Mac admits using steroids...

[legaleagle92481]

Wow what a shock! Not! He was one of my favorite players I spent 100s on a baseball from his Steiner signing and I realize many players used in that era but to me he is still not a hall of famer. Big Mac did very little besides hit home runs and it is impossible to know how many of them were tainted. He never won an MVP, did not reach 2,000 hits, had a very low batting average, no speed and struck out a ton. He won a Gold Glove but he was not exactly Eddie Murray with the glove.

[joelsabi]

The distance of his Hrs were out of this world so you would have to think a good portion of them would be out anyway. You would think it helped him recover quicker from night to day games and such though. What sucks is that we will never know how much it helped or even hurt him.

One of the most regrettable things is that I think most of his homeruns were so far and away over the fence that the added strength from PED would be insignificant for MOST of the homeruns McGwire hit. At least I would like to think that and maybe some college student will do a study on this using todays recording archives.


McGwire stated: There is not a pill or an injection that is going to give me the hand-eye - or give any athlete - the hand-eye coordination to hit a baseball. A pill or an injection will not hit a baseball.

In my opininion, the above statement is a true statement. That is what is so sad and regrettable -- that the gifted athlete will gain some advantage and taint his natural gifted talent. What amazes us fans is the natural talent. was there enough natural ability for mcgwire to barely break the single season record of maris? wouldnt it have been great to have had drug testing back then and possibly seen mcgwire struggling to get the homerun record instead of shattering it in 1998.

As you said we will never know.

I wish we saw all players back in 1998 using only their natural ability over drugged enhanced performance. I wished we also had baseball writers back in 1998 that had the guts to write about steroids over selling newpapers. I wish also that we had a commisioner and owners back in 1998 that would have shown leadership over selling baseball tickets.

[joelsabi]

I find it amusing how people argue about McGwire and steroids today. If ANYONE sat and watched the 'HR race of '98' and didn't know that both McGwire and Sosa were on steroids, they were simply lying to themselves. What's done is done. People need to let it go.

The things is that we as fans wanted to believe that we were witnessing history as every other generation of baseball fans had done in the past. No writer exposed us otherwise. No commissioner said otherwise. No baseball owner said otherwise. We wanted to believe.

Athletes were getting bigger and better as every generation of athletes had become in the past. Baseball athletes were starting to lift wieghts and have different body types than baseball players in the past. I do not think the average person in 1998 knew much about PED to think that this is what was going on. Maybe I was naive.

[STLHAMMER32]

One of the most regrettable things is that I think most of his homeruns were so far and away over the fence that the added strength from PED would be insignificant for MOST of the homeruns McGwire hit. At least I would like to think that and maybe some college student will do a study on this using todays recording archives.


McGwire stated: There is not a pill or an injection that is going to give me the hand-eye - or give any athlete - the hand-eye coordination to hit a baseball. A pill or an injection will not hit a baseball.

In my opininion, the above statement is a true statement. That is what is so sad and regrettable -- that the gifted athlete will gain some advantage and taint his natural gifted talent. What amazes us fans is the natural talent. was there enough natural ability for mcgwire to barely break the single season record of maris? wouldnt it have been great to have had drug testing back then and possibly seen mcgwire struggling to get the homerun record instead of shattering it in 1998.

As you said we will never know.

I wish we saw all players back in 1998 using only their natural ability over drugged enhanced performance. I wished we also had baseball writers back in 1998 that had the guts to write about steroids over selling newpapers. I wish also that we had a commisioner and owners back in 1998 that would have shown leadership over selling baseball tickets.

One thing that i always found amazing was that McGwire and Bonds saw very few good pitches to hit a game at times it would be only one pitch and they would hit it out. They both were walked so many times and pitched around. Steroids or not they were both remarkable.

I would argue that steroids also has a significant placebo affect. Just thinking you have an edge helps and confidence is huge in sports. It would be really tough to prove exactly how much steroids would improve numbers.

[scrinjun]

.....all he had to do was get the wood on the ball, and it wasn't going to come down via gravity anytime soon. Same goes for Bonds. They were both great hitters. But they chose to cheat.

I still consider Hank Aaron the all-time home run leader.

And I still consider Roger Maris the single-season home run leader.

'Nuff said

[stlbats]

In my opinion, steroids do somewhat enhance hand-eye coordination. Look at Giambi, David Ortiz, Sosa once they quit using, they couldnt hardly even touch the ball. Their performance was way down. Maybe its just a confidence thing. Some would argue what about Arod now? I believe he was always a great player, these other guys were made great by the PED's.

Jason

[bigtruck260]

In my opinion, steroids do somewhat enhance hand-eye coordination. Look at Giambi, David Ortiz, Sosa once they quit using, they couldnt hardly even touch the ball. Their performance was way down. Maybe its just a confidence thing. Some would argue what about Arod now? I believe he was always a great player, these other guys were made great by the PED's.

Jason

It probably affects bat-speed...which would make it easier to swing at a faster/moving pitch.

FROM AN EMAIL I SENT THIS MORNING TO THE CARDINALS ANNOUNCER, JOHN ULETT - AND HIS RESPONSE:

I think Mac knows that he's not a Hall of Famer at this point. That being said, he has no reason to lie about why he took steroids. Not many guys have admitted to using STEROIDS by name. Others use certain drugs, etc...and most say that they didn't know they were taking them. Mac made a HUGE statement yesterday.

As far as him 'not thinking it would increase home-run output' - you are talking about a guy who was a MONSTER all through his youth and amatuer baseball. He was hitting prolific homers before he even touched the stuff. As a rookie, he hit 49... As a person who played for almost 20 years, I can tell you that it takes a tremendous amount of skill to hit a baseball that is thrown close to 100mph with movement. Mac was a heck of a hitter, steroids or not. You were there - he was locked in mentally, and that is not something that steroids are known for.

I think he'll do great as an instructor - he knows what it takes and will be a great mouthpiece for the younger players.

The steroid era sucked, but it sure was exciting.


ULETT:

All good points. He did help make a mess for baseball but I don't hold anger or resentment toward him. I'm willing to give him another chance to be a good Cardinal.

[whatupyos]

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/new...=.jsp&c_id=stl

Check this out. I have always stood by McGwire and will continue to do so. I back him like Tony La Russa. Read this and you'll know why he said what he did back in 2005. For all you who judge without knowing the full story shame on you. The guy made a mistake. Now can we get back to game used collecting? Most of these threads have zero to do with anything collecting.

Aaron

[STLHAMMER32]

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/new...=.jsp&c_id=stl

Check this out. I have always stood by McGwire and will continue to do so. I back him like Tony La Russa. Read this and you'll know why he said what he did back in 2005. For all you who judge without knowing the full story shame on you. The guy made a mistake. Now can we get back to game used collecting? Most of these threads have zero to do with anything collecting.

Aaron

Good to hear, I have always backed McGwire and continue to defend the guy against people who bash his character without knowing. I feel obligated I guess because I know the person he is and have seen it first hand. He did make a big mistake but at least this guy cares enough not to throw unders under the bus (clemens). Say what you want about him as a baseball player but all the other remarks about him as a person are just flat out wrong and uninformed.

[suave1477]

I wish I could join some of you in the ethusiasm of MAC coming forward. In my mind it is too little too late. So he came forward "sooooo" big deal. He should of come forward when all the contoversy was going on. So he comes forward almost 10 years later from retiring??? What does that do for me? Nothing!!

The most important thing which I think a lot of you missed is as much as he apologizes he still has tainted one of the most coveted records in baseball.

When he publically asks to have his Home Run record taken down is when I will be impressed with him coming forward.