Erstad Hopes Maris’ Record Isn’t Broken

Mark McGwire has at least one guy rooting against him.

Angel first baseman Darin Erstad dropped his Jack Webb pregame persona for a moment and smiled just a tad. The subject was Roger Maris’ 61 home runs.

“Not many people know that he is from North Dakota,” Erstad said. “Any time I have a chance, I make sure to let them know. Personally, I don’t want to see that record get broken.”

Unless it was by another North Dakotan? Erstad’s smile stretched into an honest-to-goodness grin.

“Well,” he started, then paused. “I better get in the weight room if I’m going to hit 62.”

In other words, the smart money is on McGwire.

Still, there is nothing wrong with being North Dakota’s second-favorite son, even if it is akin to being the second man to walk on the moon. Besides, the folks back home have high hopes for the lad.

“I wouldn’t mind if Darin was the one who broke Maris’ record,” said Jim McLaughlin, who manages the Roger Maris Museum in the West Hills Shopping Center near Fargo. “That way, it stays in North Dakota.”

So does Erstad, who lives in Fargo--where Maris grew up--during the off-season. When Erstad is home, people treat him same as they did when he was getting a reputation while playing American Legion ball--just as Maris had.

“I can understand that,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. “It’s like when I go back to my home town, the guy down the street remembers me as the kid he struck out in Little League and still treats me that way.”

There are probably pitchers who wouldn’t mind if Erstad, who has opened the season with a 15-game hitting streak, lived in Fargo permanently.

Erstad is hitting .354 and had at least one extra-base hit in the last nine games, which is two shy of the American League record. That included two home runs in a game against Cleveland last week.

“One thing about Darin, he doesn’t give away at-bats,” Angel third baseman Dave Hollins said. “Whether we’re up 10-0 or not, he is always going to put a good swing on the ball. The good hitters, guys like Tony Gwynn, when they get two hits, they want three.”

Gwynn, though, wasn’t raised in North Dakota. Maris was. Erstad, who grew up in Jamestown (92 miles west of Fargo), was weaned on Maris’ legend.

“My dad and I used to go to Fargo for Legion games and he would show me the monument at Jack Williams Stadium,” said Erstad, one 11 North Dakotans to reach the majors.

“At the time, you’re like, Roger Maris? As you start playing, you become more knowledgeable about the game and you see what he did,” he said. “It was pretty amazing.”

So standing in the batter’s box at Yankee Stadium is more than just a thrill, it’s a pilgrimage. A year ago, on his first visit to New York as an Angel, Erstad drove Kenny Rogers’ 1-2 pitch over the 399-foot sign in Yankee Stadium.

“To be able to be on same the field was an honor,” said Erstad, whose home run came in his third at-bat in the famous ballpark. “To hit a home run my first series in there, that was pretty special.”

There are some similarities between Maris and Erstad.

Both were multisport stars in North Dakota. Erstad was named the North Dakota athlete of the year in 1992. Maris won that honor in 1953. Both went to college to play football, although Maris, who died in 1985, left Oklahoma after a week. Erstad was a punter on Nebraska’s 1994 national championship team.

“Any time someone from North Dakota does something, it gets magnified back there,” Erstad said.

Something he come to realize more and more. Erstad returns to Fargo in the winter for the pace and the lifestyle.

“You can’t go ice fishing in Southern California,” Erstad said. “It’s nice to go back and do the things I did when I was growing up. When I go home, they treat me just like they have always treated me. Back home, I’m just Darin.”

During the season, he’s something else. In his first season with the Angels, 3,000 Jamestown residents--about one-fifth the city--came to Minneapolis for a game. Last season, four buses made the 250-mile trip and the Jamestown High band was there to play the National Anthem.

Erstad didn’t even start that day.

“Five minutes before the game, they throw open the right field gates and here comes the Jamestown band,” Collins said. “It was the first I heard about it. I had to get Darin in there for a token appearance. We were up 10-1 in the ninth inning, so I put him in at first base.

“Darin was hot. He doesn’t like people to make a big deal about him.”

He couldn’t complain too much. His mother organized the gathering.

“People are already making plans to go again this year,” McLaughlin said.

Just think what would happen if he did break Maris record.