Big Mac taking swings?!?!

[STLHAMMER32]

I know there's mixed feelings about McGwire putting on a Cardinal uniform again but......who wouldnt want to see this guy step into the cage and hit BP fastballs again. You would have to think he'll step in sometime I just hope there is a cameraman ready to film. Anybody else remember Big Mac's batting practices...they were well worth the price of admission to see the mini hr derby. Some of my best memories were at Busch Stadium and seeing Big Mac Land filled to capacity everyone with gloves in hand 2 hrs before gametime....Nothing was out of reach for Mac..Upperdeck line drives and towering bombs. Bonds and Sosa both put on shows in BP but Nobody outdid McGwire in my opinion..

Hope Mac does the Softball all star game....can you imagine what he could do to a slow pitch softball...scary

[allstarsplus]

The last days of Spring Training in 1999, MLB arranged for 2 games in Washington DC between the Cardinals and the Expos.

The real show was Mark McGwire taking BP. It was amazing.

Excerpt from The Washington City Paper....

Take Mark McGwire. The ex–St. Louis Cardinals slugger came to RFK Stadium for two exhibitions in the spring of 1999. Early into his round of batting practice before the first game, McGwire hit the roof of the stadium above left field. Even the most seasoned baseball people assembled around the batting cage that day were stunned by what they’d witnessed. Nobody had ever hit a ball anywhere near as far as McGwire’s blast in all the years of ballplaying at RFK.

“I’d have bet it couldn’t be done,” Thomas Boswell wrote of McGwire’s batting practice blast in the Washington Post.

Boswell meant a ball couldn’t be hit that far once. But, while heads were still shaking and jaws still hanging around the RFK cage, McGwire hit the roof again.....

.....But, despite the revelations about McGwire’s diet, nobody at RFK that day yelled that his Bunyanesque feats should be ignored. They were too busy screaming for his autograph.—Dave McKenna

[STLHAMMER32]

Thats a great story. A friend of mine was hit by a foul ball MAC hit in Chicago...hit left a full impression of a baseball on his chest...We took pictures and if I can track one down i'll list it..every seam could be seen! This guy hit towering line drives, I know that sounds weird but its the only way I can describe it. It wasn't just a high looping fly ball with good carry....When he connected the ball went I high and hard.

[suicide_squeeze]

You guys are explaining the intrigue about McGwire.

That's why I wish he would just come clean. Just let the healing process start by his words. He would get into the Hall if he did, IMO.

In fact, I'm sure Mac would end up in the Hall before Barry Bonds. Mac was (is) a likable guy. Barry was always a sarcastic cautic asshole. Big difference in the human aspect, even if Barry was definately the better all-around athlete of the two.

But to be honest, I would like to see Barry become a more humble human being now that he's retired. I personally don't think he has it in him, and if it is displayed, I'm sure there won't be any sincerity behind it.....but one can hope.

Then again, who knows how he'll come out of being found guilty for perjury. That may turn him into a self-made outcast for life....we'll see. How silly was it for him to lie about something that was so obviously being done by so many players.

And please, before we get into the Sharpton/Jessie Jackson-esque arguments.....he wasn't singled out or picked on by anyone in an authoritative position: He was the best hitter in the game, so MLB, the Feds, Congress (because of public pressure).....they all wanted to know. Same can be said for the (white) Clemens.

They got their two "poster" boys. It'll all eventually come out in the wash I suppose.

[STLHAMMER32]

Bonds was most likely a hall of famer before he used steroids...from what ive gathered Bonds started using after the 98 season. Seeing Canseco and Mac at the Big League Challenge and watching Sosa and McGwire's HR chase and attention I'm sure led to his use.

Here's the thing i always keep in mind, yes the steroids helped..mostly in recovery time which is very very important in a 162 game schedule. The everyday grind is something that is very taxing on the body. With that being said...McGwire and Bonds (as well as other greats that may have used) all had one thing in common....tremendous hand eye coordination. Look at the Barell of a MAC or BONDS game used bat sometime...pounded on the sweet spot. McGwire and Bonds would see 1 maybe 2 good pitches to hit the entire game and that was on a good day where they wouldn't be walked. To even make contact with a fastball at 90+ is quite difficult. Especially when you have to worry about staying back on a changeup or curveball. Then to square the pitch up hit it on barell, have the right angle to hit the ball out....its just amazing. To do this with the consistency these guys did is just unreal.

