McGwire Admits to Steroid Use; World Yawns

[FromWayDowntown]

McGwire apologizes to La Russa, Selig

NEW YORK -- Mark McGwire finally came clean Monday, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998.

McGwire said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday that he used steroids on and off for nearly a decade.

"I wish I had never touched steroids," McGwire said in a statement. "It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."

During a 20-minute phone call with The AP on Monday, McGwire says he called commissioner Bud Selig and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa earlier in the day to personally apologize.

McGwire also used human growth hormone, a person close to McGwire said, speaking on condition of anonymity because McGwire didn't include that detail in his statement.

McGwire's decision to admit using steroids was prompted by his decision to become hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, his final big league team. La Russa, McGwire's manager in Oakland and St. Louis, has been among McGwire's biggest supporters and thinks returning to the field can restore the former slugger's reputation.

"I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come," McGwire said. "It's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected."

He became the second major baseball star in less than a year to admit using illegal steroids, following the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez last February.

Others have been tainted but have denied knowingly using illegal drugs, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and David Ortiz.

Bonds has been indicted on charges he made false statements to a federal grand jury and obstructed justice. Clemens is under investigation by a federal grand jury trying to determine whether he lied to a congressional committee.

"I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids," McGwire said. "I had good years when I didn't take any, and I had bad years when I didn't take any. I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn't have done it and for that I'm truly sorry."

Big Mac's reputation has been in tatters since March 17, 2005, when he refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing. Instead, he repeatedly said "I'm not here to talk about the past" when asked whether he took illegal steroids when he hit a then-record 70 home runs in 1998 or at any other time.

"After all this time, I want to come clean," he said. "I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my congressional testimony, but now I feel an obligation to discuss this and to answer questions about it. I'll do that, and then I just want to help my team."

The person close to McGwire said McGwire made the decision not to answer questions at that hearing on the advice of his lawyers.

McGwire disappeared from the public eye following his retirement as a player following the 2001 season. When the Cardinals hired the 47-year-old as coach on Oct. 26, they said he would address questions before spring training, and Monday's statement broke his silence.

"I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989/1990 offseason and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again," McGwire said in his statement. "I used them on occasion throughout the '90s, including during the 1998 season."

McGwire said he took steroids to get back on the field, sounding much like the Yankees' Andy Pettitte two years ago when he admitted using HGH.

"During the mid-'90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years," McGwire said in the statement. "I experienced a lot of injuries, including a ribcage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years, and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too."

Since the congressional hearing, baseball owners and players toughened their drug program twice, increasing the penalty for a first steroids offense from 10 days to 50 games in November 2005 and strengthening the power of the independent administrator in April 2008, following the publication of the Mitchell Report.

"Baseball is really different now -- it's been cleaned up," McGwire said. "The commissioner and the players' association implemented testing and they cracked down, and I'm glad they did."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4816607

[FromWayDowntown]

McGwire statement

"Now that I have become the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, I have the chance to do something that I wish I was able to do five years ago.

I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come. It's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected. I used steroids during my playing career and I apologize. I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989/1990 off season and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again. I used them on occasion throughout the '90s, including during the 1998 season.

I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era.

During the mid-'90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years. I experienced a lot of injuries, including a ribcage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too.

I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids. I had good years when I didn't take any and I had bad years when I didn't take any. I had good years when I took steroids and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn't have done it and for that I'm truly sorry.

Baseball is really different now -- it's been cleaned up. The commissioner and the players' association implemented testing and they cracked down, and I'm glad they did.

I'm grateful to the Cardinals for bringing me back to baseball. I want to say thank you to Cardinals owner Mr. DeWitt, to my GM, John Mozeliak, and to my manager, Tony La Russa. I can't wait to put the uniform on again and to be back on the field in front of the great fans in Saint Louis. I've always appreciated their support and I intend to earn it again, this time as hitting coach. I'm going to pour myself into this job and do everything I can to help the Cardinals hitters become the best players for years to come.

After all this time, I want to come clean. I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my congressional testimony, but now I feel an obligation to discuss this and to answer questions about it. I'll do that, and then I just want to help my team."

[IronMexican]

I'm sure his honesty will now get him into the Hall.

