Mark McGwire* Admits Using Steriods When He Broke Home Run Record

Mark McGwire finally admitted on Monday something that many baseball fans had suspected for years...he used steroids.

The Oakland and St. Louis Cardinals' slugger said in a statement that he used steroids in the 1989 offseason and again following an injury in 1993 when he was able to play just 27 games.

Most importantly, McGwire admitted using steroids "throughout the '90s," and specifically during his record-breaking 70-home run campaign of 1998 in his first full year with the Redbirds.

McGwire, who played in the league for 16 seasons between Oakland and St. Louis, said: "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."

Don't hate the player, hate the game, right?

Big Mac's reputation has been in the gutter ever since he refused to answer questions in the congressional hearings of March 2005. It's about to get so much worse.

The 12-time All-Star sites his seven stints on baseball's disabled list as one of the reasons for going on the juice, saying he believed the steroids would help him heel faster and prevent future injuries.

No doubt his 1993 and 1994 seasons played a huge role in his decision. He played just 74 games over the course of those two seasons, hitting 18 home runs. After hitting 42 home runs in the '92 season—a season where he won his first Silver Slugger award and finished fourth in the AL MVP voting—crippling injuries at the peak of his game must have been demoralizing.

"It was definitely a miserable bunch of years and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster," McGwire, now 46, said in his statement to the Associated Press . "I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too."

That is no excuse.

But McGwire makes a number of comments in his statement that just do not ring true with baseball fans.

"Baseball is really different now—it’s been cleaned up."

Don't be so naive.

Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, and David Ortiz proved last season alone that this wasn't true. Before this there was Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens.

"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..."

That is exactly the time when you should have admitted your guilt. It's great that you have finally admitted it, but you're way too late.

"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."

Don't think that taking on a job as a hitting coach is going to earn you this respect overnight. Your career, like that of users such as Bonds, has been forever tarnished.

You say that people will wonder if you could have hit all those home runs had you never taken steroids.

Of course they will. People have been wondering for years!

Saying you had bad years while taking steroids as well as good years without them is not enough to clear your name.

You never can.

Simply saying "sorry" is not going to get the job done. It may have had a shot five years ago, but that door shut long, long ago.

As with so many other idols from the 1990s, your name will forever be associated with an asterisk that tells people you're a cheat.