From a talent stand point Bonds had it all while McGwire was pretty much an average first baseman that had Unreal Power and great OBP. Bonds had it all, one of few TRUE 5-tool players to ever play. With that said, he may have a 6th tool and that is the ability to come across as an asshole...I think if he wanted to change his perception....coming clean and being honest would change some of this but I really don't know if he could humble himself for even 5 minutes to even "fake" remorse or show concern for what others think. It's just the way he his Love him or hate him.

McGwire is a class act in a lot of ways consider this....One of the game's greatest is pulled from his potential last at bat for Kerry F*n Robinson..who lays down a sacrifice bunt...Mac Walks by and tells him "you can do it K-ROB" and tells Larussa he made the right move. He then retires leaving a 2 year 30 million dollar deal behind!! He Retires saying he cannot give the Cardinals the value that contract gives him and they can use the money to get a free agent that will help the team win a championship....

Say what you want about McGwire he was a Humble Giant who saved baseball I hope fans can remember that when he comes to opposing ball parks in the coming year!

[allstarsplus]

Say what you want about McGwire he was a Humble Giant who saved baseball I hope fans can remember that when he comes to opposing ball parks in the coming year!

Cal Ripken saved baseball in 1995 and Big Mac got new fans to the game.

I also agree with Steve (Suicidesqueeze) that Mac should come clean. Basically all he needs to say is something like.... I experimented with steroids a few times after my Rookie year when I set the Rookie HR record with 49 HRs in a season and the results were not great. I am ashamed of the fact but it is what it is and I never felt it helped my game because like I said I hit 49 HRs with no supplements. The grind of the game was the allure of the quick fix and it was no fix at all and I stopped using them. I found over-the-counter supplements at the local nutrition store were legal and easily available so as I said before I used Creatine and Andro until MLB took issue with it and I stopped taking those supplements. I never tried to hide the fact or conceal that I was taking Creatine and Andro which were legal and not banned although clearly we all knew that steroids were not legal and I take full responsibility for my actions. In 1998, I never took steroids and used supplements that any kid could take by walking into GNC.....

[STLHAMMER32]

In 1998, I never took steroids and used supplements that any kid could take by walking into GNC.....

Are we looking for him to just say something or do we want the whole truth.....I think this is a good speech you have laid out for him to say...much better than is attorney advised him in front of congress. However I'm not sure this is coming clean..As a McGwire fan this would be great if it was really coming clean...but only few people really know what McGwire's "coming clean" really is.

I agree with your Cal Ripken statement to an extant...McGwire helped saved the game in the fact that the younger generations became interested in the sport during the 98 hr race.... and then sports collecting as well as it jump started many collectors.

[bigtruck260]

I used to think hitting a baseball out of the Old Busch via home-run was impossible until Mac arrived. I was at a game (I think it was 1997) - in which he hit two homers. The first of which went over an entrance in the upper tank on a LINE. Only Jack Clark had hit anything close to there in the past (Felix Jose did once) - but with Mac it was a regular occurance.

After they put Big Mac land there, only ONCE did he hit it in that section.

In batting practice, he would 'loft' balls farther than any other player I had ever seen.

Those of you that remember DEREK BELL - will understand this next statement. I used to get to the ballpark early for Derek Bell and Mac when he arrived. Bell could hit a ball a country mile in BP - just never really used that swing in a game.

[STLHAMMER32]

I used to think hitting a baseball out of the Old Busch via home-run was impossible until Mac arrived. I was at a game (I think it was 1997) - in which he hit two homers. The first of which went over an entrance in the upper tank on a LINE. .

I remember this one actually it was a laser beam... he hit one in 98 that went over mac land and two sections over...closest one i ever saw too getting out. Camera lost flight of the ball and was confused lol.

[sox83cubs84]

Those of you that remember DEREK BELL - will understand this next statement. I used to get to the ballpark early for Derek Bell and Mac when he arrived. Bell could hit a ball a country mile in BP - just never really used that swing in a game.[/quote]

Bell did sometimes use that swing in games...one of my Wrigley Field game homers was a shot to left-center that bounced on the far side of the street and into the yard of what was then known as the Budweiser Building. When I had him sign it after the game I told him about the distance it travelled and got a "I won the lottery!" grin in return.

Dave M.
Chicago area