[I. Hustle]

Who?

[K-State Spur]

CaptMike is SHOCKED

[BacktoBasics]

I'm sure his honesty will now get him into the Hall.
He's banking on it.

[CubanMustGo]

And in other unbelievable breaking news, Fox News just hired Sarah Palin as a correspondent.

[FromWayDowntown]

For what it's worth, CNN has confirmed today that water is, in fact, wet.

[Sportcamper]

Give McGwire a gold medal for having the dedication & toughness to compete on a world class level…Any player who was afraid to use steroids to improver their performance or to get back on the field & compete after injury should be locked in a utility closet!

[FromWayDowntown]

I love the notion that McGwire regrets having played in the steroid era, since he and his Bash Brothers in Oakland had a substantial role in beginning the steroid era. And it was always McGwire's choice to use them -- it's not as if the era made him do it.

I don't think McGwire was ever a no-brainer Hall of Famer. He was a mediocre hitter who hit a lot of home runs. To me, he's basically Dave Kingman with more career home runs; or Dave Kingman on steroids.

[gaKNOW!blee]

If McGwire gets in the HOF just for admitting steroid use...Pete Rose better fucking get in.

[Dr. Gonzo]

If McGwire gets in the HOF just for admitting steroid use...Pete Rose better fucking get in.

Pete Rose should be in either way.

[gaKNOW!blee]

Pete Rose should be in either way.

I agree.

[Baseline]

Pete Rose wasn't a lying cheat. He was simply a gambler. So what?

Rose is a total Hall of Famer.

[CubanMustGo]

rose is a total hall of famer.
+100000000

[dbreiden83080]

Pete Rose wasn't a lying cheat. He was simply a gambler. So what?

Rose is a total Hall of Famer.

Yes he is but he knew the rules when he gambled like he did. He knew the punishment he was going to receive if he got caught and he kept right on doing it. So for that, he deserves to be out.. Just like Mark should be out for Steroids..

[dbreiden83080]

If McGwire gets in the HOF just for admitting steroid use...Pete Rose better fucking get in.

Mcgwire is not getting in.. He is confirming what we already knew, nobody is going to feel sorry for him or give a damn. I know i don't..

[J.T.]

In other news, grass is green.

[jag]

Somewhere Roger Clemens is shaking his head and calling Mark McGwire a pussy.

[Technique]

Too late McGwire, obviously he's just desperate to be in the HoF.

[sribb43]

The Costas interview on MLB Network was great....can't believe McGwire said numerous times that steriods didnt help his performance and that he was such a great hitter bc of his studying of video and hand/eye coordination

[ElNono]

I don't think McGwire was ever a no-brainer Hall of Famer. He was a mediocre hitter who hit a lot of home runs. To me, he's basically Dave Kingman with more career home runs; or Dave Kingman on steroids.

I see what you did there...

[ElNono]

TV SPORTS
The How-To of an Admission in the Steroid Era (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/sports/baseball/12sandomir.html?hp)

By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Published: January 11, 2010

The strategy that Mark McGwire used Monday to lay out his admission to using steroids demonstrated that lessons were learned from other baseball stars who preceded him in making mea culpa about their drug use.

He did it all in one afternoon, starting with a statement that was distributed widely to the news media, and that came across the Associated Press wire at 3 p.m.

The A.P. followed quickly with a story that featured an interview with McGwire, who subsequently spoke to numerous other news media outlets — including USA Today and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Tim Kurkjian and John Kruk of ESPN (both by telephone, not on the air); KTRS Radio in St. Louis; and The New York Times, before talking to Bob Costas live at 7 p.m. Eastern on MLB Network.

The one-day plan — coordinated over the past month by Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary who runs a crisis-communications company, and the St. Louis Cardinals, who recently hired McGwire as their batting coach — contrasts with last year’s roll-out of Alex Rodriguez’s steroid admission.

Last February, Rodriguez’s steroid use was first reported by Selena Roberts on SI.com; three days later, he confessed to ESPN in an interview with Peter Gammons that lacked adequate follow-up questions; eight days later, Rodriguez responded to questions at a news conference at the Yankees’ spring training camp as his teammates looked on.

That all came more than a year after Rodriguez denied using steroids to Katie Couric of CBS News.

