I’ve held onto this for a few days. On Monday, Mark McGwire admitted to using steroids during his career, and I wanted to take some time to fully absorb what I had heard. Not because this news came as a surprise, but because of the specific statements Big Mac made regarding his reasons for using PEDs and his defense of his personal achievements on the field.
First and foremost, I want to clarify that I am not here to bash Mark McGwire. I always respected him on the field. In my interactions with Mark, during short visits at first base, he always seemed like a nice guy.
But I take offense to some of the statements McGwire made on Monday.
First, Big Mac explained that he only used PEDs to speed his recovery time from various injuries during his career. Okay. I’m fine with that thought process, but the problem lies in the fact that he took things that were not administered by team doctors. McGwire took a back alley approach to recovering faster, rather than going through the proper resources and getting help the right way.
Second, I’m offended by the mere fact that McGwire claims PEDs had no effect on his performance during the decade he used them. That just defies my way of thinking.
I’ll agree that no pill or injection is going to help a ballplayer’s hand-eye coordination. But you can’t tell me the size and strength that McGwire gained from PEDs had zero impact on the number of balls he sent sailing out of the yard. If you’re playing clean and you just miss the ball and hit it 390 feet, then you get on the juice and develop enough strength where you’re just missing the ball and launching it 420 feet – then that stuff definitely helped you hit some home runs.
Finally, McGwire said he wished he had never played in the “steroid era,” and that one really bothers me. It just feels like he’s passing the buck, putting the emphasis on the time in which he played rather than on his own decisions.
I played in that same era and I happen to strongly believe that the users of steroids were in the minority. The majority of us played au naturel.
McGwire can’t blame the steroid era because there is no era without him. His home run chase defined the steroid era. He is the poster boy. When people look back and think “steroid era,” they will always think Mark McGwire first.
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Ripken Baseball represents the endeavors of Cal Ripken, Jr. and his brother Bill Ripken since they retired from playing baseball professionally. The Baltimore-based company is on a mission to grow the game of baseball worldwide, the Ripken Way.
By the way Bill, I believe this means we can give full credit for saving baseball after the strike to your brother.
I can’t say there should be asterisks next to the records. That involves actual proof of rule-breaking, which we’re never going to sufficiently have and would open a huge can of worms. However, if I’m a sportswriter (which I guess I am in a way although I’m a NASCAR guy), McGwire, Bonds and Sosa–and Clemens for that matter, even though he had a Hall-level career before drugs I believe–never get my Hall vote. Not even the sentimental one that elects guys like Maz.
Forget the when MLB banned or started testing for steroids. Mark McGwire committed A CRIME, but having steroids in his possession. The fact is they are illegal to have. Against the Law. Pretty much taking steroids is like doing cocaine, heroin or marijuana, it is against the law to have and consume.
How many drugs in your lifetime have YOU taken w/o team doctor’s advice or knowledge. Please Rip, get real, McGwire committed NO CRIME so stop acting or writing like he had.
Woodieman – you are incorrect in saying that steroids were not banned during McGwire’s era. In 1971, MLB passed a rule saying all illegal drugs (federal and state laws) were AGAINST MLB RULES. STEROIDS BECAME ILLEGAL sometime around 1988. In 1991 and 1997 MLB also sent out memo’s reminding the players, owners, and player’s union that steroid use was against MLB rules.
Yes there was no testing until after McGwire’s career – but steroids were still against MLB rules. Just like heroin and pcp are against the rules for people at my work even though we are not tested.
This is the 5th article I’ve read where posters have made this claim about McGwire. It it completely false so please NO MORE “he did it before steroids were against the rules”.
Billy, I happen to agree with everything you wrote. I don’t buy McGwire’s statements any more than I buy A-Rod’s statements. McGwire is almost as bad as Rafael Palmeiro, although Palmeiro committed perjury. McGwire just refused to talk about it.
