Mark McGwire Comes "Clean"

[Jagger69]

Confession is always good for the soul and part of the healing process. As a Cardinal fan, this whole episode has been extremely painful for me but at least Mark is admitting his guilt and that takes a lot of balls. He's a cheater but at least he's owning up to it at last (like Jason Giambi, Andy Pettite and VERY few others).

I'll never forget the HR race between Sammy and Big Mac. It was one of the most exciting times in baseball. So sad it was tainted. Tragic....glad he finally admitted it to his public. Right thing to do, Mark. :thumbsup: It's never too late to do the right thing. I hope the public gives him a break and lets him get past this. Deep down he's a really good guy....he just made some really bad decisions. Who among us would not have made the same mistake had we had the chance to do what he did without the benefit of hindsight (especially when so many around him were doing the exact same thing)? I forgive you, Big Mac. I'm sure there will be some who won't and I totally understand.

But....you're never going to make the Hall of Fame.

Barry....Sammy....Roger....are you listening? Follow Big Mac's lead. This cleansing process is way overdue and sorely needed. Problem is....how many guys are still juicing?

 

[lurkingdirk]

Way too many guys are still juicing, and way too many who make it into the hall of fame were juicing.

I wish people would follow this lead too.

 

[jod0565]

Wow, how long ago was that...
We all knew he was dirty just from all the controversy way back when.
Why didn't he admit his wrongdoing then?

 

[Ace Bandage]

The homerun chase in '98 was very special to me at the time. I loved Sammy like a brother. He was a likable character who came out of nowhere to challenge McGwire. He brought the Cubs back to relevance and eventually led them to the playoffs. I rooted for both of them that year (McGwire and Sosa) and was truly happy for Mark when he broke the record.

Looking back, we were all naive. Both of them were on steroids - Sosa will never admit it. It cheapens everything and makes me ashamed to have ever supported either one of them. Baseball is a sacred game where the numbers of the past are legendary (61, .409, 191). Players compete against ghosts of the past. You don't fuck around with something like that. Neither one should be honored in Cooperstown in my opinion.

 

[Crazy4theBrat]

Nice to hear this news. I always thought he was juicing anyway. His admission is refreshing because it shows there are a few guys out there who care enough about the game and it's history that they are willing to take some hits to their own reputation. In the end, this admission should improve his legacy more than it tarnishes it.

 

[StanScratch]

It is nice that he finally came out and admitted it.
When I was growing up, Pete Rose was my favorite player. After he was kicked from baseball, watching his denial for literally decades was so painful - and his method of admitting it (via book sales and autograph sales) cheapened his image even more.

 

[averageJoe]

As much as athletes make, they should get random drug tests all the time. There was no doubt in my mind Maguire was using Steroids. The dude had Popeye forearms!

 

[abejarano12]

I think that everyone knew that this was going to come out. I still say that baseball is still dirty and needs to be cleaned up by a new commish

 

[Will E Worm]

With all the people who get away with drugs and alcohol abuse in sports...who cares?

Then you gamble a little and everyone jumps on your case.
Ask, Pete Rose about that.

When they finally put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame they better give him an entire wing and an apology. :hammer:

 

[~~whimsy~~]

I bet McGuire takes it back when he said I will confess when Sammy Sosa turns white!

 

[Facetious]

Confession is always good for the soul and part of the healing process. As a Cardinal fan, this whole episode has been extremely painful for me but at least Mark is admitting his guilt and that takes a lot of balls. He's a cheater but at least he's owning up to it at last (like Jason Giambi, Andy Pettite and VERY few others).

I'm a Mac fan and will always be so. I'll never forget, myself and a couple of my pals ran into Mac at a bar in the south bay and the guy couldn't have been more of a regular Joe, nodding back, waving, shaking hands etc. with everybody who recognized his presence, really cool ! ..... But ! didn't his apology come with an *attachment ?... That's cool too, I'll give it to the Mac. You're so right about us, if in the same predicament, not being able to resist in the same situation... bullseye !