Rodriguez lacked any arrogance in his confession, unlike Roger Clemens, whose drug-use denials have been defiant and angry. The genial Andy Pettitte took two months to speak about his use of human growth hormone after it was revealed in late 2007 in the Mitchell report that investigated drug use in baseball.

McGwire had been silent since his embarrassing refusal to discuss his steroid use during a Congressional hearing nearly five years ago. His strategy back then, concocted with avoiding prosecution on his mind, made him appear hapless and as guilty as if he had confessed. This time, McGwire and his handlers surely knew his credibility would be enhanced if he confessed before spring training and made himself widely available, not only on Monday but Tuesday. An interview with ESPN is to be scheduled, but because it’s not exclusive, its thunder will be muted.

McGwire’s personality has usually been low key, and he has not always been comfortable with the news media.

In his repeated confessions Monday, he had no defiance or anger, just sadness and tears.

“I like the door-to-door strategy, in that he is telling his story in long form and in less confrontational settings,” said Kevin Sullivan, a former White House communications director who runs a strategic-communications company. “He needed to rip the Band-Aid off before heading to spring training.”

Sullivan added: “I suspect McGwire will soon have some form of a press availability where he takes questions. He won’t be able to completely turn the page until he satisfies the pent-up demand and takes some questions.”

The McGwire interview was a coup for the year-old MLB Network and justifies what the channel is paying Costas. It provided McGwire with a stage for acceptance on a channel that is majority-owned by the league that has, after a long goodbye, welcomed him back to his old team. MLB has a little more than half the subscribers ESPN has. But MLB had an edge in Costas if, indeed, McGwire wanted to be interviewed at length by a smart interrogator.

(A corporate connection should be noted: Costas is represented by IMG, which owns half of Fleischer’s company.)

Before he sat down to talk to McGwire, Costas said in a telephone interview, “Yes, they decided this was the place for Mark to tell the story, but not because it was the place where they’d get the easiest ride.”

Costas said he talked to Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa last year about interviewing McGwire.

“I said to Tony that if Mark hopes to be able to proceed from opening day on, he has to address this forthrightly, to answer all legitimate questions and all secondary ones,” Costas said.

Tony Petitti, the president of the MLB Network, said that although talks with McGwire’s camp made it clear that McGwire was going to say something significant, he and Costas did not know until the release of McGwire’s statement exactly what it would be.

“We didn’t see the release ahead of time and we had to react to what he was going to say,” Petitti said.

Whatever it was, the channel was guaranteed the exclusive interview.

[Cry Havoc]

I love that McGwire comes clean now. He was SOOOOOOOOOOO sad and regretful while hitting 70 fucking home runs in a year. He was absolutely mollified while the entire world was watching him and Sosa in 1998.

The best part though, is, "I didn't take them to gain strength."

:lmao

You're right, Big Mac. I don't lift weights to gain strength either.

[timvp]

I love the notion that McGwire regrets having played in the steroid era, since he and his Bash Brothers in Oakland had a substantial role in beginning the steroid era. And it was always McGwire's choice to use them -- it's not as if the era made him do it.

I don't think McGwire was ever a no-brainer Hall of Famer. He was a mediocre hitter who hit a lot of home runs. To me, he's basically Dave Kingman with more career home runs; or Dave Kingman on steroids.

Home run.

McGwire comes off as a giant douche in this attempted apology. He doesn't really man up -- he just passes blame (playing in the steroid era, trying to overcome injuries, etc.). I respected him much more when he was silent. His interview with Bob Costas might be the lamest interview I've ever seen.

[K-State Spur]

As bad as steroids are, what Rose did is worse. He broke the most hallowed rule in sports - you don't gamble on your sport, and especially not in games involving your own team. It's posted in every professional locker room in large letters written in plain English.

Not to mention that he AGREED to his own ban. He traded it for MLB not publicizing the findings of their investigation. MLB has lived up to their end of the bargain, he needs to do the same.

He will never get in (even if Selig lifts the ban, the Hall won't change its stance) - and deservedly not.

[K-State Spur]

I'm also getting sick of Larussa. He would make Mac a saint if given the opportunity.

