This just in.
Mark McGwire is good. Really good.
This hardly qualifies as a startling observation, but we nevertheless have to acknowledge the obvious this week. We do it because McGwire may be having his best season and he’s doing it despite serious questions about his back.
McGwire has missed 10 games because of lower-back problems and still was leading the majors with 20 home runs entering the weekend. He never has produced home runs as reliably as he has this year, when he has hit one every 5.5 at-bats.
Think about that for a minute. In his most efficient season, Babe Ruth hit one every 8.5 at-bats. McGwire himself averaged one every 7.3 at-bats two years ago when he set the standard with 70. And now he’s hitting them even more frequently?
McGwire offers no explanation.
“I just see the ball, hit the ball, like I’ve always done,” he said.
McGwire hit six homers in a six-game span between May 18 and Wednesday. And during a three-game series against Florida last week he was walked six times, raising his total to 44 in 36 games.
“There’s nothing else like this guy,” Marlins manager John Boles said. “If I lived in St. Louis, I’d buy four season tickets a year, one for the family and the dog, just to see this guy on a daily basis.”
McGwire is not an all-or-nothing hitter. He entered the weekend hitting .330. His on-base percentage and slugging average added up to 1.446. Ruth’s best figure was 1.377 in 1920. McGwire’s was 1.222 in ’98.
If McGwire can stay healthy, he might challenge his homer record this year. But who would play the role of Sammy Sosa in the homer chase of 2000?
There were 11 hitters on a 50-homer pace entering the weekend, including five guys who never have hit more than 35 in a season (Steve Finley, Jason Giambi, Ivan Rodriguez, Troy Glaus and Richard Hidalgo). The guys to keep an eye on are Sosa, who somehow is on a 51-homer pace despite two early slumps, and Barry Bonds, who has a chip on his shoulder and a park tailored for him. He hit 12 homers in his first 19 games at Pacific Bell Park.
Hard time: Unless they get major relief in an upcoming appeal before Paul Beeston, the Dodgers could be decimated by their Wrigley Field suspensions.
The staggered suspensions were scheduled to run over a period of 23 days from Wednesday though June 14, with the Dodgers missing three players per game for most of that time, but are on hold pending the appeal. It won’t be heard until the second week of June.
“I’m concerned about the integrity of the pennant races,” General Manager Kevin Malone said. “Not only are they dictating the length of the suspensions, they’re determining against whom they will be served. Someone is deciding when Gary Sheffield can play and against whom he can’t play.”
The Dodgers’ biggest concern is a four-game series against Arizona June 12-15. Beginning on Monday, they play 19 games in a row against teams that were .500 or better entering the weekend–the Mets, Angels, Rangers, Athletics, Diamondbacks and Cardinals.
Malone is feeling persecuted because of his brash, free-spending ways. “I feel there are many people in many different places who would prefer it if we weren’t successful,” he said.
Old in a hurry: Can it really have been only six years ago that the White Sox were carried by the so-called young guys–Jack McDowell, Alex Fernandez, Wilson Alvarez and Jason Bere? At the moment, only the surgically repaired Bere is pitching.
McDowell retired after injuries limited him to 24 starts in the last three seasons. Alvarez had season-ending surgery to repair a partly torn rotator cuff Thursday and Fernandez continues to have problems relating to the torn rotator cuff he sustained in the 1997 playoffs.
Fernandez, who was the NL’s Comeback Player of the Year last season, left Pro Player Stadium in tears last weekend after learning that he would have to miss at least a month with a strained ligament in his elbow. It’s believed to have been caused by his compensating for soreness in his shoulder.
“Alex is a gamer who pitches with a lot of pain and he’s at a point now where he doesn’t think he can pitch with the pain he’s having,” Marlins General Manager Dave Dombrowski said.
Alvarez, who had been on the disabled list three times in 1998 and 1999, was expected to be Tampa Bay’s Opening Day starter but broke down at the end of spring training and hasn’t appeared in a game. Both Alvarez and Fernandez have five-year, $35 million contracts. Alvarez has gone 15-23 in the first three years of his deal with the Devil Rays. Fernandez, who is in the fourth year of his pact, is 28-24 since signing with Florida.
Mission impossible: Chris Clouser, a former Northwest Airlines executive, has taken on the job as chief executive officer of the Twins. He brings fresh ideas and a new voice to the stagnant push for a stadium as well as the stalled negotiations with pitcher Brad Radke.
“I’m going to do everything I can to re-sign Brad Radke, within the bounds of sanity,” said Clouser, who might be willing to include the early-exit clause that has been a sticking point in previous talks. “I’m not trying to put any pressure on Brad. I’m just trying to say, `Hello, wake up, we have to sign this guy.'”
Twins coach Paul Molitor believes Clouser may succeed where others failed.
“I haven’t talked to him about what his short-term goals and philosophy coming in here are,” said Molitor. “I know his business record is impressive. . . . From what I hear from people I know [who] work for him, he’s definitely a people person. He works well and communicates and gets along well with people who fall under his leadership.”
Numbers: Through 16 games at Comerica Park, the Tigers were averaging 27,249 fans. That’s not only the lowest first-year figure among the 12 parks that have opened since 1989, but the lowest by a lot. The previous lowest had been the new Comiskey, where the White Sox averaged 33,397 in their first 16 dates. . . . Diamondbacks lefty Brian Anderson is 16-3 since Aug. 23, 1998–a better winning percentage (.842) than Pedro Martinez (.786) or Randy Johnson (.750) in the time span. Arizona has won Anderson’s last 17 starts. . . . Teams have stolen 11 bases in the last two starts against Padres right-hander Stan Spencer, including 10 by Florida on May 18. Spencer starts Sunday against Montreal. . . . Pirates catcher Keith Osik has a 40.50 career ERA after giving up five runs in the ninth inning of a 19-4 loss to St. Louis. Osik homered and gave up a home run in the same game, which marked his second appearance on the mound. . . . Texas second baseman Frank Catalanotto entered the weekend hitting .583. He had reached base in 27 of 43 plate appearances.
Whispers: Orel Hershiser, who had not pitched in a game in for 17 days, volunteered for a stint at Class A rather than force the Dodgers to release him. He hopes to interest a team elsewhere if the Dodgers don’t want him in their rotation … Now that they’ve released him, will the Devil Rays retire Dwight Gooden’s number? Wade Boggs’ 12 was retired by Tampa Bay after he compiled all of 210 hits in purple and black … Alex Rodriguez was impressed with the Mariners’ addition of Rickey Henderson, marginally increasing the chances of his sticking around after the season. He’d still like to see another left-handed power hitter and more pitching–not to mention a $200 million contract … Rod Beck is finally making progress in his recovery from a pinched nerve in his neck, and could join the Red Sox soon. The Sox also have former big-leaguers Hipolito Pichardo and Kevin Foster in the pipeline. Foster, the former Cub from Evanston, is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in two starts for Class AA Trenton. … Jaime Navarro bounced back from his 18-hit debut with the Class AAA Colorado Springs SkySox to get a win on Friday night. He lowered his opponents’ batting average to a mere .426.
The last word: “No one cares about it except maybe my mom.”
–Greg Maddux on needing two putouts to break Jack Morris’ record for career putouts by a pitcher.
