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Sunday, October 08, 2000

So you're under the impression that because Sammy Sosa led the major leagues with "only" 50 home runs this season that the home run craze of 1997-99 might finally be subsiding?

Think again, deluded one.

The Guy In the Stands can rely on the cold, hard numbers. A record 5,693 balls left parks in 2000, breaking the record of 5,528 set last season. Which broke the record of 5,064 set the season before that. Sixteen players hit 40 or more, a record 47 hit at least 30. But theses make The Guy sound like recording secretary of the Loyal Order of Rotisserians.

The signature clue in the Season of 2000 that the home run will remain en vogue long after fans at ballparks grow tired of barking to the Baha Men came out of the offices of the Chicago White Sox in late August.

The White Sox (95-67) won the American League Central Division. They led the AL in hitting (.286). They led the major leagues in runs (978). They shattered the single-season club record (198) with 216 home runs.

And in 2001 they will bring in the fences at Comiskey Park. The distance down the lines will be reduced from 347 feet to 330 in left and from 347 to 335 in right. If that's not enough, the height of the outfield wall will be lowered from 8 feet to 7. Considering how they hit in the American League division series this week vs. Seattle, some might argue that isn't nearly enough. But that's beside the point.

"Name one thing baseball has done in the last 40 years to help pitchers," railed White Sox pitcher Kelly Wunsch.

Well, The Guy can't, unless improved health and dental count. But he can offer any number of clues from 2000 that support Wunsch's claim. They didn't always catch our attention the way McGwire-Sosa I & II did, but en masse they hit you like an old ash MC44 between the eyes.

April 7: A one-day record 57 home runs are hit in the majors, including nine in the Orioles' 14-10 win over Detroit.

April 18: Toronto's Craig Grebeck, Raul Mondesi and Carlos Delgado hit back-to-back-to-back homers in a 16-10 loss to the Angels, the third time for the feat in the season's first three weeks.

April 21: Anaheim's Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus homer in the fourth inning and then again in the ninth inning against Tampa Bay. They are the first trio to hit homers twice in the same inning of the same game. Ever.

April 23: Yankees Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning of a 10-7 win over the Blue Jays.

April 30: The Cardinals conclude April with 55 homers, the most ever hit in April and tying the 1947 Giants for most hit in any month.

May 21: A record six grand slams are hit: Garrett Anderson (Angels), Brian Hunter (Phillies), Jason Giambi (Athletics), Adrian Beltre (Dodgers), Shawn Green (Dodgers) and J.T. Snow (Giants). In all, 56 homers are hit, missing by one the record set just 44 days before.

May 26: Toronto's Darrin Fletcher, never to be mistaken for Lou Gehrig, hits his third grand slam of the season.

May 30: Boston's Trot Nixon hits the 1,000th home run of May. Never had 1,000 homers been hit in any month.

June 2: Cubs outfielder Damon Buford, who averaged five homers a year in his first seven big-league seasons, ties a career high with his 10th homer of the season in his 55th game. Non-slugging types like Mike Bordick, Bobby Estalella and Jose Vidro also would post career highs before the month was out ... and the season half over.

June 23: Four home runs are hit in the Giants' 10-3 romp over the Astros at Enron Field, bringing to 120 the total hit at the park in just 35 games and exceeding by two the number hit in any entire season at the Astrodome. Says San Francisco's Barry Bonds, who left that night's game with a cramping in his hamstring, when asked if he'd be able to play the next day: "Here? Oh yeah, I don't care if my leg is broken."

July 1: Mark McGwire hits his 30th and final home run of the season as a regular before missing better than two months with patella tendinitis in his knee. He would bat only 15 more times ... and still tie for 33rd on the major-league home run list.

Aug. 22: With nearly six weeks to go in the season, Cincinnati's Alex Ochoa hits the 142nd grand slam of the season to break the major-league record.

Aug. 27: Tim Salmon hits his 30th home run of the year to make Anaheim the first team in AL history to have four players with 30. The unique distinction would last only 18 days. On Sept. 14, Jose Cruz Jr. hits his 30th to make Toronto the second.

Sept. 3: Angels third baseman Troy Glaus, in only his second full big-league season, hits his 40th home run to break Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson's team record of 39. He would go on to obliterate the record with an AL-best 47. Team records would also be set or tied in Houston (Jeff Bagwell, 47), Los Angeles (Gary Sheffield, 43) and Montreal (Vladimir Guerrero, 44).

Sept. 7: Tony Batista hits Toronto's 222nd homer of the season, a club record. They would finish with 244 ... and not lead the major leagues. That honor would belong to the Astros (249). Anaheim (236), St. Louis (235), San Francisco (226), the Chicago White Sox (216), Los Angeles (211), the New York Mets (198) and Montreal (178) -- nearly one-third of all major-league teams -- would also establish franchise highs.

