Big Smack Attack

Mark McGwire, already a monument in this city of the Gateway Arch, became only the 16th player to hit 500 home runs Thursday night and immediately went to work on becoming only the fourth to hit 600.

The St. Louis Cardinal first baseman slugged his 500th and 501st home runs in a 10-3 loss to the San Diego Padres, but Tony Gwynn, bidding for 3,000 hits, was unable to complete an unprecedented and historic parlay.

The Padre right fielder doubled in his final at-bat in the ninth inning after going hitless in his four previous plate appearances and needs one more hit to become the 22nd player to reach 3,000. He will try to get it in Montreal tonight, where the electricity figures to be several thousand volts short of what it was in St. Louis.

A Busch Stadium crowd of 45,106 responded to McGwire’s 500th homer with a sustained ovation that resulted in a salute and curtain call from the one-time USC star, but the tradition-oriented crowd was equally supportive of Gwynn. The partisan Cardinal fans stood and cheered for each of his at-bats, booed Cardinal pitcher Larry Luebbers when he walked Gwynn in the second inning and chanted Gwynn’s name after his double.

“I was treated like royalty here,” Gwynn said. “It was amazing. I’ve never been treated like this in a visiting park. I really wanted to do it here for atmosphere reasons and family reasons, but right now I just want to get it done. As a visiting player, you don’t expect to get cheered, so Montreal is not much different from most other places. Five thousand or 20,000 [fans], who cares? One hit. Bunt, blooper, chinker, line drive. One hit. I just want to get it done.”

McGwire got it done in his second at-bat in the third inning, hammering a slider from Andy Ashby an estimated 451 feet into the grass terrace behind the center-field fence as the crowd went wild and teammates streamed from the dugout to congratulate him. Gwynn, trying to decide the appropriate response following a home run that tied the score, stood in right field and politely applauded. Ashby would try a fastball in the eighth inning with similar results. McGwire ripped it an estimated 479 feet--the longest homer at Busch Stadium this year--into the left-field seats.

“I don’t care if he was doing all of this in Yugoslavia,” Gwynn said. “He’s remarkable. We watched him take batting practice for four days and he made it look easy, and it’s not a muscular swing but a rhythmatic swing. I’m happy for him. It’s his stage, his ballpark, and he once again delivered.”

McGwire has 17 homers in his last 21 games, including seven in the last seven. He leads the major leagues with 44 and is only one homer behind his pace of last year, when he defeated Sammy Sosa in their great home run duel and finished with 70, shattering the single-season record of 61, set by Roger Maris in 1961.

The Cardinals presented McGwire with a bronze statue of himself in full swing during a postgame ceremony, after which he said that 500 had been a preseason goal and he was proud to have achieved it and relieved to have it behind him. He reached the coveted plateau faster than any of the other 15 players who have done it, getting to 500 on his 5,487th at-bat, compared to Babe Ruth’s record of 5,801. He seems certain to pass several of the players ahead of him in the 500 Club before the season is over, since they are all retired. Among those immediately ahead are Eddie Murray at 504, Mel Ott at 511, Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews at 512 and Ted Williams and Willie McCovey at 521.

Hank Aaron, of course, holds the record at 755, and Ruth at 714 and Willie Mays at 660 are the only others to have reached 600. McGwire said Aaron’s mark was too distant to contemplate and that the most logical challenger was Ken Griffey Jr.

“I find it strange to have my name included among a group of Hall of Famers because I’m not done playing,” McGwire said. “I expect to keep rising, but this is not something you think about growing up as a kid, when all you’re thinking about is playing ball in the backyard.”

McGwire will be 36 on Oct. 1, seems certain to extend his record of consecutive seasons of 50 or more homers to four and said as long as his back holds up he’ll continue to play.

“Mentally,” he said, “I’ve never been stronger, but it all comes down to health.”

McGwire also said that in a “perfect world,” Gwynn would have joined him in achieving his milestone.

“There was electricity tonight,” McGwire said. “Driving to the ballpark, I had the same feeling that I did driving to the park last year when I was going for 62. It was a great feeling, and it would have been neat for Tony [to have reached 3,000], but he’ll do it tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, the next day. I wish him the best.”

