Mcgwire Has Tekoa Connection

Straight from the “It’s a Small World Department,” Tom Wall of Tekoa watched Mark McGwire break the single-season home-run record with special interest Tuesday.

It’s a bit complicated, but Tom’s dad, Bill Wall, and McGwire’s dad, John, were step-brothers. Bill Wall died four years ago.

Mark’s grandfather, Tom McGwire, grew up on the East Coast before settling in Spokane in the 1940s. He was a New York Life insurance agent and helped Bill Wall get started in the insurance business in Tekoa, Tom Wall said.

“My dad was an only child,” Tom Wall said. “His dad passed away when my dad was only 9. Seventeen years later, my dad’s mother married Tom McGwire.”

Wall recalls John and his wife, Ginger, traveling from their Pomona, Calif., home to Spokane for family visits, usually in August. Tom wasn’t certain whether any of the five McGwire boys, including Mark, had been born at the time of those visits.

“That’s been so long ago. Watching all this stuff on TV tonight, it would be nice to sit down and talk with John again,” said Wall, an insurance agent in Tekoa and an assistant football coach for Tekoa-Oakesdale. “It was neat for me just to see Mark’s parents there and see their emotions going through it.

“When Mark was traded to St. Louis, it was a little disappointing. We always thought of going to an Oakland game in Seattle and maybe trying to visit with Mark and talk about some of the family history.”

Wall’s son, John, has several autographed McGwire baseball cards. There’s no doubting their authenticity. John McGwire personally took the cards to Mark and sent them back to the Walls.

John McGwire and Spokane are mentioned in a cover story on Mark McGwire in the latest Sports Illustrated magazine. In the article, John tearfully recounts being diagnosed with polio in Spokane in 1944 and undergoing six months of treatments in the contagious-patients ward of a local hospital.

Wall said the last time he saw John McGwire was at Tom McGwire’s funeral in the 1991.

“I remember John used a cane, somewhat, when he was at the funeral,” Wall said.

Trachsel in select club

Tom Zachary, Tracy Stallard and now, Steve Trachsel.

“I was hoping it wasn’t going to be me,” Trachsel said after giving up McGwire’s 62nd home run Tuesday night. “It was a matter of time before he got it and he’s probably going to hit five or six or 10 more.”

McGwire had been 1 for 6 this year against the Chicago Cubs’ 27-year-old right-hander, and 3for11 with no homers in his career.

Zachary gave up Babe Ruth’s 60th homer, and Stallard gave up Maris’ 61st.

Maris widow returns to hospital

Maris’ widow, Patricia, was hospitalized in St. Louis after developing an irregular heartbeat for the second time this week and missed seeing McGwire break her husband’s home run record.

Patricia Maris, 62, was listed in satisfactory condition.

“She had some problems this afternoon. It’s got us all a little bit on edge,” son Randy Maris said.