The talk had flowed everywhere for weeks. Who'd catch it? Should they keep it? Would the IRS come calling?
And the most pressing question: Give it back gratis or take Mark McGwire and the Cardinals for as much cash and cool stuff as possible?
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| AP PHOTO Mark McGwire pumps his fist after the swing that made history: Home run No. 62 was a low line drive that just cleared the fence in left field. The game was delayed for about 10 minutes as the St. Louis crowd roared and McGwire's teammates mobbed him at home plate. |
He promptly set about returning the specially and secretly marked, individually numbered ball to The Man Of The Hour.
"It's not mine to begin with," the 22-year-old Forneris said, though technically it was once he got his hands on it. "McGwire just lost it, and I brought it home. I'm just a regular Joe."
At a postgame ceremony, Forneris presented McGwire with the ball.
"Mr. McGwire, I think I have something that belongs to you," he said.
McGwire took the ball, looked at it and held it up triumphantly. The Hall of Fame then took possession of the ball, as well as McGwire's bat and uniform.
When the ball flew off McGwire's bat, Forneris and his brother, Tino, were working behind the outfield fence under, appropriately enough, a sign for "Target" department stores. Both joined other members of the ground crew in a mad dash to where they thought it would land, under a "Konica Copiers & Printers" sign.
"I figure, if it's not gone, it's going to hit the wall. If it is gone, it's mine," Forneris said.
He beat them all.
"He was always the better player," Tino Forneris said.
In the left-field stands, fans suddenly certain they wouldn't get to the ball rushed out to the smoking areas and restrooms, lining the concourse.
Forneris stuffed the ball into his shirt and ran onto the field with dozens of other employees as McGwire rounded the bases. He gave the prize to Cardinals equipment manager Buddy Bates.
"It makes everybody happy," Cardinals spokesman Brian Bartow said. "Our employees love the game just like the fans do. I am not surprised that an employee felt so strongly about it that he rushed to give it to Mark."
There was some initial confusion when an unidentified man handed a ball to McGwire shortly after the home run. But the slugger said he looked at the ball and said he knew it wasn't the one.
"It said 'Official League,' not 'National League,'" McGwire said at a postgame news conference. "So I gave it back."
McGwire has said the ball belongs in Cooperstown - at the Baseball Hall of Fame, home of 5,000 other significant baseballs.
"It's refreshing," said Don Marr, the hall's president, carrying a case containing the bat Roger Maris used to hit No. 61. "People short-change America. These baseball fans are showing their true colors."
McGwire's last six home-run balls have been returned to him.
Fans who saw No. 62 but didn't get the ball had to think about it for a while, but most arrived at the same verdict.
"I would definitely give it back,'' said Rich Keim of St. Louis.
"I think it's great Mark got the ball. I would have done the same thing,'' said Bridget Dawson, also of St. Louis.
"We didn't come here to try to catch the ball. I wasn't going to get killed going for that baseball,'' said Rick Miller of Alton, Ill. ''I just wanted to see him hit the home run.''
There was a brief flurry over the weekend when there were reports that whoever caught the ball might be taxed heavily even if they gave it away.
09-09-98
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