I'll never forget the HR race between Sammy and Big Mac. It was one of the most exciting times in baseball.

Yeah, I agree, great times.... similarly, in another season - The Kirk Gibson blast off of Eckersley.... I don't even want to talk about it :hammer: As far as the roids enhancement goes, the owners knew exactly what was going on :
Roids meant more hits, more hits meant more HRs, more HRs meant increased park ticket sales and the rest is history. The game needed a spark and the roids culture provided that spark.

 

[sporty_carr]

So Mark McGwire finally admitted he did steroids?

That's not really news imo.

It's like Clay Aiken admitting that he's gay.

It's like O.J. admitting that he murdered Nicole Brown.........oh, wait.

 

[HELLRAISER]

They should make to pro baseball leagues, one in which the players are steroid free and another where players are allowed to use steroids

 

[shayd]

Then you gamble a little and everyone jumps on your case.
Ask, Pete Rose about that.

When they finally put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame they better give him an entire wing and an apology. :hammer:

Not to be nitpicky, but Rose broke one of the few clauses of the CBA at the time, one that because of anti-trust laws, he technically should have been prosecuted for.

While I don't condone Mac taking steroids, he didn't violate the CBA.



But outside of that, I'm glad for Mac, I say good on him for admitting it, and showing genuine remorse for it.

 

[jasonk282]

hey Mark, tell us something we did not know.

 

[Friday on my mind]

Yeah he admits to taking steroids but says they had nothing to do with his being able to hit 70 home runs but were for his health.Him and his apology are loads of crap.His and the other records from the obvious steroid users are worthless.Hank Aaron and Roger Maris still hold the records for Home runs IMO.

 

[SgtMarine]

Yeah he admits to taking steroids but says they had nothing to do with his being able to hit 70 home runs but were for his health.Him and his apology are loads of crap.His and the other records from the obvious steroid users are worthless.Hank Aaron and Roger Maris still hold the records for Home runs IMO.

The commish should just come out and say that any records broken by Mac, Sosa and Bonds will not be permitted since they are cheating.

Not only do kids look upto these people are role models, but they are destroying the game. All you have to do it look at there rookie cards and then look at them now, I know people get bigger over the years but they balloned up.

 

[feller469]

McGwire still doesn't get it. He says he would have still hit all the home runs and set all the records because of his talent, not the steroids. he only took the steroids to stay healthy and play the game.

Guess what Mark? If you don't take the steroids, you are not on the field as much and your stats drop.

How many home runs did you hit in games you did not play in? My guess is "zero". McGwire, like Rose, is still in denial about his crimes against baseball and his own culpability in the issue.

McGwire only spoke to the MLB Network because he wants to get back in the game. I am not going to say he is doing it for the money.

When I did sports radio, I compared McGwire to Dave Kingman - an "all or nothing" kind of hitter. 35.85% of McGwire's hits were home runs. 1626 hits, 785 singles, 583 HRs.

The PR of the record home run chase was great for baseball, it got a lot of people into the game, and it is too bad it is tainted.

McGwire, Sosa, and the others who may not have lied to Congress could have done the right thing, but didn't. That says more to me than some admission of partial culpability.

 

[D-rock]

What people always forget about McGwire is that he never did actually break any rules, thus no cheating. You have to brake the rules to cheat. Of course if people's argument is that MLB was incredibly stupid for going so long without reasonable rules against performance enhancing drugs and testing for it, I would completely agree. I don't necessarily blame any individual players for taking steroids pre 2003 though. It would be like wanting to take players records away now because they wear gloves when at the beginning of the game they didn't have them. Almost every era of baseball has something about it that either gave or took away and advantage or a detriment of some kind.

As far as McGwire the person if he would have come out with the truth from the very beginning I wouldn't really care. The fact he thought he had to hide it shows that he didn't want to own up the truth. I guess I can hold that against him, but that's all. I'm not going to put the failing of the entire league on individual players when they stayed within the confines of what they were supposed to.

 

[STDiva]

In other news, Wayne Brady admits he is black.