[King]

Who cares? Everyone from Selig down to the locker room attendant in Durham knew steroids was rampant in the game during that time. Selig didn't care because it made baseball front page news - especially during the Sosa/McGwire power surge. Brady Anderson doesn't go from slap hitting leadoff man to 50 bomb dropping stud in one offseason without a little help. Same with Bret Boone. But, that was the era. Rules weren't in place to test for it or to stop it, so they used the advantage that was available. And they knew that baseball knew it, so they probably figured they were safe doing it.

The only people who are getting crucified for it are the people who put up eye-popping numbers. But, if you think the fringe bench player didn't have a needle in his ass, I have a property next to Bob you may be interested in. They just didn't have the talent to combine with it, so they stayed under the radar.

From the beginning of the game, there have been corked bats, cut balls, vaseline, nail files, speed, PEDs, etc. And a number of those guys are in the HOF. Accept all the past numbers at face value and move forward with your more stringent rules.

[Cry Havoc]

Who cares? Everyone from Selig down to the locker room attendant in Durham knew steroids was rampant in the game during that time. Selig didn't care because it made baseball front page news - especially during the Sosa/McGwire power surge. Brady Anderson doesn't go from slap hitting leadoff man to 50 bomb dropping stud in one offseason without a little help. Same with Bret Boone. But, that was the era. Rules weren't in place to test for it or to stop it, so they used the advantage that was available. And they knew that baseball knew it, so they probably figured they were safe doing it.

The only people who are getting crucified for it are the people who put up eye-popping numbers. But, if you think the fringe bench player didn't have a needle in his ass, I have a property next to Bob you may be interested in. They just didn't have the talent to combine with it, so they stayed under the radar.

From the beginning of the game, there have been corked bats, cut balls, vaseline, nail files, speed, PEDs, etc. And a number of those guys are in the HOF. Accept all the past numbers at face value and move forward with your more stringent rules.

You're right. If baseball players are going to cheat, we should just throw up our hands and do nothing about it. Nice.


Home run.

McGwire comes off as a giant douche in this attempted apology. He doesn't really man up -- he just passes blame (playing in the steroid era, trying to overcome injuries, etc.). I respected him much more when he was silent. His interview with Bob Costas might be the lamest interview I've ever seen.

My feelings exactly.

[King]

You're right. If baseball players are going to cheat, we should just throw up our hands and do nothing about it. Nice.


They are doing something about it going forward. They have policies and testing in place. The policies and tests weren't in place, because baseball didn't care. Don't tell me Selig and co. didn't know what was going on. They just didn't care. So, now they're going after the big number guys. Well, if McGwire's numbers are stripped - then what about Brady Anderson? What about the little known middle infielder who used steroids and just couldn't put it all together like some of the freakish athletes?

What I'm saying is, because baseball sat on their hands with testing and policies - there's no way to know what numbers are clean in history - so how do you cherry pick what to accept and what not to? McGwire's obviously not clean. Neither are Bonds and Raffy. But, we don't know if Aaron ever used PEDs. They were around. Speed and types of steroids were both around when Ruth was playing. Mays might have been a juicer. Mantle, too. Maris had a Brady Anderson-esque spike in numbers in 1961.

Move forward with the new rules - and do what you please from here on out. But, unless you can prove or disprove all the numbers from the past - yet you still try to categorize them as clean or unclean - you're on a very slippery slope.

[Cry Havoc]

They are doing something about it going forward. They have policies and testing in place. The policies and tests weren't in place, because baseball didn't care. Don't tell me Selig and co. didn't know what was going on. They just didn't care. So, now they're going after the big number guys. Well, if McGwire's numbers are stripped - then what about Brady Anderson? What about the little known middle infielder who used steroids and just couldn't put it all together like some of the freakish athletes?

What I'm saying is, because baseball sat on their hands with testing and policies - there's no way to know what numbers are clean in history - so how do you cherry pick what to accept and what not to? McGwire's obviously not clean. Neither are Bonds and Raffy. But, we don't know if Aaron ever used PEDs. They were around. Speed and types of steroids were both around when Ruth was playing. Mays might have been a juicer. Mantle, too. Maris had a Brady Anderson-esque spike in numbers in 1961.