I think that all of McGwire’s stats should have a asterisks besides them. He doesn’t deserve our sympathy, he doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame and he doesn’t deserve to be in baseball anymore. And that is the sad part. I used to love baseball, but the game has become so tarnished that people don’t know who to believe.
I hope that just because he came clean about his steroid use that now the members of the Hall of Fame don’t vote him in.
Let’s not forget that McGuire retired before the things he took were outlawed by baseball. Now just suppose that some other medications that players took before the rules were put forth were suddenly deemed performance boosters rather than supplements or medications. Do these players then also come under scrutiny? I think live and let live , in this case. Baseball and all other sports have had their bad boys and some of them are in the hall of fame. OJ is there and he’s a murderer. Ruth and Cobb were surely not poster boys for cleanliness. They are there. It was an era in sports, period and our sports should not be cheapened by always attempting to change the records whenever someone does something that is deemed to be unpopular or suspect. It is what it is.
I , for one, will not visit the Cooperstown because Pete Rose is not in there. He did nothing to enhance his body wrongly, hustled all the time, never threw a game or tried any less to go all out , but just because he gambled and maybe, even bet on his team to WIN , not lose, he is shut out, the greatest hustler who ever played the game.
Maybe the Hall of Fame should be labeled the Popularity Hall of Fame, not the Performance , because that’s what it’s become. Leave our history and rules alone. Don’t f_ _ k with it!
There has to be a standard to measure and compare these ballplayers. How do you measure a player who was clean and played though his injury verus a guy like McGwire?
So many clean ballpayers achieved greatness and played through their injury. I am not a Yankee fan, but how can you even compare a guy like McGwire to a ballplayer like Mickey Mantle.
In 1995 “our buddy” Brady Anderson hit 16 home runs, 1996 50 home runs, and 1997 18 home runs. The guy looked like a body builder. Try and tell me PED’s don’t impact your home run production. Give me a freaken brake Mark McGwire.
Agree on all points. But let’s not forget Tony LaRussa’s role in all this. He was — and remains — one of McGwire’s greatest apologists and enablers. Hiring him as hitting coach is the latest example. I have never seen him receive the scrutiny he deserves.
Bill, Agree 100%…McGwire is playing the victim. In my opinion, he made the admission due to his new status as a Cards coach. He’ll get no sympathy from me, in fact I think this career stats should be zeros across the board. He is a cheat. If that’s who the Cards want teaching their young player, then so be it. I hope I never see something like this out of the O’s.
I agree with you on all points, Billy. I’ll add that even if he was taken the ‘riods to reduce his recovery time, then he was on the field, with his body feeling good, when a legit player would not be.
All of those things, his recovery time from injuries/workouts, his size and strength, his new sustaining power, were contributive to his “gift of hitting homers” and were achieved by cheating.
One last thing-McGwire is indeed the poster boy for MLB’s steroid era but he shares that “honor” with good old Sammy and Barry. I know because I have that poster. I can’t show it to anyone, though. Due to the size of the enormous melons on the poster, it won’t fit in any of the rooms in my house.
You are right on target BR! Baseball researcher Gabe Schechter shows how Mac’s ratio of doubles to homers changed during his steroid years, showing much greater strength–http://charlesapril.com/. Mac may really believe that the ‘roids did nothing to help him, but just because he is deluding himself does not mean we have to go along on his Disney ride. Nor do we have to excuse or forgive someone who is still trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
First, if he used them to get healthy, he wouldn’t have been on the field without them. He used them for the same reasons the rest of them did. Money and glory!
I could not agree more. I would add one more point. For all these years, Mark McGwire deceived (nearly) everyone around him while enjoying the benefits of his “performance.” He continued to deny and evade long after most were convinced of his use of steroids. Now that he will be working for the Cardinals, he has come forward in a very scripted, incomplete and self-serving admission. He continues to say only what he must say and only when he has no choice. I have no respect for his motives.