Mark McGwire: Where Have You Gone?

It remains one of the top "where were you?" moments in sports.

"Where were you when the US beat the Soviet Union?"

"Where were you when Montana hit Clark?"

"Where were you when Mark McGwire hit number 62?"

Yes, it's something that everyone remembers.  I wasn't old enough to remember it, but I wish I did.  I wish I remembered not because of the milestone, but because of the effect it had on the country.

Upon further examination, the question might be better phrased, "Where were you when Mark McGwire saved baseball?"

The answer to that question is probably more than where you were when the record breaker was hit.  It's all of the times during the summer of 1998 that you tuned into a Cardinals baseball game because of one player.

Maybe you, like so many others, had shunned baseball following the 1994 strike.  Maybe you just wanted to see history.  Regardless of your reason, during the '98 home run chase it felt good to be a baseball fan again.

Not only did the home run chase save baseball for a generation leaning more and more towards football, but it saved it for future generations as well.

For many fathers around the country, it became ok again to teach their kids the game of baseball.  Playing catch no longer meant endorsing the corporation aspect of baseball that cancelled the '94 season.  No, instead they were teaching their kids to be "like Mark."

As a six year old kid, who was never previously interested in sports, I became hooked.  I began engaging in the childhood rite of passage of playing catch with my own dad.  For me, and so many other kids, Mark McGwire is where baseball began. 

So, as Mannywood is in full swing in LA, as David Ortiz is getting a standing O from the Fenway faithful, and as A-Rod is taking another curtain call I find myself wondering; why no love for McGwire? 

After all, his contribution to the game is greater than all of the players I just mentioned combined. 

Sure, McGwire was a cheater.  In no way am I condoning his use of performance enhancing drugs or his lack of an explanation.  He is not the perfect hero.

That being said, he deserves to be recognized.  His steroid use may have changed the way we view his numbers, but it doesn't change the fans he brought back, the kids he inspired, or the lasting impact he made on the game.