Nobody knows, not even Sammy Sosa, how many reporters interviewed him this spring. It probably was somewhere between 200 and 300–a stampede.
Among all the questions asked, only one stumped him: How many home runs do you think you will hit this season?
“I don’t know,” Sosa repeatedly replied. “See me after the season.”
He could hit 66 again, or 70. Or he could drop to 40 or 45, his previous range.
Last year the Mark McGwire-Sosa home run duel was the most exciting in diamond history. No question about that. Both exceeded the previous one-season record of 61 Roger Maris set in 1961.
There was more. Two others hit 50 or or more: Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr., 56, and San Diego’s Greg Vaughn, 50. In all, 13 players hit 40 or more, another record.
During the September stretch, I was visiting with Rafael Palmeiro, then with Baltimore. Palmeiro, who broke in with the Cubs, hit 43. I expressed regret he wasn’t among the long-ball leaders. “Next year, I’m going to start earlier,” he said.
But there is a danger. Trying for home runs could be harmful.
The Cubs’ Glenallen Hill, who has better than average power, is convinced it’s the wrong approach.
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“You can’t try to hit home runs,” he said.
“There is nobody in the game who can do that. It’s just something that happens.”
What about McGwire and Sosa? They were swinging for the fences. Hill disagreed.
“What happens is you get locked into a zone,” he said. “Over the season about 1,800 pitches are thrown to you. Once you try to do more than you’re capable of, that’s when the trouble begins.”
Cubs coach Billy Williams, a Hall of Famer, was asked for his opinion. Would there be more home runs this season?
“I don’t think so,” Williams said. “I don’t think you’ll find an 8-10 home run guy going up to 20.”
Former Cubs manager Whitey Lockman, now a superscout with the Florida Marlins, told of his experience when he played for the old New York Giants.
“It was in 1954, the year we won the pennant,” Lockman recalled.
“Before the season began, in spring training, (General Manager) Chub Feeney told me he wanted me to hit more home runs. I said, `Chub, I’m not a home run hitter.’ “
Lockman followed orders and had a career high of 16 home runs, almost twice as many as the previous season.
“But it didn’t work,” Lockman said. “My average dropped 44 points. And Chub and I agreed I should go back to my usual swing.”
Al Lopez, who managed the 1959 White Sox, Chicago’s last pennant winner, had an outstanding 18-year playing career. Among other things, he set a record for most games caught, a mark that since has been broken.
Lopez tried for a home run only once. It was when he was playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates in Philadelphia against Ray Harrell.
“He threw me a breaking ball,” Lopez said. “I didn’t get hold of it. Popped it up.” When he returned to the dugout, Lopez told teammate Danny MacFayden, “If I get that same pitch again, I’m going to hit it into the seats.”
MacFayden said if Lopez did he would buy him a suit. And the next time up, Lopez connected for one of his 52 career home runs.
“When I got to second I looked into the dugout, and MacFayden wasn’t there,” Lopez said. “He had gone into the clubhouse. I never did get that suit of clothes.
“The game has changed. We felt terrible if we struck out two or three times. One year, Bill Terry was holding out for more money. (Manager John) McGraw told him for that kind of money he would have to hit more home runs.”
Terry, who once hit .401, obliged and slugged 10 home runs in the first month and watched his average drop to .260.
“Forget it,” McGraw told him. “Just swing straight away.”