T E A M � N O T E B O O K From Pro Sports Xchange -- July 2, 1998 INSIDE PITCH Martha Hutchinson came to St. Louis on Tuesday (June 30) to watch son Chad Hutchinson sign a contract with the Cardinals. It was an exciting day, a proud day for the family. But she couldn't stay long, as she had to rush back to San Diego for her job. "I'd like to spend more time here," she said. "I'll definitely be here when Chad pitches for the Cardinals for the first time." The way their pitching has gone this season, that might be sooner than she thinks. But for now, just signing his first pro contract was huge for Hutchinson, 21, drafted in the second round and No. 48 overall last month. His parents, his girlfriend, his brother and sisters came for the event, as Hutchinson signed his record-setting contract with the Cardinals. Taken in the second round of this year's draft, with the 48th selection overall, the right-handed pitcher received a $2.3 million signing bonus and $1.1 million spread over the next four years, according o a source. The package is the richest the Cardinals ever have given to a drafted player. Hutchinson said the money is important, since it will help his mom ease some of the financial strains she's endured raising a family of five children. "But other factors outweighed the money," he said. "It's more of a lifestyle issue. I've been grooming myself for this for a long time. I had a tough year physically playing football last year. I saw how hard football can be on your body. When I'm 40, I'd like to be able to walk around and have fun. "And being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, it just felt right." Hutchinson was drafted in the first round by the Atlanta Braves out of high school three years ago. He chose to play baseball and football at Stanford instead so he could decide which sport he really preferred to pursue on the pro level. Most of his time was devoted to football the last three years, which explains how he was able to win the starting quarterback job the last two seasons. He was regarded as one of the top college quarterbacks in the nation for the coming season and might have had a pro future in that sport. "This is great for baseball that he chose baseball over football," Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said. "He's one of the best young arms I've seen around the country in a long time, and he's one of the best young arms we've had in our organization for a long time. And we've had some good ones." His fastball was clocked at 97 mph at Stanford this past season. He also throws a slider and split-finger fastball. Control and perhaps adding a changeup will be his first orders of business. Hutchinson hasn't thrown much since the end of his college season. So he'll need some time to get into shape, then will join the Cardinals' New Jersey team in the Class A New York-Penn League -- the same place Cardinals pitchers such as Alan Benes and Matt Morris made their pro debuts. "He'll go at his own pace," Jocketty said, "which I think would be pretty quick." BY THE NUMBERS: 15-17 -- Cardinals' record in games when Mark McGwire hits a home run. QUOTE TO NOTE: "We stink." -- Cardinals outfielder Brian Jordan. NOTES, QUOTES, ANECDOTES Apparently being No. 2 is better than being No. 1, because Colorado's Dante Bichette is going to the All-Star Game as a reserve outfielder while Cardinals outfielder Brian Jordan is staying home. Jordan leads the National League in hitting with a .345 batting mark, is on pace to hit about 30 home runs and more than 100 runs, and he's provided solid protection for Mark McGwire since moving into the cleanup spot. What's more, he's one of the best defensive outfielders in the game. "It goes to show you that they should expand the rosters to at least 35 players," said McGwire, who will be the Cardinals' lone All-Star representative. "A guy leading the league in hitting doesn't make it -- it's sad." Jordan said: "It gives me the incentive to cuss more people out. But what can you do?" He said he and his personal trainer, Bob Kersee, were angry when they saw the names of the reserve selections scroll across the television screen. Jordan thinks it didn't help that his season might have been overlooked in the shadows cast by McGwire. "Everybody keeps telling me they're waiting for a breakthrough year," Jordan said. "I thought '96 was my breakthrough year, but they still had question marks after getting injured. So I'll just break through again and again. Whatever it takes." Jordan could still go to the All-Star Game if Colorado outfielder Larry Walker can't go because of his elbow problems. But, said Jordan, he'd prefer not being an injury replacement. The Cardinals used the opportunity of Hutchinson's signing to spend some serious time talking with agent Scott Boras about first-round draft pick J.D. Drew -- Boras also is Hutchinson's agent. General manager Walt Jocketty and members of the Cardinals' ownership group talked long into the night Tuesday. Willie