McGwire among 5 inducted into A's Hall of Fame

OAKLAND -- After hearing about the inaugural class inducted into the A’s Hall of Fame last year, Mark McGwire couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever get the chance to join some of his former teammates. Sitting at his Orange County, Calif., home in June, he got that call from team president Dave Kaval.

“Dave called me and I was caught off guard,” McGwire said. “I didn’t know if I would get a call, but I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to tell my family. We had some great runs here. To play with so many Hall of Fame players and stud athletes, I’m truly blessed. The guys that grinded with me in the Minor Leagues and the coaches, I can’t thank them enough for molding me into the player that I became. They’re on that jacket, too.”

McGwire joined Tony La Russa, Vida Blue, Bert “Campy” Campaneris and Walter A. Haas, Jr. as the five members of the 2019 class that was officially enshrined into the A’s Hall of Fame during a pregame ceremony at Oakland Coliseum before Saturday’s game against the Rangers.

With so many historic moments in the final years of his career with the Cardinals that earned him a spot in their Hall of Fame for his five seasons spent in St. Louis, McGwire’s time with the A’s can tend to get overlooked by those outside of the Bay Area. But after winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1987, earning nine All-Star selections and capturing a World Series championship in 1989 over his 12 seasons with Oakland, McGwire never forgets where it all started.

“When I get to the Bay Area, everybody represents me as an A. But when I go to a lot of places, they think I’m a Cardinal,” McGwire said. “I always say to them, 'I was with the A’s for 14 years and only with the Cardinals for five.' It’s amazing to think that. But now I get the honor of wearing two beautiful jackets, one red and one green. I’ll be looking pretty good at Christmas time.”

Making McGwire’s induction all the more special was going in with his manager for all but one of his big league seasons in La Russa. The two won World Series titles together in 1989 and again in 2011, with McGwire then a member of La Russa’s Cardinals coaching staff, developing a bond that continues to this day.

“He’s like my second dad,” McGwire said. “Through thick and thin, good and bad, I can’t say enough great things about him. He’s a genius. The analytical stuff you see now, how you pitch guys and position guys, Dave Duncan and Tony La Russa were doing that way back before computers even started with that. Now, it’s extreme, but Dave Duncan and Tony, think about how Tony managed with the setup guys for [Dennis] Eckersley. I don’t think they get enough credit for that.”

With McGwire's attention now mostly focused on his two sons, Max and Mason, who are both playing high school baseball with big league aspirations, the former slugger doesn’t get to watch the current A’s club often. But he’s aware of their march to this year’s postseason -- the A's entered Saturday night with a two-game lead in the AL Wild Card race -- and feels good about their chances to add another championship in the near future with all the young talent they possess.

"The majority of us were developed down below, and they brought in some free agents to tie up the loose ends,” McGwire said when asked to compare his teams to this year’s club. “They’re tied with Boston for third most World Series wins with nine. Just watching the way they’re playing right now, I’d say they’re playing very good at the right time. So, they might be breaking that little tie with the Boston Red Sox.”