Coming Clean: Big Mac McGwire Admits Steroid Use

That Mark McGwire used steroids is not surprising. Throughout the years, there has been the laughable testimony in front of Congress and lies from Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Alex Rodriguez about their alleged usage, as well as denials from Barry Bonds.

Pettitte and Rodriguez eventually admitted their sin and have regained baseball’s respect in doing so. It’s nice to see that McGwire hasn’t followed Clemens, Sosa, and Bonds’ path, instead smartly following in the footsteps of Pettitte and Rodriguez.

Now as the St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach, with the team he spent the last four-plus years of his playing career, he felt it was the right time to face his demons and come clean. He said using steroids “was the most ridiculously stupid thing I’ve ever done in my life” and that “it was a regrettable thing to do.”

In admitting taking steroids, he revealed everything, saying he used “briefly in the 89/90 offseason…after I was injured in 1993…and on occasion throughout the ’90s, including during the 1998 season.”

He entered that historic 1998 season at the ripe old age of 35 with 10 seasons under his belt. Major League Baseball was in the dumps, considering the decade had featured a strike-shortened 1993 season, ongoing labor disputes, and a decreased fan base. What happened in ‘98 between McGwire and Sammy Sosa saved baseball, no matter if it was steroid-induced.

Both hit longballs seemingly on a daily basis. It was the home-run race, perhaps the best of any race in sports history. Playing for bitter rivals, McGwire for the Cardinals and Sosa for the Cubs, the two put on a show and were as popular as can be.

If they were at the plate, you watched, just to see if another would leave the yard. In all, McGwire hit 70 home-runs, setting a single-season record. Sosa nearly matched him, hitting 66, good for second all-time.

That season is now tainted, but that doesn’t matter to me. McGwire’s usage is disappointing, especially considering he hit 49 home-runs and drove in 118 runs in the ‘87 season, before he picked up the syringe. But it was the era.

Hundreds upon hundreds of players did it to prolong their career, to make something of themselves professionally (and therefore make more money), and to escape further injury. His reason for taking steroids? The latter of the three.

“During the mid-’90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years. I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too.“

They also helped him hit homers, something he said wasn’t the intention. And I believe that’s the truth. He would not come clean and lie about something like that. His performance was influenced by steroids, clearly, but that wasn’t his objective. He said taking steroids “was regrettable” because he believed he could have put up the same numbers without them.

At first thought, that statement was difficult to believe, but when you consider that steroids cannot improve hand-eye coordination, it’s not that hard to fathom. He crushed everything he saw throughout the minor leagues and socked 49 homers during his rookie year without steroids.

I’ve always like McGwire, though I’ve always known he used steroids. I still like him the same way I did during that magical 1998 season. Why? Because taking performance-enhancing drugs was the thing to do in the '90s. (Since 1985, seven of the 10 home-run leaders are reportedly linked to PED’s.)

More importantly, because he confessed to all. He’s not a Hall of Famer. No one from that era is. But he’s off the hook. Now, he can live his life, and guide the Cardinals in the hitting department; teach them how to play steroid-free, something he could have done and done well.