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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Just like last season, Mark McGwire closed with a handful of home runs.
| | Big Mac takes a curtain call after blasting his 65th HR. |
McGwire hit his 65th homer and Sammy Sosa hit his 63rd Sunday as the St. Louis Cardinals closed out an otherwise dismal year with a
9-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs in a game called after 4½ innings
because of rain.
McGwire homered six times in the final seven games, and moved
past Ted Williams and Willie McCovey into 10th place on the career
list with 522. Last year, he homered five times in the final three
games to pull away from Sosa, 70-66.
Throughout the season, McGwire insisted his home-run
accomplishments meant nothing compared to how the Cardinals fared.
St. Louis finished 75-86 and 21½ games behind in the NL Central.
"I'm pretty proud of myself as far as how I overcame a lot of
things and to put up the numbers I put up this year," McGwire
said. "It just goes to show you the mind is a lot stronger than
people think."
McGwire said the same thing about Sosa, whose team finished 30
games back in the NL Central.
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CAREER HOME RUN LEADERS
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Player
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HR
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Hank Aaron
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755
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Babe Ruth
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714
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Willie Mays
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660
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Frank Robinson
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586
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Harmon Killebrew
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573
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Reggie Jackson
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563
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Mike Schmidt
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548
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Mickey Mantle
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536
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Jimmie Foxx
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534
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Mark McGwire
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522
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Ted Williams
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521
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Willie McCovey
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521
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Eddie Mathews
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512
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Ernie Banks
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512
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Mel Ott
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511
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Eddie Murray
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504
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"He had an absolutely wonderful year," McGwire said. "I think
both of our years were obviously very difficult because of what
happened with both teams not doing so well."
McGwire became the first NL player since Dale Murphy in 1984-85
to win successive titles. This was his fourth crown overall, having
won two AL titles with Oakland.
Sosa emerged from a long silence to hit No. 63, a three-run shot
in the third off Larry Luebbers. Sosa led the home run derby 59-54 on Sept. 9, but finished with only two in the last 11 games and his
final homer was his first in 18 at-bats.
"I am a happy man, not disappointed," Sosa said. "I had a
great year. For me, that's something to be happy about."
Sosa was already looking forward to another duel. The Cardinals
open against the Cubs April 3 at Busch Stadium, although the Cubs
start with two games against the Mets in Japan first.
"I'm going to go home and relax and work hard to get ready to
come back for the year 2000," Sosa said. "I hope that next year
we can both have another great year."
Sosa did tie for the major league strikeout lead, however, at
171 with Cleveland's Jim Thome.
There were two rain delays, costing each player perhaps two more
at-bats. The first delay, which came with Sosa at the plate and the
bases loaded in the fifth, lasted only 16 minutes. The second delay
lasted one hour and 24 minutes.
McGwire connected in the first inning on a 2-2 fastball from
Steve Trachsel (8-18), who allowed McGwire's record-setting 62nd home run last year.
The drive, estimated at 461 feet, was McGwire's fourth straight
homer to straightaway center, and a kid wearing a McGwire jersey
wound up with the ball following a scramble.
"I couldn't care less about Sosa and McGwire," Trachsel said.
McGwire also homered in the first inning Saturday and outhomered
Sosa 2-1 in the final series although he also walked five times -- twice on Sunday. He also led the league with 147 RBIs, matching his
career high he set last year, and became the first player in
history to finish with more RBIs than hits (145) in a season.
The closest before this year was Jay Buhner of Seattle, who had
121 RBIs and 126 hits in 1995. McGwire had been second-closest with
147 RBIs and 152 hits last year.
Fernando Tatis had a two-run single and Thomas Howard also drove
in a run in a three-run fourth that put St. Louis ahead 9-5.
Trachsel, who had been 4-1 in September and was coming off a
complete game, lasted only 3 1/3 innings. He gave up eight runs,
six earned, on eight hits.
Luebbers (3-3) gave up five runs on six hits in four innings,
and Rick Ankiel worked the fifth for his first career save.
Game notes
Sosa hit 30 homers on the road, one fewer than his club
record last year. ... A closing sellout of 47,998 gave the
Cardinals a total attendance of 3,230,356, breaking the record of
3,194,092 they set last year. They accomplished it in only 79 home
dates, due to two rainouts. ... Tatis was 9-for-13 with the bases
loaded with 13 RBIs, including a two-run single in the fourth. ...
Willie McGee, who's likely to retire, finished the year in a
1-for-19 slump. ... The Cubs' Mark Grace was the hits leader of the
1990s with 1,754. The hits leaders of every other decade are in the
Hall of Fame. ... Trachsel's 18 losses are the most by a Cubs
pitcher since Bill Bonham lost 22 in 1974. ... Cardinals manager
Tony La Russa is likely to sign a contract extension in the next
few days, even though he's 319-328 in four seasons with the
Cardinals.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Chicago Cubs Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
Mark McGwire's home runs
Sammy Sosa's home runs
Cubs' Riggleman first manager to fall in firing line
Cubs' Grace finishes with most hits in the '90s
Going, going, gone: Record year for home runs
RECAPS
Toronto 9 Cleveland 2
Boston 1 Baltimore 0
Tampa Bay 6 NY Yankees 2
Minnesota 1 Chi. White Sox 1
Detroit 0 Kansas City 0
Anaheim 1 Texas 0
Oakland 3 Seattle 1
Atlanta 18 Florida 0
Philadelphia 6 Montreal 5
NY Mets 2 Pittsburgh 1
St. Louis 9 Chicago Cubs 5
Houston 9 Los Angeles 4
Colorado 9 San Francisco 8
Arizona 10 San Diego 3
Cincinnati 7 Milwaukee 1
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