Who, Me?: McGwire's Steriod Admission a Black Eye on Baseball

Former Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinal slugger Mark McGwire came clean with his steroid use during his playing days.

Well, wonderful.

Kind of like Adam Lambert admitting that he was gay.

I was one of the baseball fans who got sucked into the McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race.

“Oooh, Mark hit one, oh, what? Sammy hit two and now is just one behind,” fans like I would note.

It was a refreshing change, especially from Sosa, who smiled during the whole race, and had 66 home runs to McGwire’s 70.

We were kind of suspicious about Brady Anderson of the Orioles, who hit 50 home runs in 1996, after hitting 16 home runs the year before and 18 the following year.

As a Phillies fan, I remember when Lenny Dykstra bulked up.

But this race seemed different. While McGwire was aloof and quiet, Sosa was a ray of sunshine, smiling and laughing. He even seemed to loosen up the stoic McGwire late in the race.

And Mrs. Maris was in the stands in St. Louis when McGwire hit No. 62 to break her husband's single season record.

Did Maris get millions for his power feat? Nope, the pressure of the race against the Babe and teammate Mickey Mantle caused him to loose chunks of his hair.

It was not until the Congressional hearings in 2005 when McGwire was among those questioned about steroid use.

McGwire denied it, but looked and sounded suspicious.

With 583 career home runs and eighth in all-time home runs, he seemed a lock for the Hall of Fame.

But, by his association with usage, he didn’t make it into the Hall when his time came around.

I heard one writer put it best when he said you have to look at the player’s stats and determine whether they would have made it to the Hall without using steroids.

Pitcher Roger Clements, yes. Barry Bonds, yes.

McGwire, no.

Sammy? Well, he came back to play with the Texas Rangers and got to 600 home runs.

No admission from McGwire.

Until now. The year 2010. Five years past the Congressional Hearings on steroid usage in baseball.

In 2005, he repeatedly told Congress, under oath, that he was not there to “talk about the past.”

Why come clean now? Because he was named hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and wanted to quell any nagging rumors about steroid usage.

Part of McGwire’s statement:

“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.”

From Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig in a statement:

"I am pleased that Mark McGwire has confronted his use of performance-enhancing substances as a player," said commissioner Bud Selig in a statement. "This statement of contrition, I believe, will make Mark's re-entry into the game much smoother and easier.

"The so-called Steroid Era—a reference that is resented by the many players who played in that era and never touched the substances—is clearly a thing of the past, and Mark's admission today is another step in the right direction."

McGwire may have sealed his fate for not getting into the Hall of Fame, but he will be able to work as hitting coach of the Cardinals and deflect any questions to his statement.

Here comes the part where I sound like a broken record.

The baseball home run race took place in 1998, four years after the baseball strike of 1994, which threatened to shut down the gate receipts in some cities.

It is unsure whether Selig knew of the usage, but I contend, he did not care in the least.

His job was to get the stands filled again, and make money for the owners.

He should know.

He is the former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers.

He sold the interest in his team to his daughter, who has since sold the team.

It is another case of why Selig is a sham as the commissioner as I believe he will always have the interest of the owners over the sanctity of the game.

He lent a blind eye and ear to the steroid usage, only hearing the cash flowing through the gates and through television advertisers.

Am I OK with McGwire taking on his role as hitting instructor?

Sure. Even though the admission, again, is self-serving.

The problem is with Selig.

What can be done?

Nothing.

Just now with the knowledge, send a message to Selig, who distanced himself from the issue by calling it the “so-called Steroid era” and keep the admitted and suspected Steroid users out of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Let us keep a place where the sanctity of the game is preserved.