Strawberry: What’s the Big Deal?

Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have captivated the nation in their pursuit of Roger Maris’ 37-year-old home run record--and both probably will break the mark.

Hard to believe?

Not for Darryl Strawberry of the New York Yankees, who says it’s easier to hit homers now than it was in 1961.

“Today is so much different than when Maris did it,” Strawberry told the New York Daily News’ Bill Madden. “He didn’t have the advantage of weight training and all the other nutrient stuff these guys use today.

“I look at him as someone who took the natural way to achieve that standard. He never had what the players have today. They talk about [Mark] McGwire, but even Sammy [Sosa] didn’t become a home run hitter until he became bigger and stronger. . . .

“All I know is that it’s easier to hit home runs today than it was even 10 years ago, when I was in my prime. It’s not just the weights, it’s the pitchers. All through the ‘70s and ‘80s, it was rare just to hit 40. I led the league [in 1988] with 39.”

*

Clear enough? Cincinnati Bengal Coach Bruce Coslet on Neil O’Donnell’s beating out Jeff Blake as starting quarterback:

“It was a clear win. You know how I feel about Jeff Blake. It had to be a clear win.”

In the first three exhibition games, O’Donnell’s QB rating was 104.5 to Blake’s 21.8.

*

Trivia time: Which teams did the 9-7 Rams beat in the playoffs in 1980, the year they advanced to their only Super Bowl?

*

Unhittable: The five toughest pitches to hit in the American League, according to players and scouts, as told to Peter Gammons of the Boston Globe:

1. Roger Clemens’s forkball: “90 miles an hour, coming off a 94-mph fastball and 86-mph slider, all of which are in different planes.”

2. Pedro Martinez’s changeup: “With his arm speed, angle from the first base side of the rubber, and the over-the-falls break, it mesmerizes hitters.”

3. Mariano Rivera’s cut fastball: “Added to his fastball, with that deliberate delivery and jump, it’s made him as good as any reliever in the game.”

4. Tom Gordon’s curveball: “What’s most amazing is his command of the pitch.”

5. Scott Erickson’s sinker: “He is the Kevin Brown of the American League. How does anyone ever hit this guy?”

*

Some feast: Defensive tackle Warren Sapp of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the team’s two-game playoff experience last season: “We were at a king’s feast and only got a piece of bread and then we were asked to leave.”

*

Trivia answer: The Dallas Cowboys, 21-19, and the Buccaneers, 9-0.

*

And finally: The Forth Worth Star-Telegram’s Jim Reeves, on Texas Christian canceling its series with Nebraska. “Does this mean a change in team colors might be appropriate? Something in purple and yellow, perhaps?”