It was pure pandemonium when the Saint Louis Cardinals came to Wrigley Field last month, pitting Mark McGwire head-to-head against Sammy Sosa in the race to surpass Roger Maris. Along Irving Park Road and–so I heard–the other arteries leading to the ballpark, the atmosphere grew more intense the closer one got to Clark and Addison. Wrigleyville was gridlocked–not only its streets but its sidewalks–and Wrigley itself turned electric whenever either slugger stood at the plate. When–no, make that if–the Cubs ever again make it to the World Series, I can’t imagine any more hysteria than there was that night. Baseball is back–everywhere but on the south side of town, that is–recharged by McGwire and Sosa and their pursuit of 61 home runs.
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Yet Sosa homered midway through the game the following afternoon to take the lead at 48 and when the Cubs’ Matt Karchner grooved a high, inside fastball on a 3-1 count in the eighth, McGwire pummeled the ball onto Waveland Avenue to tie the game at six. In extra innings the Cubs’ Terry Mulholland left a slider hanging out over the plate, and though it was fairly low, McGwire went down and got it, smacking it into the hitting backdrop in straightaway center field. He had reclaimed the lead at 49-48, and after that jump start courtesy of the Cubs’ pitching staff he went on a hot streak. Sosa stayed on McGwire’s heels and actually surpassed him in consistency, having homered in every series going back to his June explosion. (Given the number of two-game series in today’s interleague schedule, that streak is a considerable achievement.) By Tuesday morning, four weeks left in the season, both McGwire and Sosa had 55 and seemed poised to top the record.
Today’s players are certainly bigger and stronger than ever before, which goes for Sosa and especially McGwire. Pitchers are throwing harder and batters are swinging faster, tending to produce greater distance when contact is made. Pitching talent is diluted, this being an expansion year that has put 25 or more pitchers in the major leagues who otherwise would have toiled in the high minors. (Maris set his record in an expansion year.) Yet I believe it’s even more than all this. I believe the ball was juiced by the owners to produce just such a home-run chase and bring back baseball’s prestrike popularity.
The biggest single event in this pressurized scrutiny has been the discovery that McGwire uses androstenedione, a muscle enhancer that has been compared to steroids. “Andro” has been banned by the notoriously squeamish International Olympic Committee, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and even the National Football League, but it’s legal in baseball and the National Basketball Association. More importantly, it’s legal for public consumption. If it does any harm, the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t discovered it. Yet McGwire’s use of androstenedione has caused a scandal that every sportswriter and even some editorial writers have weighed in on. As unfortunate as that flak is, it’s part of what would make breaking the record impressive, no matter how juiced the ball is.
