58, 59! : McGwire Surpasses Himself, Ruth Is Next

Mark McGwire continued to climb baseball’s home run ladder two giant steps at a time Wednesday night as he hammered his 58th and 59th of this remarkable season to leave only Babe Ruth and Roger Maris ahead of him.

“Blows me away,” the St. Louis Cardinal first baseman said of this elevated status. “It almost leaves me speechless.”

A crowd of 45,170 at Pro Player Stadium voiced approval as the locked-in McGwire--with 12 in his last 16 games--put the tape to a pair of homers for the second game in a row.

The two Tuesday wiped out Hack Wilson’s 68-year-old National League record. The two Wednesday moved him ahead of the three players who had hit 58 in a season: Jimmie Foxx in 1932, Hank Greenberg in 1938 and McGwire last year, when he divided the summer between Oakland and St. Louis.

“I’m pretty proud of passing myself, especially in one leap,” he said, adding at different times during a postgame news conference--oh, yes, the Cardinals routed the Florida Marlins, 14-4--that his ongoing assault was both unbelievable and quite amazing.

Indeed. The only players to hit more homers in a season are Ruth, who hit 59 in 1921 and 60 in 1927, and Maris, who hit the record 61 in 1961.

McGwire has 23 games remaining, is on a pace to hit 69, and would love to hit 62 during the next five games at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

The Cardinals open a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, followed by two with Sammy Sosa and the Chicago Cubs. Sosa hit his 56th Wednesday afternoon, but McGwire responded.

His last seven homers have come on the night of or the day after a Sosa homer, but he continued to insist that he can only focus on his own task and is not motivated by what Sosa does.

And as grooved now as he seems to be, McGwire said, he can’t predict where or when--or if--he will break the record.

“I’ve said time and time again that the only person who knows what is going to happen is the man upstairs,” McGwire said.

Tony La Russa, the man in the Cardinal manager’s office, had told The Times on Tuesday night that based on their performance over the first five months he felt both McGwire and Sosa could hit 70 homers if challenged by opposing pitchers.

“I’m not ignoring the difficulty of what he’s doing or what he still has to do,” La Russa said of McGwire on Wednesday night, “but he’s so locked in . . . well, I don’t know how to describe it. Every time I do it seems weak and insufficient. I mean, what he’s doing, it astounds me how strong he is in the mind. He is stronger mentally than he is physically.

“I’ve managed Cy Young winners and MVPs, but what separates Mark is that he’s been under this pressure, been asked these questions, from day one of spring training. He hasn’t missed a day. There’s been all this anticipation and expectation, and he keeps handling it, responding.

“I compare him to Michael Jordan.”

On Wednesday, feeling that the clubhouse had become overcrowded with media before the game, McGwire went to La Russa, who announced he was calling a meeting and closing the clubhouse.

The manager insisted later that he had legitimate reason for a meeting, but it was generally assumed that the clubhouse closure was designed strictly to give McGwire some space.

The Cardinals have also supplied the first baseman with two security people for protection in public and at the stadium, but McGwire was again loose and relaxed in the postgame news conference, reiterating that he wished all players could experience what he is experiencing and that he continues to have fun with it.

It was no fun for Florida pitchers Brian Edmondson and Rob Stanifer on Wednesday night.

McGwire golfed a sinking slider from Edmondson into the upper deck in left field in the seventh inning, a 497-foot shot that neither pitcher nor hitter could quite believe, considering the pitch was about three inches off the ground when McGwire hit it.

His 458-foot drive to left-center off Stanifer in the eighth also came on a slider, but one that was up and in his zone.

“That one I should have hit the way I did,” McGwire said, “but I kind of amazed myself that I was able to golf that first one out. The next time I came to the plate, their catcher [Randy Knoor] said, ‘How the heck did you hit that pitch?’ I said I have no idea.”

Teammate Brian Jordan was in the on-deck circle when McGwire connected off Edmondson.

“My mouth dropped open,” Jordan said. “How do you hit a pitch that low that far? He’s just amazing. I would love to be able to hit like that. People say I’ve helped him and been a big part of his success [hitting 23 homers and driving in 80 runs behind him], but I say no. He has to see the ball, hit the ball. I’m the one who benefits because I get to be here and watch it, and eventually tell my grandchildren.”

Edmondson, who began collecting McGwire memorabilia during his school days in Riverside, also figures to tell his grandchildren, shaking his head as he does in recollection of the home run McGwire hit on Sept. 2.

“I take no enjoyment giving up a home run to him, but it’s not like I threw a batting practice fastball,” he said. “He had no business even swinging at it. I thought it was going to be ball three, then I turned around and the ball just exploded off his bat. I was shocked. I mean, if he’s able to do that, it’s pretty hard to beat him.”

Homer No. 58 was retrieved by Richard Hayes, 20, of Melbourne, Fla., while Billy Bammon, 14, of Miami came up with No. 59. Each gave his ball to McGwire in exchange for bats, balls and autographs. As locked in as McGwire is, someone should soon be a lock for the historic No. 62.

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On a Tear

Sosa and McGwire by the numbers:

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THE LAST 4 GAMES

Sosa: 3

McGwire: 5

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IN SEPTEMBER

Sosa: 1

McGwire: 4

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SINCE ALL-STAR BREAK

Sosa: 23

McGwire: 22

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SEASON PROJECTION

Sosa: 65

McGwire: 69