McGee is in the throes of a horrid slump. He's hitless in 15 consecutive at-bats and has only one hit in his last 26 at-bats ... Shortstop Royce Clayton says he feels no pain in his ribs, where he suffered a strain that put him on the disabled list, and will start swinging a bat again Thursday (July 2). He expects to be playing again July 9 ... The Cardinals' 3-9 record in interleague play is the worst in the major leagues. "Terrible, terrible," manager Tony La Russa said. "It's embarrassing to not represent the league better than that, just embarrassing." Kent Mercker started for the Cardinals on Wednesday (July 1), his first pitching appearance in more than a month since taking a line drive off his left knee in mid-May. That shot hit a nerve that caused numbness and limited movement in his left foot. Mercker has been able to throw thanks to a brace on his lower left leg and back of his foot, with a spring device that pushes his foot back into the proper position, and he's been anxious to get back on the mound knowing the straits of the club's pitching staff. He clearly wasn't ready to return, however. Mercker got only five outs and allowed six hits, two walks and five runs. The Cardinals also added rookie catcher Eli Marrero to their 25-man roster after promoting him again from Class AAA Memphis. He's likely to get the playing time that had been going to Tom Lampkin, who will be used primarily as a left-handed pinch hitter. "I hate to get strapped into saying that Lampkin is not going to catch," La Russa said. "But he gives us another bat off the bench." And it's time to give Marrero some regular catching duties at the big-league level to prepare him for taking over next season. To make room for Mercker and Marrero, the Cardinals dispatched pitcher Brady Raggio to Memphis -- the jury still is out on whether he's going to be ready to pitch in the big leagues, as he's alternated between throwing well and looking miserable in his few opportunities -- and designated infielder Shawn Gilbert for assignment. Little was expected from Gilbert, a utility infielder acquired from the Mets in a minor-league deal earlier this season. The Cardinals are sticking to their plan for Matt Morris to start Sunday (July 5) at Cincinnati. Morris, the top rookie pitcher in baseball last season, has made only one start this year because of a nerve problem in his pitching shoulder. But he's made three starts on his current rehab. In his most recent one, on Tuesday (June 30) with Class AAA Memphis, he worked 3 2/3 innings. ROSTER REPORT BATTING ORDER -- 2B Delino DeShields (.314-3-29, 17 stolen bases, hitless in his last 10 at-bats), 3B Gary Gaetti (.265-7-29), 1B Mark McGwire (.315-37-87), RF Brian Jordan (.345-14-54), CF Ray Lankford (.271-11-38), LF John Mabry/Brian Hunter/Willie McGee (Mabry is at .270-6-27, Hunter has four homers and 13 RBIs in only 89 at-bats, McGee is at .268-1-22), C Tom Pagnozzi (.225-1-9) or Eli Marrero (.238), SS Luis Ordaz (3 hits in 24 at-bats). PITCHING MATCHUPS -- Thursday (July 2) vs. Kansas City, RHP Juan Acevedo (2-2, 3.98 ERA) vs. Hipolito Pichardo (4-6, 5.82 ERA). Friday (July 3) at Cincinnati, LHP Mike Remlinger (4-9, 4.57) vs. RHP Todd Stottlemyre (9-5, 2.81). Saturday (July 4), RHP Steve Parris (1-0, 0.90) vs. RHP Kent Bottenfield (2-5, 5.31). Sunday (July 5), RHP Brett Tomko (7-6, 4.92) vs. RHP Mark Petkovsek (5-4, 5.51). DISABLED LIST -- RHP Alan Benes (recovering from shoulder surgery), RHP Matt Morris (nerve problem in right shoulder), LHP Donovan Osborne (strained left shoulder), RHP Mike Busby (sprained ligament in right elbow), SS Royce Clayton (right rib-cage muscle). MINOR LEAGUE REPORT -- Mike Jorgensen, the Cardinals' director of player development, considers himself a conservative when it comes to heaping expectations on a young player or calling anyone a can't-miss prospect when they haven't gotten higher than Class A. But he feels compelled to make an exception for pitcher Rick Ankiel. "I'd be hard-pressed to think that we would have a better prospect right now," Jorgensen said. Ankiel hadn't pitched even one inning of pro ball until this season after being drafted out of high school last year. But he didn't need much time to conquer the challenge of the Class A Midwest League, where he listed 17 2/3 among his accomplishments before being promoted to the Carolina League. Ankiel, who won't turn 19 until July 19, is getting batters out with his fastball, curveball and changeup. The left-hander, overpowering at times, could well be working in the Class AA Texas League by the end of the season. "I've seen some large improvement in him just since spring training," Jorgensen said. "He's making adjustments pitch to pitch. I've never seen that in anybody that young." ST. LOUIS CARDINALS TEAM PAGE TEAM NOTEBOOKS Copyright (C) 1998 Pro Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved. Reprints, duplication or redistribution is prohibited without written permission from Pro Sports Xchange.