Move forward with the new rules - and do what you please from here on out. But, unless you can prove or disprove all the numbers from the past - yet you still try to categorize them as clean or unclean - you're on a very slippery slope.

But you set a dangerous precedent there. "Well, we have never stopped/tested for PEDs in the past, so we're just going to let everything go from now backward." And that's totally short-sighted. You're going to encourage millions of kids to start doping and playing with the odds, because if they don't get caught, well, who cares? Baseball can't do anything about it because they haven't in the past.

That's faulty logic to me. If you can take steps to discourage players from cheating, then by all means you must do so. We will never know if Hank Aaron used PEDs -- but we are absolutely certain that Mark McGwire did. We're positive Palmeiro did. We're 99.99999% sure that Bonds was juicing. If there is extremely potent evidence that someone is cheating at a sport... why would we allow that? Simply because we've never stripped a player of their records or statistics before?

I don't understand the, "Well, players in the past could have PEDed and we just wouldn't know, so we should let this generation by with it." WHY? We know FOR SURE that players in the 90s took PEDs en masse. At what point are you going to put a stop to it, with real consequences for the offenders? And if you aren't going to take a stand on it, why not just promote the use and start handing out needles to high school kids? Because this is the heart of the matter. When you're 16 years old and starting to get attention from scouts, you think you can do anything. You think popping some roids and HGH is going to guarantee you a spot in the majors. And every single American boy who's a sports fan wants to be able to walk onto a field someday and hear 30 or 40 thousand fans cheering for him. Do you really think that "testing" will be sufficient to curtail young players from taking the risk that they might not get caught? Is that what we're banking on? At what point in history has the technology behind doping behind the tests for the doping?

I personally feel if you're tested positive for any kind of illicit substance, your numbers should be pulled from baseball forever. But I realize I'm in the definite minority there. I just find the entire situation sad, and there's a bunch of backpedaling to make it acceptable just so we don't have to make unpleasant decisions about what to do with the 90s power hitting numbers that might have saved baseball.

[FromWayDowntown]

Who cares? Everyone from Selig down to the locker room attendant in Durham knew steroids was rampant in the game during that time. Selig didn't care because it made baseball front page news - especially during the Sosa/McGwire power surge. Brady Anderson doesn't go from slap hitting leadoff man to 50 bomb dropping stud in one offseason without a little help. Same with Bret Boone. But, that was the era. Rules weren't in place to test for it or to stop it, so they used the advantage that was available. And they knew that baseball knew it, so they probably figured they were safe doing it.

The only people who are getting crucified for it are the people who put up eye-popping numbers. But, if you think the fringe bench player didn't have a needle in his ass, I have a property next to Bob you may be interested in. They just didn't have the talent to combine with it, so they stayed under the radar.

From the beginning of the game, there have been corked bats, cut balls, vaseline, nail files, speed, PEDs, etc. And a number of those guys are in the HOF. Accept all the past numbers at face value and move forward with your more stringent rules.

I don't have any problem with any of that. I do think, though, that the only thing that conceivably makes McGwire a Hall of Famer is his home run total. If McGwire had retired with 482 home runs, there is virtually no conversation about whether he might be enshrined -- he wouldn't be.

[King]

I don't have any problem with any of that. I do think, though, that the only thing that conceivably makes McGwire a Hall of Famer is his home run total. If McGwire had retired with 482 home runs, there is virtually no conversation about whether he might be enshrined -- he wouldn't be.

No argument from me on that. I was a McGwire hack as a kid. But, as a more knowledgeable baseball fan who sees past the longball now, McGwire wasn't THAT good. He could put a baseball in the 5th deck, and then strike out the next four ABs.

I think the HOF is kind of a joke, anyway. PEDs aside - how does Jim Rice suddenly become good enough to be in, when he wasn't the past 14 years? The numbers haven't changed a single bit.

[King]

But you set a dangerous precedent there. "Well, we have never stopped/tested for PEDs in the past, so we're just going to let everything go from now backward." And that's totally short-sighted. You're going to encourage millions of kids to start doping and playing with the odds, because if they don't get caught, well, who cares? Baseball can't do anything about it because they haven't in the past.

