Mac admits using steroids...

[scrinjun]

McGwire will be interviewed by Bob Costas tonight on MLB Network, 7 EST

[frikativ54]

I agree with this statement as well, he admitted it because he was forced to. But why would the Cardinals want a hitting coach that admitted he was a cheater? I don't get that.

He wasn't forced to do anything. Neither Bonds nor Clemens came clean, even when caught red-handed. McGwire could have persisted in his obfuscations. Instead, he did the right thing.

Hopefully, more players will follow suit. But I doubt if HOF-eligible or near-eligible users would come clean, because they risk tarnishing their names. The cost to their reputations is just too great.

I doubt that many from this era were clean. As a Bagwell fan, I am just being honest when I say that I'll bet he used. It was part of the era, an unfortunate one at that.

I've heard that between 50-80% of MLB players used in the steroid era. However, I don't have the evidence to corroborate that statement. It would be harder to find a list of who didn't use back in the 1990s.

[grenda12]

Will this take the spotlight off Tiger Woods.

[Rboitano]

If anyone feels like they need to sell their Mac game used bats, email me.
Rboitano@charter.net

[WadeInBmore]

I guess I am also a bit concerned about Mac tarnishing others reputations. And, again, I'm just hypothesizing. The entire steriod issue seems to spread like the flu once one player that uses appears on the roster, then the norm seems to be, that others follow suit or atleast try it out.

Now, having said this...I worry about Pujols. I know that I'm gonna get chewed out for saying that, but is Big Macs guilt and admission going to potentially tarnish Pujols' image. I'm just speaking my mind and haven't done any research but...did there careers over lap? did Big Mac influence him in any way? did Matt Holliday really turn the corner as a hitter once he started working with McGwire?

Call them fear, concerns...what ever you'd like, but as a fan of the game and as a former player who went to spring training with the Dodgers and worked out with numerous other teams I really can't express how much this one hurts. Kind of makes what Frank Thomas said when he hit his 500th..."the right way".

I'm glad that he came clean and I'm sure he probably feels some sort of relief to boot. Obviously he knew what he was going to have to pay the piper at some point with his return to the game. Shocked...not really. Disappointed...intensely.

I'm not accussing any players in my above statements, but, man, I am worried about the backlash. Think about all the other players he affected because he cheated...money, opprotunity, "value", etcetera. With every new admission I feel a small piece of me cries aloud, for the game and the people.

When all the steriod talk first surficed back in the early 2000's I remember writing a sign when I went to the game that perhaps explains my sentiment best...

Eu tu baseball?

wade

[frikativ54]

Call them fear, concerns...what ever you'd like, but as a fan of the game and as a former player who went to spring training with the Dodgers and worked out with numerous other teams I really can't express how much this one hurts. Kind of makes what Frank Thomas said when he hit his 500th..."the right way".

Wade,

I never realized that you played ball. That's pretty cool.

[Ozric]

I'm a bit more cynical about the whole thing. I really think that his arrogance still supersedes his intellect and that he was genuinely surprised that he was so low in the HOF voting. It was a calculated effort (in his mind) to hopefully increase his chances to get in the hall. If there's any remorse coming from him at all, it's because he didn't make it into the HOF and was a slap on his ego.

[suicide_squeeze]

Dewey said it best.......finally the truth we all knew is disclosed.

This also takes a deep chunk out of Tony La Russa, who stood by McGwire to the bitter end, saying he was a product of sound hard "work ethic". Tony La Russa is a good baseball man, but he never fooled me. His success as a manager is directly bound to the entire steroid era, and the fact that his core group of players were the leaders of it's use. Check the teams, the names, the World series victories. Tainted.

Of course, the only question would be his latest victory with Pujols. Wouldn't that be ugly if he turned up a user as Wade has mentioned.

Through it all, the one underlying factor that separates McGwire from the rest of these lying players that only give half-truths or partial truths about their past use is this: McGwire never lied about it. He just never stepped up and admitted it ("I'm not here to talk about the past"). That, if anything, is credit worthy in this whole steroid era mess.

I have to finish with saying.....I always felt that if McGwire came clean, he would eventually be welcomed back to the game with open arms, and in the Hall of Fame voting from the writers too in a positive way. After hearing him (honorably) admit to use "throughout" his career.......eeesch. I'm kinda not sure, now. Hearing what everybody already knew being admitted from the man's own words has stung a lot more than I thought it would. I mean.....if he used his whole career, did it start at USC? The Olympics tested in '84, didn't they? Surely he had to be clean then, wasn't he? I guess what will determine the chance of him making the Hall at this juncture is whether the baseball writers of today feel obligated in protecting the heritage of the older players who are held to the belief they played the game the right way. Mark has done the right thing, the honorable thing. But when you consider he used his whole career....one has to wonder if he even would have had a full career without the juice. And that's going to be a tough concept to overcome.

It will be very interesting to see how it all plays out.

[STLHAMMER32]

I'm a bit more cynical about the whole thing. I really think that his arrogance still supersedes his intellect and that he was genuinely surprised that he was so low in the HOF voting. It was a calculated effort (in his mind) to hopefully increase his chances to get in the hall. If there's any remorse coming from him at all, it's because he didn't make it into the HOF and was a slap on his ego.

Its not about the Hall of Fame if it was he would not have waited years after initially getting on the ballot and he would not have waited weeks after this years hall of fame voting took place. The guy did not want to be in trouble with the law and did not want to have to drag family and friends into the situation because eventually he would have to implicate others involved. He did not lie but basically admitted already in front of congress without having to go through the legal process. Lastly the fact that he admitted steroid use does not in fact help his hall of fame chances in the eyes of several voters who have already discussed it.

This is about Mac not being a distraction for his team when the season starts and I am sure it feels good to get the truth out for him. Saying this is about arrogance is absolutely foolish.

[David]

The problem for Bonds and Clemens, versus other players like McGwire, is legal. McGwire never denied it in a legal setting, while Bonds denied use under oath to the Feds, and Clemens denied under oath to the Congress and brought a lawsuit based on the claims he never used. The two have painted themselves into a corner, as, even if they wanted to admit to using PEDs and come blean, they can't as they would be in big legal trouble.