38 —- Wednesday, September 16, 1998 — North Shore News It's go IT’S the big, spectacu- lar play that brings the fans to their feet, spins the turnstiles and gives voice to millions of excited tongues. Distance and velocity are sport’s primary attractions. Sure, football fans turn our to see the ofd home. teain win, But, win or Jose, what really turns them on is the long touchdown pass, the bomb. Hockev fans have a decided taste tor the rumbus- tious, but nothing excites them more than the sight of the breakaway scoring opper- tunity. Tennis purists may dep!ore the growing dominance of the unreturnable, !40-mile- an hour serve. But the nen- Purists gasp in admiration. Golf fans don’t come out to see Tiger Woods chip and putt. They line the fairways to see him power his drives past the 300-yard markers. And so it is in baseball. The no-hitter is admirable. The sight of an outtielder climbing the fence ta make the impossible catch triggers brief applause. The rarely executed triple play brings the game’s purists to their feet. But only the purists. 22239992009999) cascade 323322272233: PaRESPISITIIISIDSLISISI PIPES ISIS ESS S © TALE CEE ELEC EEE DE DSTSDFEIIPIZIDIID PITY: north shore news © SPORTS What the masses want, what sends them into paroxysms of eestacy, is the hame cun, tcis, perhaps, the most dramaue play in all of sport, because it ts a done star accomplishment and there's a certain finality to it, With some truth it has been said baseball is not really a team sport. It’s a series of one-on- one confrontations (pitcher versus batter} encased in a team format. The quarterback may throw the perfect touchdown bomb, bur if the receiver drops the ball, it goes for nought. The hockey player picking up the breakaway pass at the red line, and going in alone to score, needs help. Who made ‘the perfect pass to send him on his way? The home run hitter does it all on his own. Then the dramatic moment is milked for all it’s worth by the cere- monial tour around the bases, ‘Value Mark . AU-Seasan. tue S aahdentatateg engine clean. 2. Top up ail tluids* under the hood, including brake, ditferential, transmission, antifreeze, of windshield washer fluid. 3. Adjust and tighten belts and hoses for improved driving petormance, as sequired. _imoroved srving pestormance, as requiea. | GBMS Code 047220 baseballs answer to the post: coitus glow, Cricket is the only other game where a ball going beyond the field of play counts for something. But it’s an English invention, and understatement being the English mode of emphasis, when the ball is hit beyond the boundary for an automat- ic six rans, rhe batsman does- it do a ceremonial back- and-forth shuttle between the stumps. He just stays where he is, the six are chalked up and they get on with the game, With another week and a halfto go in the schedule, the only question now is: how many more homers will Mark McGwire — and Sammy Sosa — put into the upper and lower decks before playoff time? And should either or both end up in the high 60s, how long will it take for some other well- muscled mercenary to come along with 70? As is constantly recited, records are only made to be broken, Babe Ruth's 1927 record of 60 lasted 34 years. And Reger Maris’s 61 in ’6) lasted 37 years. Also often recited is the notion that while comparisons are invidi- ous, they also are inevitable. With the St. Louis ‘ al Weather Radial “87 Concorde SR° Value Priced Pertormange ing up and out of here Cardinals 20 games or so out of the divisional lead, McGwire can't go on and do what Ruth and Maris did in their record-setting vears. He can't follow up by leading his team te a World Series cham- pionship. Marts’s 61 homers and his selection that vear and the next as the American League's MVP failed to land him in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY. The rules are specific - the candidate’s entire career must be outstanding —- and the selectors are tough. They point out that Roger had only three outstanding seasons ina 12-year career that lists his batting average as .260 and his home run total as 272. ‘These are not Hall of Fame numbers. If the same standards are used to judge McGwire, he too, despite all this late summer hysteria, likely won’t be elect ed. Hall of Famer Ruth was another case altogether. The vear he hit his 60, his barting average was .356. His carcer average was .342. McGwire’s is less than .290. During his career he broke more than 50 records and Jed the American League in home runs for 12 Sez Ruth page 39 Workhorse Radial © Ecanomy Pickug. Sport utility - SuperSport AP All-Season Pickug. Sport Uulity-- 1, Lube, oil and ail filter replacement to keep your 4. 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