Well, gosh. This conference is so quiet. Let's talk about the home run race. It's the hottest thing in sports right now. I'm watching the Cubs game on webtv and Sammy Sosa just hit his 57th, so he's 2 behind the Cards Mark McGuire who has 59. The record is held by Roger Maris with 61. So they're swingin' for 62. They say whoever catches the 62nd homer will have a ball worth about 2 million bucks. The Cards will be playing the Cubs in about 3 games, so if no one has the record then and Sosa hits a coule of more then it could be one of the more interesting showdowns in sports.

Mark hit #60 while I was out gardening... you could hear several neighbors exclaim!

They're playing the Cubs now.

er, I mean the Reds.

Mad props to Sammy Sosa for handling Mac's record-breaking HR with such class. Even the Maris family was cool, considering only about two weeks ago I read a newspaper story quoting Maris' kids saying they didn't want Mac to break the record. And even though the groundskeeper did the right thing by giving Mac the ball, Mac should show his appreciation by cutting the guy a check, even if he doesn't have to.

Yeah he got a offered a million $ for it on the way to turn it over. How much can a groundskeeper make, and at least Mac could send his kids to college.

Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hits his 63rd home run of the season Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The blast, which gave him a one-homer lead over Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, was McGwire�s first since he broke Roger Maris� single-season record Sept. 8 and came in the ninth inning as a pinch-hitter.

Quite the contest between two talented batters... For posterity's sake, I suppose we should record the fact McGwire hit 70.

70 McGwire 66 Sosa Man, two back to back games for big Mac with 2 homers in each one. But Sammy's still the man in the Dominican Republic, and they need him.

i have a lot of admiration for mark mcguire (a great irishman, incidentally)... and for sammy sosa, as well (who does have somewhat of an irish look about him, if you look really closely)... that being said, must admit that the achievement is a little, well, "asterisk-ed", i suppose... really a record broken only technically... not only because 2 individuals "broke" the record simultaneously, not to mention the challenges presented by others- griffey, belle, the assorted vaughns (mo, greg, probably sarah)... ...but mainly because that record is rightly ruth's, and probably always will be... no other athlete (including michael jordan or wayne gretzky) has (before or since) dominated his peers as the babe did, or so indelibly marked his sport...(or the culture not only of his country, but of the world... ray robinson (a baseball writer) said that if ruth rose out of his grave today, people everywhere would recognize him, that you could set him on a street in east africa and people would know who he was...(that's probably true)...)... mainly i think that's because ruth is the genuine article, a rare instance of hype being subordinate to reality... a few things to consider... 1) mcguire (and sosa, too) have generated awe because of the distance they hit the ball (and rightly so)... mcguire in particular has received a lot of press for several 500 foot shots this season... in '27, the year ruth hit 60, he hit a home run exceeding 500 feet in every park in the american league... i read once that ruth's average (AVERAGE!) homer that year travelled 480 feet (mcguire may have averaged 420)... that, i believe, ranks as maybe one of the greatest, most awesome achievements in the history of sports... it is just mind boggling, so deviant from the norm that it seems impossible... (especially when you consider the terrible shape ruth was in by that stage in his career, having gained all that weight, never training, hardly practicing, never taking steroids or lifting weights, unless you count hotdogs and beer)... 2) in ruth's day, there was no foul pole... if a ball was fair when it left the park, and curved foul after, it was ruled foul... (and from newspaper accounts, it has been deduced that ruth lost between 4 and 6 homeruns that year because of that long obsolete rule)... (before anyone cites the old saw about balls bouncing out of the park being considered homers then (which is true, they're ground rule doubles now), realize that every homer ruth hit in his career left the park in the air)... 3) when ruth hit his 60, he outhomered not only very player... he outhomered every TEAM in the american league... he accounted for nearly 15% of the homeruns hit in the league... (for mcguire or sosa to accomplish this, they'd need to hit more than 300)... read this in the seattle times: (bill jenkinson is a noted baseball historian) " "I assumed Ruth would be great for his time but that he wouldn't compare to the modern athlete," said Jenkinson, based outside Philadelphia. "What I found was that he hit the baseball harder and farther than anyone in history. That's an extraordinary statement, completely illogical. There's no other athletic endeavor where a man born in a prior generation - indeed, a prior century - is demonstrably superior to the current performers." Jenkinson is often asked to pinpoint what caused Ruth to distance himself so far from his peers that they still chase him half a century later. "I've settled on the following term: biological aberration," he said. "We have prodigies. They happen. We have a Mozart, an Einstein. You cannot explain Ruth. He should not have happened." "

Interesting perspective. I didn't realize how great Ruth really was till I read those stats. Raw numbers don't tell the whole story.