That's faulty logic to me. If you can take steps to discourage players from cheating, then by all means you must do so. We will never know if Hank Aaron used PEDs -- but we are absolutely certain that Mark McGwire did. We're positive Palmeiro did. We're 99.99999% sure that Bonds was juicing. If there is extremely potent evidence that someone is cheating at a sport... why would we allow that? Simply because we've never stripped a player of their records or statistics before?

I don't understand the, "Well, players in the past could have PEDed and we just wouldn't know, so we should let this generation by with it." WHY? We know FOR SURE that players in the 90s took PEDs en masse. At what point are you going to put a stop to it, with real consequences for the offenders? And if you aren't going to take a stand on it, why not just promote the use and start handing out needles to high school kids? Because this is the heart of the matter. When you're 16 years old and starting to get attention from scouts, you think you can do anything. You think popping some roids and HGH is going to guarantee you a spot in the majors. And every single American boy who's a sports fan wants to be able to walk onto a field someday and hear 30 or 40 thousand fans cheering for him. Do you really think that "testing" will be sufficient to curtail young players from taking the risk that they might not get caught? Is that what we're banking on? At what point in history has the technology behind doping behind the tests for the doping?

I personally feel if you're tested positive for any kind of illicit substance, your numbers should be pulled from baseball forever. But I realize I'm in the definite minority there. I just find the entire situation sad, and there's a bunch of backpedaling to make it acceptable just so we don't have to make unpleasant decisions about what to do with the 90s power hitting numbers that might have saved baseball.

I'm not saying to just ignore it happened - but what can you do about it? If you strip his numbers, do you go back and pick through the box scores and see if a McGwire HR gave the A's/Cards a win? Does that get changed? You can't act like the era ever happened. You can't ignore that the HRs occurred. If any of these guys ever get into the HOF (which is not my argument), put the steroid footnote on their plaque. But, I just don't see how you would ignore that it existed.

The definition of a HR is a ball that cleared the fences between the foul poles. Bonds did that more times than anyone in history. The box scores reflect that. Natural or roided up, he leads MLB in that. Denying it doesn't change that it's a fact. It sucks - but what does changing numbers/records/scores/stats do?

[Cry Havoc]

The definition of a HR is a ball that cleared the fences between the foul poles. Bonds did that more times than anyone in history. The box scores reflect that. Natural or roided up, he leads MLB in that. Denying it doesn't change that it's a fact. It sucks - but what does changing numbers/records/scores/stats do?

Well, for starters, it would act as a much more serious deterrent to any up and coming young players. It would also seem a little bit more proactive than the, ".... Oh well!" stance that baseball seems to be taking now.

As far as records go... well, in the NCAA, if your program is found guilty of violating rules, the offending schools are stripped of every win during said violation up to an including a national championship. I'm not suggesting we go that far, but to pretend like there's not a middle road is strange, considering that nearly every other sport takes measures against cheating that far exceed a footnote in the Hall of Fame.

You make good points. I just feel like there's more that could be done by baseball to dissuade this from happening en masse again in the future, which, as of now I think is extremely likely.

[dbreiden83080]

I don't think McGwire was ever a no-brainer Hall of Famer. He was a mediocre hitter who hit a lot of home runs. To me, he's basically Dave Kingman with more career home runs; or Dave Kingman on steroids.

100% agree with you. Mac is a career .263 hitter.. Just 1600 hits.. When he was playing in that era of baseball the talk was when you hit 500 HR's that is the magic number, he's got 583 HR's.. We know his Slugging numbers and everything are among the best of all time but since we now know 100% it's all tainted with steroids, i don't see how he ever gets in the hall..

He does not deserve it

[dbreiden83080]

Home run.

McGwire comes off as a giant douche in this attempted apology. He doesn't really man up -- he just passes blame (playing in the steroid era, trying to overcome injuries, etc.). I respected him much more when he was silent. His interview with Bob Costas might be the lamest interview I've ever seen.

I don't get these guys that come out and admit to steroid use yet hide the details of what they took and make idiotic cliams like "It had no effect on my HR total at all, that was all skill" They have to know everyone rolls theirs eyes when they spew nonsense like that, yet that continue one after the other to play it that way..

[EricB]

While I don't think steroids help you HIT a baseball, it takes you from doubles hitter to home run hitter no question.

