McGwire Admits Steroid Use

Nearly five years after not speaking at the congressional hearings, Mark McGwire has come clean about his use of steroids during his playing career including the 1998 season in which he broke the single season homerun record. My first thought, after disappointment, was ‘why now?’ Why after all these years would he now come clean? Is it because of the bad results he has seen regarding his Hall of Fame voting? Is it because he has been hired as a hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and doesn’t want the distraction all season for the team? Is it because of the rumors that he wants to suit up as a pinch hitter for the Cardinals this season and knows that he will be constantly hounded by media and fans?

My personal opinion is that he sees how everyone seems to have given Andy Pettit a free pass because he came clean and did not deny using steroids to help him recover more quickly. McGwire is the first of the ‘Steroid Era’ players to be eligible for the Hall of Fame. I think that he believes that if he comes clean now, suits up as a pinch hitter for the Cardinals which would then delay his Hall eligibility for another 5 years, that time will heal the wounds he has created and better his chance of getting in.

Whatever his reasoning is, I have mixed feelings. The 1998 season may have been the greatest season of baseball in my life. I look back fondly on that season. I had the opportunity to see Big Mac in Cincinnati when he was sitting on 60 homeruns and could have tied or gone ahead of Maris’ record. My seats were not good. I sat in the red seats behind home plate. I felt like I was 1000 feet above the field but I was there. McGwire only played part of the game as it was the last game of the series and the Cardinals were heading back to St. Louis the next day. The whole stadium cheered, Cardinal fans and Reds fans alike. Mark hit a line drive down the left field line that stayed in the park by only a few feet. McGwire would leave Cincy still on 60 but broke the record in the next couple of days in front of his home field fans. Everyone loved Mark McGwire. He was this likeable, wholesome guy that really seemed to enjoy playing the game of baseball.

Now I’m stuck here thinking about the greatest season that I have ever witnessed and my morals and thoughts on the game I love. I despise Barry Bonds and in no way would ever want him to get elected to the Hall of Fame. Is that to say then that no steroid user should ever be elected? that list stopped at Roger Clemens or Rafael Palmeiro or even Sammy Sosa then I’d be all for it. But, when you look at the career that Alex Rodriguez is having, how could you possibly not vote him into the Hall of Fame? Also, does this mean you keep the guys out that have tested positive but every guy the ‘got away’ with it can get in? How can you say that one guys record doesn’t count but another guys does even though he played in the same era but never failed a test? The only solution I know, is that you have to let them in, perhaps under higher standards, and note that they played during a period know as the “Steroid Era.”

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