While Mark McGwire homered his way into history,
Trachsel pitched his way into it.
McGwire had been 1-for-6 this year against the Chicago
Cubs' 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 Tom Zachary, who gave up Babe Ruth's 60th homer, and
Stallard, who gave up Maris' 61st, Trachsel will be more
known for a failure than 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 ERA.
"I was hoping it wasn't going to be me," Trachsel said after
giving up No. 62 Tuesday night. "It was a matter of time
before he got it and he's probably going to hit five or six or
10 more."
With flashbulbs popping in
anticipation, Trachsel fell
behind 3-0 in the count against
McGwire in the first inning.
McGwire, who hasn't homered
on a 3-0 pitch all season, then
chased an outside pitch and
grounded out weakly to
shortstop.
Then in the fourth, McGwire's
at-bat lasted just one pitch, a
341-foot liner to left that sailed
over the fence. Trachsel said
McGwire swung at a fastball
that was about chin-high.
"As strong as he is, when the
ball went off his bat, I figured it was either going to curve
foul or short-hop the wall," Trachsel said.
After McGwire circled the bases, catcher Scott Servais, first
baseman Mark Grace and then third baseman Gary Gaetti
joined Trachsel on the mound for some small talk. He pawed
the rubber as McGwire went into the stands to embrace
Roger Maris' family.
"He was bummed," said Gaetti, a teammate of McGwire's
until joining the Cubs last month. "He was trying to make a
good pitch and he did make a good pitch, I guess."
Gaetti said Trachsel didn't know what to do, so everyone
made small talk, including about how the postgame bus
would be late.
"He was seeing Mark hug everybody and he was thinking,
'Well, should I go over there and hug him or not?' " Gaetti
said. "I thought, 'Wait a minute, I'll go get him to come out
here and shake your hand.' "
The night got worse. When McGwire came up again in the
sixth with a runner on second, Cubs manager Jim Riggleman
ordered an intentional walk. Ray Lankford followed with a
three-run homer and Ron Gant followed with a solo shot, the
22nd home run off Trachsel this season.
By the time it was over, Trachsel had allowed six runs and
five hits in 5 2/3 innings. In retrospect, Trachsel said the
delay and all the extra warmup throws probably wore him
out.
Two starts ago, Trachsel also focused on a homer. But that
was because he hit his first of the season against Colorado,
the second of his career.
"That was the longest ball I've ever hit," he said then. "I'm
disappointed that our TV guys thought it odd that I hit a home
run."
This, however, was a home run he doesn't want to remember.
"There's nothing cool about it," he said.