I've stated in the past I like Mark McGwire, he's good people and know this for a fact talking to people in the St Louis media that know him well.

I've also stated I'm a bit ashamed to have had a cheater like him on the team and I'm embarassed for the city to have the Mark McGwire FWY 70 signs hanging.


That said, I'm roided out. I've had enough of the digging and the searching for who did what and when they did it.

Bonds, Sosa, all of em are out of the game, they are not gonna play again. Theres now a good testing system in place, while not perfect is about as good as you can get IMO. The steroid era was a black eye for the game and will be looked down upon it as the 70s and meth, the black sox, pete rose's gambling.

The game will endure, it always has and always will.

Flame away.

[Cry Havoc]

McGwire is officially a massive bag of douche.

"I've learned a lot," McGwire told fans. "Especially to kids out there, steroids are bad. I made a huge mistake in my life and it's something I want you guys to learn from. Don't ever, ever go down that road."

Yeah. Because who wants to have millions of dollars in salary, millions more in endorsements, a role as the hitting coach of the Cardinals and possibly a spot in baseball's hall of fame?

I don't know ANY kids who would want that.

McGwire, you took the shortcuts to play at an elite level, you made the money, and now you're "sorry" for it and you don't want people to do the same. You cheated, you assisted in furthering the destruction of the integrity of baseball, and now you're taking an incredibly well-paying dream job from a sport that you have already taken so much from in a position of dishonesty.

If you're really that sorry, if you want to show how contrite you are, donate every dollar you can from the years you used steroids to compete to charities. Start with the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Otherwise, the, "I'm sorry I cheated but now I'm going to sit on my ass making 6-7 figures at this job but NO ONE ELSE DO IT" rings just a little bit hollow.

"I'm not going down that road with Jose," McGwire said. "I'll take the high road with the Jose stuff."

:lol What a tool.

[Duff McCartney]

If you can take advantage of a situation in some way, it's your duty as an American to do it. Why should the race always be to the swift or the jumble to the quick-witted? Should they be allowed to win merely because of the gifts God gave them? Well, I say cheating is a gift man gives himself!

[EricB]

McGwire is officially a massive bag of douche.

"I've learned a lot," McGwire told fans. "Especially to kids out there, steroids are bad. I made a huge mistake in my life and it's something I want you guys to learn from. Don't ever, ever go down that road."

Yeah. Because who wants to have millions of dollars in salary, millions more in endorsements, a role as the hitting coach of the Cardinals and possibly a spot in baseball's hall of fame?

I don't know ANY kids who would want that.

McGwire, you took the shortcuts to play at an elite level, you made the money, and now you're "sorry" for it and you don't want people to do the same. You cheated, you assisted in furthering the destruction of the integrity of baseball, and now you're taking an incredibly well-paying dream job from a sport that you have already taken so much from in a position of dishonesty.

If you're really that sorry, if you want to show how contrite you are, donate every dollar you can from the years you used steroids to compete to charities. Start with the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Otherwise, the, "I'm sorry I cheated but now I'm going to sit on my ass making 6-7 figures at this job but NO ONE ELSE DO IT" rings just a little bit hollow.

"I'm not going down that road with Jose," McGwire said. "I'll take the high road with the Jose stuff."

:lol What a tool.


:lol

Massive fail.

Why is always about the money with you people.

[Cry Havoc]

:lol

Massive fail.

Why is always about the money with you people.

Clearly it has never been about money with big Mac. Or people worshiping him after he stuck a needle in his ass so he could hit a little white pill 580 feet.

[redraiderinfiji]

Baseball is going to fail! After all of the major stars admit their wrongdoings....their names should be torn from the books and erased from memory. I was one of those little boys who followed Big Mac. He was my hero that year he hit 70. He made me love baseball again.

But now, baseball doesn't even come close to being on my tv screen. Its sad, really sad.

It only takes a few to ruin everything. The great ones of old really were "The Great Ones"

[dbreiden83080]

Baseball is going to fail! After all of the major stars admit their wrongdoings....their names should be torn from the books and erased from memory. I was one of those little boys who followed Big Mac. He was my hero that year he hit 70. He made me love baseball again.


If there was any justice, Roger Maris would have his record restored..