see McGwire. I wish I could've
seen it live. I'm proud to be
playing in the same season when
he did it. I also know I am going to
eat the same thing tomorrow that I
ate today."
Philadelphia's Marlon Anderson
added a homer in his first major
league at-bat as the Phillies set a
club record with seven home runs
off four Mets pitchers.
The last time the Mets allowed
seven homers was July 11, 1967
at Chicago. The last time they
gave up 16 runs was in 1992
against Pittsburgh.
Read all about it
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran
out a "Stadium Extra" Tuesday
night to commemorate McGwire's
62nd home run.
The newspaper had to call police
to direct traffic and press
employees into duty as paper boys
to handle the crush.
Traffic lined up outside the
newspaper and fans mobbed the
doors to cheerfully pay 50 cents
for a 20-page edition headlined,
"62, Unbelievable Class."
It was a replay of Monday night,
when some 80,000 copies were
put out to mark No. 61. The
newspaper had planned to print
100,000 copies Tuesday night, but
officials said that figure was
doubled when it became clear that
more would be needed to meet the
demand.
"I'm as excited about it as our readers are," said editor Cole
Campbell. "I'm glad we can share their excitement and they
can share ours."
While most of those who bought copies were buying them for
themselves or sending them to friends, others were buying
them for resale. Some people bought up to 100 copies each.
Cops! At Busch Stadium
St. Louis police arrested 27 people and confiscated 141
tickets outside the ballpark in recent days. All were booked
on suspicion of ticket scalping.
"About 90 percent of those we arrest are professional
scalpers -- not the guy from (the suburbs) who's simply trying
to get rid of an extra ticket," said Sgt. Stanley Mierzejewski,
supervisor of the vice squad.
Selling a ticket for more than its face value is a Missouri
misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of a year in
prison and a $1,000 fine.
About half of those arrested were not from the St. Louis area.
Among those were men from California, Colorado, Georgia
and New York.
Vice detectives seized 141 tickets with a face value of
$1,652.
"We heard of asking prices as much as $500 a ticket, but we
didn't find any of those sellers," Mierzejewski said. "We
found some dealers trying to get $200 a ticket."
Bending the rules
Should McGwire have been called out because first-coach
Dave McKay interfered with his home-run trot?
According to rule 7.09 (i), McKay came awfully close to
interference.
McGwire hopped over the first-base bag after hitting his
record 62nd home run Tuesday night and bounced into
first-base coach Dave McKay with both arms. McKay
appeared to say something to McGwire, who started back for
the bag just as the coach began pointing at it.
But McKay didn't appear to shove the new home-run king.
Section 7.09 (i) of the Official Playing Rules states:
"It is interference by the batter or runner when in the
judgment of the umpire, the base coach at third base, or first
base, by touching or holding the runner, physically assists
him in returning or leaving third base or first base.
"PENALTY FOR INTERFERENCE: The runner is out and
the ball is dead."
Where 61 still means everything
When the local hero's home run record fell, Orv Kelly did
not move out of his recliner. No clapping. No yelling.
"Well, that takes care of that," said
Kelly, after McGwire hit No. 62 to
break Roger Maris' record.
McGwire's home run was hard to
watch for Kelly, who first met Maris
since 1951.
Fargo is Maris' hometown, his burial
place and where his museum is
located, and many here didn't want to
see his record broken.
There was no special gathering of old
Maris friends for the historic game in
St. Louis. Most were watching from their homes.
Don Gooselaw, who had known Maris since the mid-1940s,
said he felt a sense of relief. Gooselaw said his eyes welled
up a little when McGwire hit the homer, but his thoughts
were of seeing that Maris is duly honored in Cooperstown.
"I think maybe now he'll get his due and get elected to the
Hall of Fame," he said.
Gooselaw said McGwire looks to be as good a
representative as Maris was in holding the record.
"He deserves it, I think," Gooselaw said. "If he hits any
more, this is going to be a tough record to break for another
37 years."
Isabelle Weaver, who knows the Maris family well, was
happy to see McGwire go over and hug members of the
family after the home run.
"Didn't he do that right?" Weaver said. "That's great."
In St. Louis, Maris' family was as emotional as McGwire.
"Right now, my body is still numb," Roger Maris Jr. said.
Maris' family, while not happy the record was broken, was
pleased McGwire was the one to break it.
"Mark is such a great guy, such a great representative of
baseball, I mean, what can you say?" said Randy Maris,
another son of the former record holder. "The guy deserved
to do it."
Making, uh, Dubious History
Tom Zachary, Tracy Stallard and now, Steve Trachsel.
While McGwire homered his way into history, Trachsel
pitched his way into it.
"I was hoping it wasn't going to be me," Trachsel said after
giving up No. 62. "It was a matter of time before he got it and
he's probably going to hit five or six or 10 more."
McGwire had been 1-for-6 this year against the 27-year-old
right-hander, and 3-for-11 with no homers in his career. That
doesn't matter any more.
Trachsel is the pitcher who
gave up No. 62.
"I'm more disappointed that we
lost the game," said Trachsel,
who led the NL in 1997 with
32 homers allowed.
Like Zachary, who gave up
Babe Ruth's 60th homer, and Stallard, who gave up Maris'
61st, Trachsel will be more known for dishing up a dinger
than for an achievement. He didn't seem too worried about it.
"Maybe when my career is over, I'll think about it," he said.
"Right now it's just another home run. I've given up a billion
of them."
Not too many people will remember that Trachsel is having
the best season of his career, going 14-8 with a 4.36.
Useless facts department
Greg Maddux registered his 2,000th carerr strikeout when
he fanned the Expos pitcher Miguel Batista. It was the 400th
game of Greg Maddux's career, 396 of which are starts.
Montreal's F.P. Santangelo was hit by a pitch for the 22nd
time this season.
The Yankees' David Cone, who lost his last start last
Wednesday against Oakland, has 95 consecutive starts
without back-to-back losses. The only longer streaks this
century were 100 by Firpo Marberry and 96 by Scott
MacGregor.
The Yankees have clinched at least a tie for first place.
Former president Jimmy Carter threw out the ceremonial
first pitch to a fellow Georgian, Padres starter Joey
Hamilton. Padres owner John Moores has been a big donor
to the Carter Center at Emory University in Atlanta.