Oe £idiu &an ilj PORTST ulSDAY li Miga Dai y uesday Fit to be tied: McGwire's 61st homer passes Ruth, ties Mans ST. LOUIS (AP) - No. 61 flew off Mark McGwire's bat yesterday, matching Roger Maris' home run record, and left just one question: How soon will it be his alone? V History came quickly. McGwire launched Mike Morgan's pitch 430 feet to left field in the first inning, tying the hallowed mark that has stood for 37 years. McGwire immediately threw his hands in the air after connecting and then, with a fist thrust high, began his triumphant trip around the bases. Big Mac got a high five from Cubs 4rst baseman Mark Grace as he unded the bag and got another high five from former St. Louis teammate Gary Gaetti as he approached third. The 50,530 roaring fans at Busch Stadium stood all the while, except for those in the midst of a wild scramble for the ball. Chicago's Sammy Sosa, McFarland next coach whose 58 home runs have pushed McGwire down the stretch, joined the celebration by applauding his rival from right field. McGwire's 10-year-old batboy son, Matt, was waiting at home plate where the Cardinals slugger ended his trek with a two-footed hop. McGwire hoisted his boy in a big hug, while groundskeepers rushed onto the field to replace the bases - no doubt head- ed to the Hall of Fame. The Cardinals spilled out of the dugout to mob McGwire and it took him a few moments to make it to the bench. But he didn't stay there long, springing back out to salute Sosa and the Maris family, watching from seats on the first-base side. In a touching tribute to the man he matched, McGwire acknowledged Maris' children by pointing his right index finger to the sky, tapping his heart three times and blowing a kiss. "He tapped his heart, like dad was in his heart," said Kevin Maris, son of the former New York Yankees slugger. McGwire homered in the Cardinals' 144th game and now has 19 games left to become the home run champion. And when he does, certainly no aster- isk will be needed. Maris hit No. 61 on the last day of a 162-game schedule in 1961. Toward the end of that season, Commissioner Ford Frick declared that any record would have to carry a "distinctive mark" if it did not beat Babe Ruth's mark of 60 in 154 games. In all, McGwire has homered 15 times in the last 20 days. This latest one came at 2:22 p.m. EDT, with much of America surely tuning in to ESPN to watch the chase at-bat by at- bat. McGwire finished 2-for-4 in adding a later ground single - he has 53 sin- gles this season, compared to 61 homers - while Sosa went 1-for-5 with a single. Sosa struck out with a runner on the third to end the game. The landmark shot provided a nice present to McGwire's father, John. He was sitting in the stands celebrating his birthday - No. 61, naturally. It also made it a nice day for Mike Davidson, a 28-year-old fan from St. Louis who wound up with historic souvenir, which he planned to give to McGwire. The Cardinals won 3-2, blunting the Cubs' bid to increase their lead in the NL wild-card race. Fittingly, all but one of the runs scored on homers, with Eli Marrero and Delino DeShields connecting for the Cardinals and Gaetti doing it for Chicago. See 61, Page 20A St. Louis' Mark McGwire rounds the bases after his 61st home run of the sea- son. McGwlre tied Roger Marls' 37-year old record with a blast In his first at-bat yesterday. AP PHOTO Optioned out for Blue Wrestling yhick Freeman Diy Sports Writer Friday afternoon, Athletic director Tom Goss announced that assistant Wrestling coach Joe McFarland, The 1985 graduate of Michigan will take over for current coach Dale Bahr, now in his final year as head coach. McFarland had been identified as a leading candidate as early as July th and the official posting for the b stated that an internal candidate was preferred. Of the two internal candidates, McFarland had considerably more experience than the other assistant coach, Kirk Trost. "It's good when you have depth within your pro- gram, and it's good when you have succession from within." Goss said in a released state- ment. McFarland was not available dan for comment. Bahr is leaving the wrestling pro- gram to take an administrative job in the athletic department, otierseeing e summer sports camps. Bradley-Doppes said in July that McFarland's head coaching experi- ence "makes a huge difference." As the head of the Indiana program, he led the Hoosiers to a perfect 14-0 record in his first. season, 1989-90. McFarland also won the assistant coach of the year award from the National Wrestling Coaches Association in 1994. "Joe has that energy and enthusi- asm," Bahr said, "he's good at selling Michigan," to recruits. To coach wrestling "you really get down and wrestle with the kids." "I think it'll be a nice transition," Bahr said. Bahr said that one of the reasons he was able to convince McFarland, who was a four-time All-American at Michigan, to leave his head coaching job at Indiana was the possibility of qsuming Bahr's job at a later date. "Joe McFarland has been a dedi- cated Michigan man who returned from Indiana University with the ulti- mate goal of becoming Michigan's coach," Goss said in a released state- Ment. McFarland was a four-time All- American at Michigan and wrestled under Bahr and alongside current ssistant coach Kirk Trost. He "understands the Michigan