33 AND COUNTING : If He Can Withstand the Pressure, A’s McGwire Has Good Chance of Surpassing Maris’ Home Run Record

At first, Roger Maris lost sleep. Then came the hair. Clumps of it fell out during the final weeks of the 1961 baseball season as each weighty swing of his bat brought him closer to the home run record of Babe Ruth.

Ultimately, Maris wound up with Ruth’s record--asterisk attached, of course. He also wound up a wreck.

In 1969, Reggie Jackson gave chase to Maris, taking 37 home runs into the All-Star break. Jackson was as brash as Maris was introverted--the future Mr. October--but by August, he had broken out in hives and the pursuit withered. Jackson finished the season with 47 home runs.

Mark McGwire, the latest man who would be home run king, plays for a manager named Tony LaRussa, a teammate of Jackson during the summer of 1969. While recalling the rigors of Reggie, LaRussa is asked: Are you saying Jackson couldn’t handle the pressure?

LaRussa pauses.

“As Ollie North would say, ‘That’s my recollection,’ ” LaRussa says.

So, is this what Mark McGwire has to look forward to once tonight’s All-Star game is over and real business resumes? Is this the thanks one gets for hitting 33 home runs in his first 80 games of the 1987 season?

McGwire is a rookie, for heaven’s sake. He’s 23 years old. He’ll be eaten alive.

LaRussa, adjusting his Oakland A’s cap, admits he has given this thought some thought.

“We’ve already seen some things happen this last home stand,” LaRussa said, alluding to the mob of reporters that engulfed the Oakland Coliseum over the weekend. “We don’t want this to get in the way of what Mark has to do--and that’s play baseball--so we’ve had to lay down some guidelines. ‘This is when the guy’s available and not later.’ ”

To accommodate the coverage crush that comes with the All-Star game, a special press conference was scheduled for McGwire, who seemed truly grateful for the opportunity.

“I think this is good,” McGwire said. “Get it all out of the way at once. When you’re asked so many questions by so many people, it takes its toll.”

Jackson knows. Earlier this week, Jackson reflected on 1969 and said: “The toughest part is that I didn’t know how to handle you guys (reporters). The A’s are gonna have to do something (for McGwire).”

McGwire, just a good-looking prospect three months ago, is more perplexed than overwhelmed by the attention at this stage.

“Every day when I get to the park, somebody’s sitting at my locker, waiting for a story,” he said. “I talk to one person and three more come in. I talk to three and 10 come in.”

And, later:

“The thing that I’m really surprised about is that people want to come up and constantly talk to me. I think they’ve covered every aspect of my life for a month and a half. It’s hard to understand why somebody still wants to talk to me. I hope it slows down.”

McGwire’s most-asked question?

“What do I think about Babe Ruth and Roger Maris,” McGwire replied. “Those are nice questions, I really enjoy them, but it’s such a long way to go. Granted, I have 33 home runs, but who knows what I’m going to do the next time I get to the park.”

And about those home runs:

“It’s unexplainable,” he said. “What can I say? I’ve always hit some home runs in Little League, (American) Legion and college ball, but this is a surprise to me--so many home runs in so short a time. I don’t try to hit home runs. They just come.”

Around Oakland, several theories on McGwire’s sudden power surge have been advanced.

Wade Boggs, the American League’s starting third baseman, believes it’s a by-product of the livelier baseball.

“It’ll be interesting to see when Mark McGwire hits his 62nd home run,” Boggs observed. “Everybody will say, ‘That was the year of the juiced-up baseball.’ And there will be asterisks.”

LaRussa and Jackson believe it’s the swing.

LaRussa: “He reminds me of Bull (former major league player Greg Luzinski). That compact swing--Pow! He goes to all the fields. That’s why he hits for power yet also hits for average (.294).”

Jackson: “He has 33 home runs and I bet he hasn’t hit more than 12 on the nose. The thing with him and (Jose) Canseco is that the flyballs they hit carry 400 feet. They don’t hit that many tape-measure jobs. They hit fly balls that fall over the fence for home runs.”

From here on, each McGwire home run will carry greater significance than the one before it. Thirty-three home runs is a great season in half the time. But as Maris and Jackson found out, the second half can be brutal.

For the moment, however, McGwire is coping. While Canseco clammed up amid the camera glare surrounding his rookie season, McGwire smiles and earnestly answers questions and generally acts as if he’s enjoying himself.

On Monday, he was asked how it felt to be an All-Star in his first season.

“Awesome,” McGwire replied.

When did the reality of being chosen sink in?

“As soon as I had to sign 13 dozen (All-Star) baseballs for people.”

What was it like to take batting practice at the All-Star workout, in front of a capacity crowd that roared whenever he did what he does best?

“It’s a great feeling. Usually when you take BP, you have to hit in front of the security guards.”

McGwire laughed when someone asked him why didn’t sign out of high school with the Montreal Expos, who had drafted him as . . . a pitcher.

“If I’d done that, I’d probably be washing cars by now,” he said.

McGwire is making the most of his All-Star moment.

“I have to ask myself what’s happening,” he said. “I really don’t know what’s happening.”

Perhaps this will help McGwire in his pursuit of Maris and Ruth. Maybe, in this case, ignorance can be bliss.