McGwire on Up Close

"Last year we were chasing 61. Now you are chasing 70," says Big Mac. It's a little bit farther away. At this time I don't think it's a big deal."

McGwire recently joined ESPN's Gary Miller on Up Close to talk about this year's home run race, meeting Ted Williams at the All-Star Game and his own future in baseball.

The following is an edited transcript of the interview.

Miller: Do you ever get used to all the attention? (Getting the 500th home run)

McGwire: I don't think you can ever get used to the focus just on you as an individual. If someone says they like it, I'd have to question that. It's just concentration and preparation that are the main things that I look at. Going into the game trying to hit 500 and Tony Gwynn trying to get his 3,000th hit, there was some tension there. It was just a matter of fact that it was going to happen one day or another. It would have been neat if Tony had got a hit there. It would have been the first time in history for the 3,000th hit and 500 home runs in one game.

Miller: We are amazed that you seem to always do it on cue.

McGwire: They say 'get it over as soon as possible.' I don't know, it just seems the last couple years it has happened. But believe me it's not easy. It goes back to the concentration and preparation. And of course, hitting the home run you have to get a pitch to hit. And when you put those three things together, things can happen.

Miller: Are you finding that guys are challenging you these days. Are they pitching you different these days saying 'I'm going to be the guy to get McGwire?'

McGwire: They always challenge me. But challenging me doesn't mean they throw over the middle of plate. They try to use that full 17 inches, get that outside corner, inside corner. It's rare that I see a lot of balls over the middle of the plate.... That guy out there on the mound get paid a lot of money to get me out. If I don't hit home runs for weeks a time, they say 'what's wrong with Mark?' There's nothing wrong with Mark. There is a guy on the mound trying to get me out and that is what he is paid to do.

Miller: What has changed and developed with you relationship with Sammy (Sosa)?

McGwire: I just think that we have the utmost respect for each other. We both know what it takes to play this game, to hit home runs on a consistent basis. I think we are showing a lot of people what we're doing. We don't know where we are going to finish up this year. We now have a pretty good number (47 home runs each). A lot of people were questioning why it had happen with two people like that. And hopefully this year we can end up with a nice number that people don't have to question anymore.

Miller: People are putting you guys with Magic/Bird, Russell/Chamberlain, Ali/Frazier, what was your favorite rivalry growing up?

McGwire: I'd have to probably say Magic/Bird. That was it. When Boston and the Lakers went at it, everybody focused on those two guys. Basketball is a little different than baseball. In basketball you can give it to the guy and he can control the game. With Sammy and myself, we don't have any control. We can prepare what we are going to do but there is guy on the mound who has to throw the ball.

Miller: You seem to answer each other, though. Especially this weekend. You took a lead on him and then he comes back with a couple on Sunday. How much different is it when you are both on the same field?

McGwire: To me it's just another game. People talk about how far I've come as a hitter; he has done the same thing. I remember playing against him when he was with the White Sox. He was a skinny outfielder and he has built himself up to be a strong power hitter. He's got great work ethics and he plays everyday. It's something that the Chicago fans and the fans around America should be proud of.

Miller: According to Walt Jocketty (the Cardinals GM), and you probably didn't want him to let this secret out, you really wanted to at least at tie Sammy or beat Sammy last year? He took the lead from you for about an hour, but then you had that incredible final weekend....

McGwire: That was amazing. Who would ever think that I would hit five home runs in the last three days. That's why I think at the press conference at the end of last year that I sat back and said 'you know what, I'm in awe of myself.' How could you not be. The last three games of the season, we're playing for basically nothing. We're facing a team, Montreal, that has a bunch of young pitchers that are very, very aggressive. But I really hadn't faced them since the last part of April or beginning of May. So I didn't know what to expect. They went after me and I kept my concentration and preparation and things happened.

Miller: How different is yours and Sammy Sosa's home run pace different this time around?

McGwire: I don't think it's a big deal. Last year we were chasing 61. Now you are chasing 70. It's a little bit farther away. At this time I don't think it's a big deal. They are calling it Home Run Derby II. We just have to wait and see how things develop.

Miller: You know Hank Aaron never hit fifty in a season?

McGwire: I know that is absolutely amazing.

Miller: What is the magic number now? Is sixty now the new number?

McGwire: I believe sixty will be gotten to again. But you know in the history of the game, only 18 players have ever reached 50 home runs. That's unheard of. Myself, Sammy and Griffey have done it consistently. I still think 50 is the mark. If you are going to hit 50, you are a pretty good power hitter.

Miller: Is it mind boggling that, if you pick up the pace even just a little, that you could get 600 by the end of next year or early 2001?

McGwire: Yes it is, considering what I have gone through in my career. The adversity I have gone through. In '93 and '94, I didn't play. I hit nine home runs each of those years. But things happen for a reason. People ask me 'why are you getting better.' I say 'it's sort of like a bottle of wine. I think you get better with age.' You also get gray hairs!

Miller: The thing we remember from the All-Star Game is Ted Williams, who likes to challenge people and loves to talk to hitters. We can almost read his lips when he is out there on the mound talking to you and asking about the bat and the smell of the wood burning, what was it like?

McGwire: People have asked me what's the best part of baseball up to this time that I have ever accomplished or seen or done, and it had to be that moment. You have Hall of Famers, guys who are going to be in the Hall of Fame, you have All-Stars, and you probably have the best hitter of all time coming on to the mound right there and then everybody closing in, and you see tears coming out of Ted Williams' eyes. It was incredible. I think everybody wanted to start crying there. Then the Public Address announcer in Boston says 'OK, can you players please go back to your dugouts'... We are all like, 'you've got to be kidding me.' This is a moment. People might forget about the game but they won't forget what happened there. It was so important to baseball and what Ted Williams has done and what he has gone through with his health, it was just an awesome, awesome moment.

Miller: Tony La Russa's contract is up at the end of this year... What do you think he will do as far as signing an extension?

McGwire: He'll be here. It's just like a player going into the season and not wanting to do a negotiation. All he said was 'let's just wait 'till after the season, I don't want a negotiation to get in way of what I want to do to prepare the team to go out there and play.' And that's all it came down to. I think the media blew it out of proportion: "he doesn't know what he wants to do, he might go here" and reports came out that he might go to Baltimore. He'll be here. He'll be a St. Louis Cardinal. The people love him here, the owners love him, and he's probably one of the best managers if not the best manager in the game.

Miller: You can empathize with what Jose Canseco's gone through with injuries.. He may be back in the lineup this Friday.. How do you feel about your bash brother's renaissance?

McGwire: It's outstanding. I'm so happy for him. There was a time when he probably thought he didn't know how much more he was going to play. He started to get the feel back and started swinging the bat real well and has a great year up in Toronto and he goes to Tampa Bay and it's unfortunate about his back (surgery). I know how bad it is.... I wish him the best of luck. He's gotten to 400 and he'll get to 500. I guarantee you that.

Miller: In the early 90's you had your own health problems and in '96 you thought about quitting. What would you be doing now if you had quit?

McGwire: I'd probably be coaching. I want to coach. I think I'm going to take a year or two off after I retire. But then I want to get back in and teach. If it's the minor league level or if it's up here on the big league level. I believe the mental aspect of the game is not taught that much in the minor league system. A lot of kids come up here, thinking they can play on their physical ability. It just doesn't happen. You have to learn how to use your mind. This game is 99% mental. The sooner you learn how to use your mind, the better you are going to be and the longer career you are going to have.

Miller: Mark McGwire the manager?

McGwire: I would never rule it out. I love this game too much. It's just something I want to do. I want to teach. I want to be around the ball park. It's in my blood.