tra- dition," Bradley-Doppes said. "He understands the athletic and academ- ic balance. "He's a world-class coach." McFarland, was supervising Michigan wrestler Jeff Reese when Reese collansed and died last Dec. Michigan wanted last year to last just a lift/e longer OTRE DAME - Fresh off his first college game, Justin Fargas emerged from the losing lockerroom beneath Notre Dame Stadium to an oncoming thunder- ous herd of Irish faithful. The deafening noise of the 8,000 homogeneous students - chanting "Let's go Irish!" in unison after Notre Dame's 36-20 victory - kept swaying the freshman's attention from his con- versation. But in the spectrum of worst day of 1998 for the Michigan football team, the roar was but a minor distraction. The downhill spiral of an evil second half of football was the primary concern. But for Fargas, Michigan's freshman tail- back, the loss is all he knows as a collegian. Majority rule, though, remains in effect on this Michigan team, and the bulk of these football players know the pinnacle and the thrill of victory. In fact, after last season's undefeated national champi- onship, they may have forgotten what a loss feels like. They remember now, For eight months, the Michigan fami- ly - as they like to call themselves - basked in the nation's brightest spot- light. Parades, trophies and accolades rained on the heroes from the seeming- ly boundless sky. That "high ceiling" re-emerged in its MARK most literal form early on Saturday, as the cloud-free sky dominated the north- SNYDER em Indiana landscape. Mark My Maybe Michigan misinterpreted the Words beauty. After all, too many pats on the back can slant one's focus. Maybe the Wolverines saw the perfect weather as they saw everything else - heaven that belonged to them. Someone forgot to turn the calendar. All fall, the Wolverines have paid lip service to this being "a new year" and "last year is in the past," but the complacen- cy was obvious. As last season progressed, Michigan football became more complex. New wrinkles had to be added to keep opponents on their toes. The media crush doubled, then tripled in a mat- See SNYDERf Page 15A WARREN ZINN/Daily Jarious Jackson and the rest of the Notre Dame offense ran away from Michigan in the second half of Saturday's 36-20 loss. Jackson threw two touchdown passes as Notre Dame erased a 13-6 Michigan lead. Missed field goals, fumbled kicks disable Wolverines By SharatR* Daily Sports Editor NOTRE DAME - It's not a pretty list: Three missed field goals. Two kick returners running into each other. One field goal blocked. One fumbled kickoff return. Punt average of 31. One long snap that bounced to the punter. Yeah, it's ugly. But that's exactly how the Michigan special teams looked last Saturday - ugly. "We didn't kick the ball well at all," Michigan. coach Lloyd Carr said. "We didn't punt it, we didn't place kick it, we didn't protect on the field goal. "Obviously, we've got work to do." And do they ever. In the first quarter, the Michigan kicker Kraig Baker missed two field goals - one from 33 yards and another from 43. So in the second quarter, Carr turned to Jay Feely who was primarily handling kickoff duties before that. Feely drilled a 21-yard field goal for his first attempt. His second attempt in the third quarter, how- uprights later in the third quarter, his 46-yard attempt fell short. "If you don't win the kicking game, in most cases, you're going to get beat," Carr said. Michigan punter Jason Vinson also had a rough day. His two punts were 30 and 33 yards each, much to Carr's chagrin. But Vinson did get a chance to show off his good hands by scoop- ing up a snap that bounced in to him. "I'm going to have to evaluate every guy and the way he practices," Carr said. "I'd say there's a good chance we'll make some changes." The answer in Michigan's kicking problem may lie in the fact that the kickers are just mediocre. Going into Saturday's game, Baker was consistent on field goals less than 40 yards long, hitting 12 of 15 in his career. But he is 2-4 with anything 40 yards or over, with a 42 yarder as his career longest. Feely was 3-4 in career field goals having walloped a personal-best 51 yarder last season against Baylor. And with freshman Hayden Epstein - one of the top kicking prospects coming out of high school - waiting in the you consider those are four field goals - you expect to make at least three. Nine points in the third half or the third quarter would have made a huge difference." The special teams problems weren't limited to the kicking game. The kick return unit had its share of problems, as well. One telltale sign is that three different people played the deep man on the kickoff return - Anthony Thomas, Clarence Williams and Justin Fargas. Tate Schanski fielded one short kick, as well. Williams, who has handled return duties in the past, had what seemed to be a long return early in the third quarter. But as he was hitting the turf, Williams coughed up the football and turned it over to the Fighting Irish. The play was crucial and led to the touchdown that gave the Irish the lead.. "If you look at any championship team, they may not have great return teams but they're all sound," Carr said. "Their coverage teams are good, they punt the ball well. We're not there right now." On another occasion, Williams and Schanski U- -: