McGwire Having Season/Career for Hall Time

The Hall of Fame already has the bat with which he broke the major league rookie record for home runs in 1987 and the bat with which he hit his 52nd home run to lead the majors in 1996--the first of his record three straight seasons of 50 or more home runs--and the batting gloves he wore when he hit the 400th home run of his career.

Jeff Idelson, the Hall’s executive director of communications and education, has been in St. Louis this weekend, hoping to ultimately haul off and preserve more of Mark McGwire’s historic memorabilia.

The question is:

Will McGwire eventually join his equipment in Cooperstown? Would the home run record insure his election, or is more required?

“I think he’s there already,” Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa said of his first baseman. “You already see his name in the record book in several categories, he’s already made history.

“Obviously, if he gets to 500 [career homers] that would certify it, but I think he deserves it already.”

McGwire has 60 homers--only one behind Roger Maris’ record--and 447 for his career.

He would have passed 500--a defining line like 3,000 hits and 300 victories--two years ago, perhaps, and been closing in on 600 if it hadn’t been for heel injuries that virtually erased the 1993 and ’94 seasons, when he totaled 18 homers.

Of the 15 players who hit 500 or more, only Eddie Murray, who won’t be eligible for another three years, is not in the Hall.

Of the 15 first basemen in the Hall, McGwire already has more home runs than 11.

Only Harmon Killebrew, Jimmie Foxx, Willie McCovey and Lou Gehrig hit more.

Of course, there is more to it than home runs or the home run record.

Maris surpassed Babe Ruth’s hallowed 60 in 1961 but hit only 275 in his career.

He won a most valuable player award and played on championship teams in New York and St. Louis, but his career credentials are marginal.

McGwire entered the 1998 season with only a .260 career batting mark. Fourteen of the 15 first basemen in the Hall retired with higher averages, 11 in the .300s. Only Killebrew, at .256, hit less than .260.

Of course, McGwire isn’t through. In some ways, he may just be getting started.

Invigorated by the history and tradition in St. Louis, and the response of fans, he seems to be thriving in his role as a baseball savior.

He will be 35 on Oct. 1 but feels capable of playing until he is 40, maybe beyond.

His conviction that he has become a better and more knowledgeable hitter every year is supported by the stats.

He is batting .296, will drive in 100 or more runs for the third consecutive year and may raise the home run bar so high that the record alone would insure his election.

Hank Aaron, the all-time home run leader at 755, and Babe Ruth, second at 714, did some of their best work after 35, and McGwire’s home run ratios are better than either, better than anyone’s.

He is averaging a home run every 7.36 at bats this year and every 11.38 for his career. Ruth’s career ratio was 11.76; Aaron’s 16.38.

Ruth hit 49 homers at 35, 46 the next year and 198 from age 35 through 40, when he retired.

Aaron hit 44 homers at 35, 47 at 37 and 245 from 35 through 42, when he retired.

McGwire will have about 500 at-bats this year. If he averages 450 at-bats for five more years and maintains his career ratio, he will average about 38 homers a year. That would equal 190 over the five years for a total of more than 635--fourth on the all-time list behind Aaron, Ruth and Willie Mays (660).

However, if he maintains his phenomenal 1998 ratio, he would average 61 homers a year or 305 over the five years for a total of more than 750, challenging Aaron.

“I haven’t seen anybody like him, and you’re never going to see anybody like him,” said Cardinal broadcaster Mike Shannon, the third baseman on the outstanding St. Louis teams of the late ‘60s. “What you’re talking about is John Wayne, Paul Bunyan and Superman rolled into one.”

And a man, Shannon thinks, that former Cardinal teammate Maris would be pulling for because of their similar dedication to team and job.

“Roger would have really admired this guy,” Shannon said. “If the torch was going to be passed, he would have wanted it passed to a Cardinal and someone like him in so many ways.”

Perhaps, but different too.

McGwire has generally been loose and relaxed in the face of media hordes. He took his cap off during a recent news conference and brushed a hand through his red hair to show it wasn’t coming out, as Maris’ had.

McGwire senses a nation pulling for him. Maris felt the opposite.

“I think there were two reasons for that,” said McGwire, speaking of the comparatively negative reaction to Maris. “People didn’t want to see Ruth’s record broken, and if a Yankee was going to do it, they wanted it to be [Mickey] Mantle.”

There will always be snipers. They put an asterisk on Maris, since removed. Now some may feel that McGwire’s use of the supplement androstenedione has tainted his accomplishments. At the same time, his community consciousness--exemplified by his personally funded foundation for abused children--seems to have added to his on-field popularity and helped override any negative response to his use of a substance that is legal in baseball. In addition, his home run duel with Sammy Sosa has energized and accelerated baseball’s recovery from the players’ strike of 1994, a positive platform.

“I would say that he is well on his way [to Cooperstown],” Hall executive Idelson said. “He is amassing the right numbers, and he embodies the qualities of integrity and sportsmanship that are part of the criteria.”

It is a subject that McGwire won’t touch. He said every player dreams of the Hall of the Fame, but he is not ready to be bronzed.

The opinion here? Prepare the plaque.