Sunday, May 23, 1999
McGwire hits it out of Dodger Stadium
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Mark McGwire is at it again. Baseball's single-season home run champion got off to slow start in this year's race, but he delivered notice Saturday night that he's still The King.
McGwire's second homer of the night in the eighth inning cleared the pavilion in left-center field and put him in select company with Willie Stargell (twice) and Mike Piazza as the only players to hit a ball completely out of 38-year-old Dodger Stadium.
“Yeah, it was a nice hit, but we came up short,” McGwire said after the Cardinals lost, 10-7. “If it was a win, it would have meant a lot more. You don't win a prize for it. It's really meaningless because we lost. But when have I ever made a big deal about home runs?”
McGwire has now homered in every major league ballpark except Cincinnati's Cinergy Field. The Cardinals play there July 21-22 and September 24-27.
McGwire hit a 95-mph pitch from Darren Dreifort over the wall in the first inning and a 91-mph delivery from rookie Jamie Arnold for his latest moon shot in the eighth.
“I think you just try and never take him for granted, because what he does is so remarkable,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.
“His talent in batting practice is a great show — and more importantly, he takes it into the game. But I make it a point not to upset the big fella. If I said something about him (using the pavilion roof) as a target, he'd get all over me, so I'm not going to do that.”
McGwire's 469th career homer and 12th of the season gave him his 55th career multi-homer game. That tied him with Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx for fourth place all-time.
“That's the farthest I've ever seen a ball hit before,” said Dodgers catcher Todd Hundley, who called for the pitch McGwire sent into the outer limits of Chavez Ravine.
“I never thought it would go out of the stadium. When you hit a ball out of this park in left-center field, that's unbelievable. He's hit baseballs further than I've ever seen them hit before.”
Edgar Renteria singled to open the eighth and scored on McGwire's 484-foot drive that had the sellout crowd of 54,179 gasping.
“I watch him every day in batting practice, so I kind of get used to it,” Lankford said. “So I don't ooh and aah as much as most people because I see it every day, but it's still amazing. I think this puts it into perspective what kind of strength he has.”
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