as a babe ruth fan (i take his birthday off from work every year) i couldn't agree more! thanks for posting that info.

couple more (astounding) babe facts... many consider his 1920-21 seasons (his first with the yankees, when he still weighed under 200 lbs.) to be the greatest in history... he hit .377 for those 2 years, averaged 56.5 homers, 40 doubles, and 12.5 triples... in total of 294 games, he drove in 307 runs, and scored 335 (!)...with a slugging percentage of .847 (!!!)... nearly as amazing is his 2-year on-base-percentage of .527... he also had 38 assists in the field (outstanding numbers)... and stole 31 bases (he led the yankees in steals both years)... (babe stole bases even when he got fat, and even when he got old... in fact, the only season of his major league career in which he didn't steal a base was his last, with boston, when he was 41 years old, and probably 250 lbs.)... i read a fascinating statistic in one of bill james abstracts... it's called 'estimated runs produced', and the object is to refine all statistics to meaningfully measure a player's contribution to winning games (by creating runs)... it is computed by a rather complicated formula, which i won't bore you with, but ruth is of course far and away the leader in this category (averaging 202 created runs per 162 played for his career)... these are the top ten seasonal performances, est. runs prod., in history: 1) babe ruth (1920)... 274 2) babe ruth (1923)... 266 3) ted williams (1941)... 265 4) babe ruth (1921)... 262 5) ted williams (1957)... 245 6) babe ruth (1926)... 239 7) babe ruth (1924)... 237 8) rogers hornsby (1925)... 231 9) babe ruth (1927)... 230 10) rogers hornsby (1924)... 228 thus babe ruth accounted for 6 of the 9 greatest seasons in major league history... and did so in an 8 year span in his career... and if it wasn't for 'the stomach ache heard 'round the world' in '22 (probably a venereal disease, i've read), and his suspension in '25, it well could've been 8-for-8 (and the ensuing years- '28 through '32- weren't too shabby, either; he hit .349 for those 5 years, and averaged 47 homers and 150 rbis... and the preceding years- '15 through '19, when he pitched for the red sox- were outstanding, too, averaging 20 wins and 10 losses the first 4 years, setting the world series record for consecutive scoreless innings, achieving a cumulative e.r.a. of 2.08 for that period (the 2 years '15-'16, he won 47 games and lost 25, with an e.r.a. of 1.88, and an opponent's batting average of .195 (!)... a better 2 year run (e.r.a.-wise) than christy mathewson, carl hubbell, or cy young ever had)... ruth was the BEST left handed pitcher in the game, and may have been on the way to being the best overall (and was certainly talented enough to have been a hall-of-famer on the basis of his pitching alone)... anyway, there is no equivalent of ruth in baseball, or in any other sport... he was a once-in-a-century kind of athlete... (really cool, incidentally, taking his birthday off... might adopt that tradition myself... hmmm, then just need one more to do it)... (and it becomes a movement, like arlo said)...

Wow, no modern day players made the list. Wonder what Sosa, Maris, and MacGwire's stats were by comparison?

Babe Ruth was to baseball what Michael Jordan was to basketball. (Yes, WAS, MJ's retired, get over it.) Not only the dominant player of the game, but also someone who turned a lot of fans onto the game who normally wouldn't watch it.

figured it up... mac's est. runs produced for this past season was 189... (respectable, but nowhere near any of the most productive seasons in history)... lifetime, mac achieves a 123 (#10 on the alltime list is joe dimaggio, at 141)... sosa this season achieved a 173... maris, in his '61 record-breaking season, came in at 141 (mantle actually scored better that year than the supposed mvp maris, achieving a highly respectable 157)... jeff bagwell's mvp season ('93, i think) was far more productive than any of those cited above (214, ranking with the greatest twenty, i should think, seasonal performances in history)... lifetime, bags scores at 130 (prob. top 50 or so alltime)...

Where does Mac's 189 rank in the all time list?

not sure... (the list i saw only went to ten)... i'll see if i can figure it out though...

by the way... the white rat is 67 today (saw it in the statesman)

White rat?

yeah, whitey herzog... with respects to red, he's my favorite cards manager...

Jack Buck did the Cardinals games for about 30 years, I think I heard on NPR. What a great trio, Jack Buck, Harry Carey and Joe Garagiola. These three did the Cardinals games on KMOX that I listened to as a child growing up in St. Louis.

I saw the tribute from Hut's down on West Sixth Street, there was no sound on the tv but I could Jack Buck's son giving a speech as Busch Stadium and they unveiled a statue. The two for one veggie burgers were great. And then we went to a session on intimacy at BookPeople with Karen Kreps and her special guest.