Roadblock on Route 66

Mark McGwire’s home run total might need an asterisk, after all.

McGwire hit No. 65 to extend his record, then had an apparent No. 66 taken away by an umpire’s ruling in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 11-6 victory Sunday over the Milwaukee Brewers.

“After further review, it looked like it was a home run,” McGwire said. “The man who caught the ball, he never came across the yellow line.”

Given the unique nature of the Great Home Run Race of 1998, Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa said the club is appealing to the National League to make the unprecedented move of reversing second-base umpire Bob Davidson’s call and awarding the homer.

“The home run chase has drawn attention all over the world,” La Russa said. “Most importantly, the way the inning played out, it didn’t make any difference.”

After McGwire’s two-out, disputed double, Brian Jordan singled him home and scored on Ron Gant’s home run. Had McGwire been stranded, “we wouldn’t even have asked, because of the integrity of the game,” La Russa said.

“They asked us to look at it, and that’s all I can say right now,” NL spokeswoman Katy Feeney said at Wrigley Field, where she attended “Sammy Sosa Celebration” day.

Feeney said a ruling was expected today.

Rule 9.02 (a) of the Official Baseball Rules states: “Any umpire’s decision which involves judgment, such as, but not limited to, whether a batted ball is fair or foul, whether a pitch is a strike or a ball, or whether a runner is safe or out, is final.”

“You cannot go and reverse that now no matter what it might mean,” Brewer Manager Phil Garner said. “If you’re not going to allow replay, then you can’t do it on that.”

Davidson, a member of the NL staff since 1983, said he couldn’t be swayed by the fact the ball came off McGwire’s bat.

“I could care less if he hits 150 home runs,” Davidson said. “As an umpire, you can’t get caught up in that.”

Davidson barely had time to spin around, but swears he was in good position to make the call.

“The ball got out there in about half a second,” he said. “I got out there as fast as I could and I saw it. When I saw it, the fan was leaning over and the ball hit him below the yellow line. So, that’s why I called it a ground-rule double.”

The fan, Michael Chapes, a 31-year-old high school gym teacher from Waterford, Wis., was ejected from the stadium and fined $518 for trespassing.

“I hope Mark McGwire signs my citation,” Chapes told the Associated Press in a phone interview from his home.

After catching the ball with his glove, Chapes was swarmed by the crush of fans, but he insisted he was doubled over a chain-link fence behind the railing, not in front of it as the umpire ruled.

“It was definitely a home run,” Chapes said. “This whole thing makes me sick. I thought I was a part of history, and then the kid snatches the ball from my glove. They took the ball from me and took the home run from him.”

McGwire moved two homers ahead of Sosa with his first-inning shot off Scott Karl.

* SOSA STRUGGLES: Sammy Sosa went homerless again and remained in an overall batting slump. C4

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Rule 3.16

When there is spectator interference with any thrown or batted ball, the ball shall be dead at the moment of interference and the umpire shall impose such penalities as in his opinion will nullify the act of interference.