Sept. 23: Houston's Julio Lugo homers off of Cincinnati's Pete Harnisch in the third inning for the Astros' NL record-breaking 240th of the season. Believe it or not, from a team that before this year never hit more than 168 in any of its 38 previous seasons. That same day in Seattle, the Athletics' Ben Grieve hits the club's major-league record 13th grand slam in an 8-2 win over the Mariners. A week later, Miguel Tejada would hit their 14th.

Oct. 1: Fittingly, Houston's Daryle Ward hits the final home run of the season. Where? Where else? Enron Field. FYI: For all those 249 Houston homers, where did it get them? From first place in 1999 to 23 games under .500 in 2000. Maybe the White Sox should take heed.

Local history

John Wehner, who hit the final home run at Three Rivers, isn't the only local kid who etched his name in history on the final weekend of the season. On Sept. 28, Cincinnati's Sean Casey (Upper St. Clair) reserved his niche when he hit the last home run in Milwaukee's County Stadium, a three-run shot in the fifth inning off of the Brewers' Jeff D'Amico. It was part of a 3-for-3, four-RBI day in the Reds' 8-1 win.

It was typical of Casey's strong second half. Strong? Set back by a broken thumb coming out of spring training, he was hitting .213 with two homers and nine RBIs on June 1. By the time the lights were turned off last Sunday, he was at .315 with 20 homers and 85 RBIs. So much for the one-year wonder theories.

"It's satisfying to be able to come back the way I did," Casey said.

Swing a bat

Maybe there will be life for Mark McGwire after he gives up his $9.3 million a year day job on Olympus. With his pinch-hit home run in Game 2 of the Cardinals' 10-4 NL division series win over the Braves Thursday, McGwire has 16 one at-bat appearances since coming off the disabled list Sept. 8. It was his third homer, a ratio of 1 every 5.33 at-bats. Better even than the 1 every 7.4 ABs he put up as a regular. "I'm just a pinch-hitter extraordinaire," McGwire joked afterward. "I'm Manny Mota, I guess."

Postseason jottings

Just a coincidence that the first three Yankees games were in prime time this week? And just a coincidence that when they weren't, the Mets were? ... How painful is the patella tendinitis in Mark McGwire's right knee? After homering Thursday, he said he had to keep one thing in mind as he ran the bases: "Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot." ... Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent are MVP candidates in San Francisco. But the value of aging Ellis Burks, who hit a three-run homer in Game 1 vs. the Mets Wednesday, should not be underestimated. The Giants are 74-38 with him in the lineup, 24-28 when he is not. ... Before Orlando Hernandez started against the A's Friday night, the Hernandez brothers -- Orlando (5-0) and Livan (5-0) -- were 10-0 in postseason play with three World Series rings.

Good, wild and ugly

Box score lines of the week:

Good: Andy Pettitte, Yankees. ... 72/3 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 Ks in a must-have, 4-0 win over Oakland in Game 2 of their division series Wednesday. George Steinbrenner no longer has the right (the power, yes; the right, no) to say one word about his toughness.

Wild: Rick Ankiel, Cardinals. ... Never before has one player so completely and utterly lived up to this honor. Five wild pitches in the third inning of Tuesday's division series opener vs. the Braves. "I guess I at least set a record," he said later. Ah, and a sense of humor far beyond his 21 years.

Ugly: Greg Maddux, Braves. ... 4 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 3 BBs, 2 Ks in a 7-5 loss to the Cardinals Tuesday. Just two weeks ago he was riding a 362/3 scoreless innings streak. Proof positive that no one has all the answers.

This 'n' that

Don't be surprised if you hear that Reds shortstop Barry Larkin will have a say in who the new Reds manager will be. ... Looking ahead. Thirteen players are scheduled to make at least $10 million in 2001, topped by Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown ($15,714,286). Of course, that is as of Oct. 8, 2000. The Alex Rodriguez Sweepstakes don't begin for another two months. ... Fellow free agent Juan Gonzalez is gearing up for the off-season, too. He hired attack dog Scott Boras as his new agent.

Shot and a jeer

Shot: A reminder for Pirates fans caught free-agent dreaming. Jason Kendall has already turned down a $60 million, six-year offer. Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina has already turned down $72 million for six years. Indians slugger Manny Ramirez has already turned down $75 million for five years.

Jeer: To the Tampa Bay Devil Rays who, for the honor of playing the national anthem before the season finale last Sunday at storied Tropicana Field, tried to charge each of the St. Petersburg High School band members $6 a head for the right. Uh, they declined.

Steve Ziants can be reached at sziants@post-gazette.com.