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 Pet te 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 Mitc 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 ing get in.

[Dr. Gonzo]

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

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 Pet te took two months to speak about his use of human growth hormone after it was revealed in late 2007 in the Mitc 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 Pe ti, 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,” Pe ti 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 ing 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."



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 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.