Gwynn said he had been unable to sleep after Wednesday night’s game--he was up until 5:30 a.m. and walking around the city by 9--and was unusually nervous when he flied out his first at-bat, before settling down. He walked, flied out again and grounded out before doubling against Manny Aybar in the ninth.

Stan Musial, Lou Brock and Paul Molitor--all members of the 3,000 Club--were among the baseball luminaries attracted by the milestone duel, but Gwynn said, “I can’t complain. My swing was a whole lot better than it has been, and we really needed the win [only the Padres’ second in their last 13 games].”

Now he’s off to Montreal, but some in the traveling contingent of family and friends will be heading home from St. Louis.

“Now,” Gwynn said, thinking of that less-attractive environment in Montreal, “I get to find out who my real friends are.”

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500 Timeline

The year each player reached 500 home runs with the number of seasons it took them.

‘99: Mark McGwire (14)

‘96: Eddie Murray (20)

‘87: Mike Scmidt (16)

‘84: Reggie Jackson (18)

‘78: Willie McCovey (20)

‘71: Harmon Killebrew (18)

‘71: Frank Robinson (16)

‘70: Ernie Banks (18)

‘68: Hank Aaron (15)

‘67: Eddie Matthews (16)

‘67: Mickey Mantle (17)

‘66: Willie Mays (14)

‘60: Ted Williams (19)

‘45: Mel Ott (20)

‘40: Jimmie Fox (16)

‘29: Babe Ruth (16)

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1891 is the first year of professional baseball

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Researched by HOUSTON MITCHELL / Los Angeles Times

McGwire’s Milestone Marks

MILESTONE HOME RUNS

* No. 1: (Playing for the Oakland A’s) Aug. 25, 1986, off Walt Terrell of the Detroit Tigers at Detroit.

* No. 100: July 5, 1989, off Charlie Liebrandt of the Kansas City Royals at Oakland.

* No. 200: June 10, 1992, off Chris Bosio of the Milwaukee Brewers at Milwaukee.

* No. 300: June 25, 1996, off Omar Olivares of the Detroit Tigers at Oakland.

* No. 365: Aug. 8, 1997, first homer as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, off Mark Leiter of the Philadelphia Phillies at St. Louis.

* No. 400: May 8, 1998, off Rick Reed of the New York Mets at New York.

* No. 449: Sets new single-season record of 62 homers, Sept. 8, 1998, off Steve Trachsel of the Chicago Cubs at St. Louis.

* No. 457: Sets new single-season record of 70 homers in final at-bat of the season, Sept. 27, 1998, off Carl Pavano of the Montreal Expos at St. Louis.

* No. 500: Aug. 5, 1999, off Andy Ashby of the San Diego Padres at St. Louis.

TYPES OF HOME RUNS

Solo: 267

Two-run: 165

Three-run: 57

Grand slam: 12

HOME RUNS BY BALLPARK

Site: HR

Oakland Coliseum: 166

Busch Stadium: 75

Tiger Stadium: 23

Fenway Park: 18

Metrodome: 16

Yankee Stadium: 15

Kingdome: 14

County Stadium: 14

Memorial Stadium: 12

Anaheim Stadium: 11

Arlington Stadium: 11

Cleveland Stadium: 11

Kauffman Stadium: 10

SkyDome: 9

Jacobs Field: 9

New Comiskey Park: 9

Pro Player Stadium: 8

The Ballpark in Arlington: 7

Coors Field: 7

Qualcomm Stadium: 7

Wrigley Field: 6

Exhibition Stadium: 6

3Com Park: 6

Three Rivers Stadium: 5

Camden Yards: 5

Old Comiskey Park: 4

Veterans Stadium: 4

Shea Stadium: 3

Astrodome: 3

Bank One Ballpark: 2

Dodger Stadium: 2

Cinergy Field: 1

Turner Field: 1

Olympic Stadium: 1

1999 BY THE NUMBERS

Games: 109

At-bats: 358

Batting average: .279

Home runs: 44

At-bats per home run: 8.14

Projected home runs: 65

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MAC’S MARKS

Mark McGwire By the Numbers

500 Home Run Club

Records

Career Statistics

Most Home Runs, Season

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Researched by HOUSTON MITCHELL / Los Angeles Times