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While Ruth drank staggering amounts, slept around to rival Wilt Chamberlain and smoked his own Babe Ruth brand of cigars, McGwire drinks protein supplements, lifts weights and spends his free time with his son. And though he seems gruff to reporters, he's much looser with his teammates. Looser perhaps, beneath the surface, than the media-friendly Griffey. "I'll guarantee Griffey is no more popular with his teammates than Mark McGwire. Any comedian should put him in the audience. He laughs at anything," says the humorless LaRussa.
In fact, comedians do put him in the audience. Over the years, McGwire has befriended lots of stand-ups, because he loves going to comedy clubs. He brings a towel, which he bites during the show to mute his loud, high-pitched laugh. Last weekend comedian Scott LaRose took him to a gig at St. Louis' Funny Bone and set up a gag by ragging on McGwire while Big Mac crept onstage in back of him, glowering, huge arms crossed.
Part of the reason McGwire avoids the media glare on his individual home-run record is his commitment to the team, even a lousy, losing one like the Cardinals. "Down deep, he's proud of his record and enjoys it, but he doesn't really appreciate the attention," says LaRussa. "Players are raised in a team sport to do whatever it takes to win, and all of a sudden everyone is trying to get him to take four swings at a home run every day. That's not the way the game is played." The attention is so focused on McGwire that the game has been a background to his chase. Opposing fans give him standing ovations when he smacks one out against their team. Fans leave after his last at bat. The local hotels are stocked with fathers and sons who drive in from Arkansas and Wisconsin for weekend games. They are there less to enjoy baseball than to share a piece of history. And to see someone smack the bejeezus out of the ball.
Batting practice has become a sideshow. The third-base-side lower tier and right-field seats are packed two hours before each Cardinal game to roar as McGwire launches balls into the upper decks. And the show, more often than not, is legitimately more exciting than most major league games. He's been doing it since college, when he once broke the window of a BMW in the parking lot; he missed a car in Denver's Coors Field lot by inches this year. McGwire is the only man ever to get standing ovations during batting practice. Michael Jordan doesn't get this attention during pregame shoot-around. People even keep stats of his batting practice. It's like your co-workers crowding your office every morning at 8:45 to calculate how much coffee you drink and how fast you read the paper.