There has been a TON of things happening since the last blog post. The NFL Playoffs are in full swing, plenty of upsets and a completely wild shootout in the Arizona desert took place. Pete Carroll has decided to jump ship from a soon to be sanctioned and penalized USC football program for the safety of the Seattle Seahawks. The Bears are ready to get serious about their open coaching positions. Jerry Wainright getting fired, etc. Those of you familiar with me though, are aware that everything that has happened is taking a big backseat today, in light of the Mark McGwire news that he did in fact use steroids, HGH, and other performance enhancers throughout his career. So let's get to it!
Tony LaRussa, upon the heels of announcing McGwire would be his hitting coach in St. Louis this season, predicted that McGwire would address these long standing allegations, suspicions and finally "talk about the past" before spring training this year. Today apparently became that day as McGwire issued his 20 minute statement admitting steroid use throughout his playing career to set everything in motion. A good start for him in some ways. McGwire then went on MLB Network to be interviewed by Bob Costas, and erased any momentum or good will he might have established in completely liberating himself of the guilt he has been carrying for some time now.
After shedding a bunch of tears (much like he did in the beginning of his March 17, 2005 testimony in Congress) McGwire gave wishy-washy answers at best when it came to the specifics of his steroid use. He left out or claimed he didn't remember the names of steroids he used, only admitting he preferred pills not injectables. He gave vague terms of "very low doses" when asked how much did he take. McGwire gave inaccurate time tables of when/how long he was using steroids during his career. He claimed that the only reason he said he's "not hear to talk about the past" was because he wasn't given immunity. Then, in a final measure of delusion, he said "I did this for health purposes. There is no way I did this for any type of strength purposes." and "There's no way a pill or an injection will give you hand-eye coordination or the ability or the great mind that I've had as a baseball player..." Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....
Let's start with some establishment of facts. I'm not here to argue that steroids should be banned in all sports, or that they're worse than doing crack cocaine, or any of the other histrionic debates that are associated with Performance Enhancing Drugs. That's another argument for another time. I AM of the mindset however that Steroids, HGH, PED's should not be in Major League Baseball, and we'll just leave it at that for today. I've read many books, and studied the Steroid Era very carefully over the years, I've heard varying accounts of McGwire's and other ballplayers drug use, as well as the owners and fans tacit approval of it. Here is the timeline of all the important developments of the Steroid Era. The most important entry I'd ask people to pay attention to is what happened on June 7, 1991. Even though you will see, read, and hear everyone in the media say that there were "no rules" against taking steroids, Fay Vincent issued a memo to every club saying that steroids have been added to the Banned Substance List. Meaning that even though they hadn't agreed to testing, taking steroids was against the rules of MLB going all the way back to 1991.
That being said, let's now get into the meat of McGwire's "admission"and it's relation to the title of this post. Either McGwire is a complete idiot, or a duplicitous liar based on his comments today. For him to say he doesn't remember the names of the drugs he took, and his attempt to pass it off as a low doses is very weak on his part. Every steroid user I've known, seen, talked to, or read about knows exactly the name of the steroids they're taking, how much of it they're taking, and what else they can cocktail it with during use, and what drugs they need to take after they cycle off of them. The know and remember simply because they need to know all of this to get the best results possible. So either McGwire is a complete idiot for not bothering to know about these things, or he is lying right through his tears in the hopes of fooling people into believing that steroids really didn't help him that much.
McGwire said he first tried steroids between 1989 and 1990, went off them, and then went back on them in 1993. However, when looking at the numbers there was very little, to no change in either his body type, or his production during 1989-1990. In 1991 though, there was a significant drop in both Batting Average, Home Runs, OBP, and RBI's to the point where Tony LaRussa benched him for the last game of the season so he could keep his batting average above the Mendoza Line. In 1992 however, his production returned, complete with mullet, goatee, and 30 lbs of added muscle, to take the American League by storm until a heel injury sidelined him in August that season. People covering McGwire at the time were aware, or at the very least heard rumblings that he first started taking steroids in 1992, and it's long been accepted as truth among the beat writers covering him at that time. So either he's a complete idiot for not being able to read a calendar, or he's a duplicitous liar for trying to fool people into believing that one of his most productive years was not responsible because of steroid use.
The main point he made that really leaves a big hole in his armor is McGwire's belief and conviction, that steroids did not help him become a better ball player, that he wasn't taking them to become bigger and stronger but rather for "health benefits", and that steroids in general don't make baseball players better than what their natural ability allows them to do. First of all if that's the case, then why is he so sorry that he took them? Secondly, what "health benefits" did he take them for? Steroids don't treat injuries. If anything, they cause more injuries, than anything else. Did he have anemia? Was he a burn victim? Maybe it was for other side effect purposes, which could be maybe his back didn't have enough acne on it? Maybe his testicles were too big, and they needed to shrink? Other than that, there's not too many actual health reasons to take steroids. The only other benefit left to gain from them is abnormal levels of muscle mass and strength. Third, if steroids don't make you a better player, then why did all those home run records shatter so quickly during the Steroid Era? Obviously because they DO make you a better ballplayer. They're Performance Enhancing Drugs, and by definition they help you play better than your natural ability. So once again, either McGwire is a complete idiot for not being logical, or he is a liar because he wants people to believe that steroids were not responsible for his success in his career.
Oh but it continues. Don't think I'm going to give Tony LaRussa a free pass. LaRussa has said on at least two separate occasions that he believes McGwire was clean, here and here. LaRussa has taken every opportunity to bully people and be as stand off-ish as possible whenever the subject of McGwire or steroid use on his teams has come up. He has made so many outlandish comments over the years, including his bitching about Steve Wilstein invading McGwire's privacy when Wilstein saw that bottle of Andro in McGwire's locker in 1998. LaRussa has shown the class and maturity of a spoiled brat when it comes to this subject because it becomes clear with each passing day that no manager benefited more from the Steroid Era than him, which leads to the repeated question. Is LaRussa a complete idiot for being totally ignorant for not knowing about the steroid use on his teams, or is he a duplicitous liar for trying to get people to believe that there is no such thing as steroids, McGwire's achievements were all natural, and that he really is a great manager and not just a guy who fills out a lineup card and hopes for 2 three run homers to win games 8-6?
The bottom line is, McGwire is only confessing halfway. He blew another chance to really cleanse his conscience and set the record straight. By only admitting he juiced, but shying away from specifics, and expressing his naive beliefs that steroids didn't make him the player he was, he only made things worse. Maybe now we can understand why he really wasn't there to talk about the past in 2005....because now it seems he doesn't to want to remember any of it, or more importantly doesn't want us to remember it.
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