56! : Sosa Ties Wilson’s Club Record, Then Winds Up Losing Ground

As game time approached Wednesday afternoon, Cub fans grew anxious over a 12-mph breeze blowing in from left field, figuring 12 mph might be just stiff enough to thwart a would-be Sammy Sosa home run. As if to ease their worries, Sosa hit his 56th homer of the season to right field.

The ball barely cleared the fence.

Sosa’s homer, his 15th to right field this season, moved him to within five of Roger Maris’ single-season home run record. But he lost ground to the St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark McGwire in the home run chase. McGwire hit home runs No. 58 and 59 against the Marlins on Wednesday, his second two-homer game in a row in Florida.

Sosa’s homer, which came in the bottom of the sixth inning against Cincinnati Red pitcher Jason Bere, tied the team record for home runs in a season. Hack Wilson hit 56 homers in 1930, a National League record that stood until McGwire began swinging on Tuesday.

“I was much more relaxed today,” Sosa said after the Cubs’ 4-2 come-from-behind win, and a day after he went 0 for 4 against Cincinnati. “I was just being patient, and that’s what I need right now.”

His patience also paid off for Barbara Reichert, who arrived in the right-field bleachers Wednesday with her baseball glove and a placard reading “Sammy Hit Us No. 56 Here and I’ll Give It Back Free.”

A sports copy editor with the Chicago Tribune, Reichert made a nice one-handed catch, and Sosa declined her generous offer, instead autographing the ball and telling her to keep it.

With the pursuit of Maris’ record fast becoming something of a phenomenon, McGwire has taken to holding organized news conferences after his homers. Sosa, on the other hand, continues to invite the media to his locker--much to the chagrin of clubhouse neighbor Jose Hernandez.

“Please don’t steal Jose’s chair again today,” a Cub official asked the media swarm Wednesday. “And don’t steal Jose, either.”

As Hernandez sought a seat elsewhere, Sosa nodded toward a framed newspaper article on Wilson hanging a few feet away and said he was honored to be mentioned in the same sentence as the legendary slugger.

“He was a great player,” Sosa said. “Now people are going to remember two people--Hack Wilson and myself. I feel pretty lucky.”

But, with his his typical humility, Sosa added: “Whatever I do this year, somebody in the future is going to break my record too.”

Because Sosa is not one to brag, his coaches and teammates have taken up the task.

“He’s as popular in Chicago as Michael Jordan,” said first baseman Mark Grace, who bats just behind Sosa. “It’s been a lot of fun to be on deck and watch him. I’m real proud to have seen every one of [his homers] to this point, and hope to see the last one.”

Cub Manager Jim Riggleman went no further Wednesday than calling Sosa “great.”

Although third baseman Gary Gaetti and catcher Scott Servais also homered Wednesday, it is Sosa’s knack for hitting long balls that has made the bleachers at Wrigley Field among the most sought-after seats in the house.

Even 96-year-old Camela Hartigan, who has been sitting in the same left-field bleacher spot for more than 20 years, was stuck on the right-field upper deck for Tuesday’s game--at least until she and Jerry “Bleacher Preacher” Pritikin sneaked into the bleachers late in the game.

Both made it to their prized seats Wednesday, but, “It’s getting worse and worse,” Hartigan said. “The other day, I had to get a standing-room-only seat.”

And two weeks ago, Hartigan--who is known well enough around the ballpark to be invited to throw out the first pitch in a game later this month--couldn’t get in at all.