Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2009

Cards' security chief recalls McGwire era: 'You realize, 'This is getting way out of control'

Joe Walsh has met some heavy hitters during his 16-year career as director of security for the St. Louis Cardinals, and Mark McGwire isn't the only one. Walsh, 59, sat down with News-Democrat reporter David Wilhelm to talk about his relationship with McGwire, how he helps keep Busch Stadium safe and the time he met the "other" Joe Walsh.

Q: What are your duties?

A: My job includes players' protection, making sure we're abiding by MLB rules and regulations with the clubhouse, the field. My concern is also the safety of our fans and employees here at the ballpark.

I oversee the police that we have here. We usually have 26 on a nightly basis --both St. Louis City and St. Louis County officers. We have also four fire marshalls that are assigned to the ballpark for each ballgame. I also handle the private security that we have here on a 24-hour basis around the calendar. For 12 months a year, there's always at least four security officers on the premises.

Q: Did you start your career in police work?

A: I was a St. Louis city police officer. I was on the department for 16 years. When I left in 1990, I was a supervisor in the homicide section, a sergeant. Then I went down to Anheuser-Busch, where I did personal protection for the Busch family and a lot of their head honchos down there. I drove them to and from their meetings. Then I progressed into investigations. With a corporation like Anheuser-Busch, it was amazing what they really had out there. It was more than just making beer. They had can companies, grain companies, they even had a cattle ranch in California. Basically, they had a cattle ranch for water rights.

Q: When did you join the Cardinals?

A: I came here in '93. As a police officer, I worked a secondary job here, so I was familiar with a lot of the people around the ballpark. But I came here as the director of security in 1993.

Q: So you know a lot of people that fans would like to know?

A: You do interact with a lot of the guys here --our home club, of course, the visiting team and the umpires. It's just the nature of the job that you do have some interaction with them. You want to have a professional relationship with them because if there's something amiss, you want them to feel comfortable enough to come to you and let you know. The worst thing you can do is have people either not trust you or just "stand-offish," where you scare people so much they don't even want to talk to you. You do build up a trust among each other.

Q: Are most days business as usual?

A: We have a lot of the same stuff occur over and over, but every now and then, you get something unique. I love those nice, quiet nights. When you're really busy, then you know things are really happening around here. We've had so many different dignitaries through here. We had President Bush in 2004. We had the president of the Dominican Republic. We had the emperor of Japan here. A lot of different political candidates have been through here and I'm sure we're going to get more.

Q: How crazy was the 1998 season when you were responsible for protecting Mark McGwire?

A: It was almost like we were part of a circus. There were reporters, photographers everywhere we went. It got so bad on the road that they had me and Major League Baseball's resident security agent here in town, Tony Wagner, to travel with the team just to keep people a little bit away from Mark just so he could get out of the car or off the bus or out of the dugout. We went to Florida and we couldn't even get out of the dugout. It was crazy. ... Watching (McGwire) night in and night out, trying to perform with all the pressure on him to hit home runs, was quite remarkable.

Q: What memory of that season stands out the most?

A: One, as I mentioned, was in Florida. We literally couldn't get out of the dugout. That's when you realize, 'This is getting way out of control.' MLB was letting pretty much anybody on the field, and there were hundreds and hundreds of reporters and photographers out there, all trying to get a piece of him to see what he was going to do. And we couldn't move. After that, we kind of had to set up barricades ... just so we could get him up to the plate to do his thing. What astounded me was how batting practice became a show. That was like the first act.

Q: Did you have to go everywhere McGwire went?

A: Whenever he was out there (on the field), we were there. We kept him in pretty good visual contact. I wanted to know where he was --even when we were in the hotels. When he would get up to work out in the gym, I would go work out with him just to keep people at bay. He was such a recognizeable person. He could not hide. He was 6-5, 260 (pounds), built like a block. There was no way he was going to hide from anybody. It was amazing in St. Louis. He pretty much had his routine down here where he could navigate around town. He knew where he could go, what restaurant he could go to. They would have things set up where he could get a little peace and quiet. But when we were on the road, it was crazy. Really nuts.

Q: Did you get to know McGwire pretty well?

A: Yeah. I talk to him probably once or twice a year. I haven't talked to him since the end of last baseball season. He seems like he's doing well every time I talk to him. He seems happy now, and that's good, because he did a lot of good for the Cardinals and for baseball, in general. I know things have kind of been tainted now, with the steroid problems and issues. But what he did for the Cardinals is give them time to build, to replenish the franchise. And he put fannies in the seats, which put dollars in the coffers. He was one of the foundations for why they've been successful. He was a thoughtful guy and a caring guy.

Q: What was it like Sept. 8, 1998, the night McGwire hit his then-record-breaking 62nd home run?

A: I remember that night, just the sense of relief for him that he had done it. That he had accomplished what he set out to do. We definitely toasted to him. It was a good time.

Q: There have been some sad times, too, on your job, correct?

A: Unfortunately, with Darryl Kile and Josh Hancock. I happened to be in Chicago on a pleasure trip when Darryl passed away. I got thrown into the middle of that. And then when Josh passed away, I was the first person the police called. So there were some tough times. The sad thing about it is they were both nice, good guys. It's just tragic. It's never easy.

Q: Is there anything special you're having to take care of regarding the All-Star Game on July 14?

A: The All-Star Game is a different kind of animal. We've been fortunate here in St. Louis to be in the playoffs quite a bit and we've had two World Series. We've experienced that and we've had a little bit of the hoopla. But I think the All-Star Game is different. It's a different kind of atmosphere --more festive instead of intense because of the nature of the game and the competition. And then the home-run derby, too. I think the fans are going to find it pretty emotional because I know they're planning to honor Stan Musial. I know that's going to be done very nice. I think we're going to see some real big guys coming into town for this.

Q: Have you ever met the "other" Joe Walsh, the former guitarist for The Eagles?

A: I did meet Joe Walsh when he was here a few years ago. I got a nice picture with him. He looked at me and I said, 'I swear to God, I'm Joe Walsh.' I showed him my driver's license and he said, 'Let me ask you something. Do people come up to you and ask whether you're the Joe Walsh?' I said, 'Every day.' He said, 'They do that to me, too.' When I was talking to him, I said, 'I bet you've had one heck of a life, haven't you?' He said, 'To be honest with you, I don't remember most of it.'