It may seem hard to believe that America's national pastime could need saving. After all, baseball is as American as turkey on Thanksgiving. It's as institutional as the president throwing out the first pitch of the season and Babe Ruth visiting sick children in the hospital.

But then along came another American institution - a strike. And in 1994, it cancelled the World Series for the first time.

Now, they are back. The feeling is good, the mood upbeat, the future bright.

Baseball has been brought back, returned from a 1960s time warp. And it has been carried by none other than a Paul Bunyonesque figure so large that his locker contains cans of Popeye Spinach.

Mark McGwire hit his 62nd homer of the season on Tuesday night in his 145th game, something the legendary Ruth couldn't do in 154 games nor Roger Maris in 162 games.

And if that weren't enough, McGwire is being credited with saving the game, unifying the country, taking the nation's mind off sex scandals and even helping the global economy.

"I will tell you, the whole country has been involved in this," McGwire said afterward.

"I just think it puts baseball back on the map as a sport," he added.

Ironically, McGwire's home run was his shortest of the season - 341 feet - but it cleared the eight foot-high left field wall and was retrieved by a 22-year-old groundskeeper at St Louis' Busch Stadium named Tim Forneris, who returned the ball to McGwire in a post-game ceremony held at second base.

"He lost it and I got it back for him," said Forneris, who personally presented the ball to McGwire despite standing offers of at least $1 million.

The ball and McGwire's bat were flown immediately to Cooperstown, New York, where the baseball Hall of Fame is located.

Chicago right-fielder Sammy Sosa, sprinted in to congratulate McGwire. Sosa had been shadowing McGwire for the last two months and has 58 homers.