McGwire's Mea Culpa

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Jan..11, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                    

             Former St. Louis Cardinal’s slugger Mark McGwire stunned the baseball world today admitting he used steroids for up to 10 years, including his record-breaking 1998 season.  When he smashed New York Yankee homerun king Roger Maris’ 17-year-old single-season record Sept. 8, 1998, the Maris’ family was at Busch Stadium to personally congratulate him.  No one knew then that McGwire was using performance-enhancing drugs.  Roger Maris, after all, performed the unthinkable besting Yankee Hall of Fame legend Babe Ruth’s 60-homerun cosmic plateau.  Babe’s single-season homerun record stood for 34 years, before Maris broke it on an extended 161 game-season.  Ruth’s record was set in a 154-game season, arguably baseball’s most impressive accomplishment.  While Ruth died Aug. 16, 1948 of cancer at age 53, he still remains one of baseball’s all-time greats.

            McGwire’s confession rocked the baseball world not because McGwire was considered beyond reproach but precisely because of his denials since implicated by his Oakaland A’s teammate and fellow “bash-brother” Jose Canseco.  Canseco outed McGwire and numerous other players in his tell-all 2005 book,  “Juiced:  Wild Times, Rampant Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big.”  Canseco was reviled by former players for daring to tell the truth about Major League Baseball’s dirty little secret:  The widespread use of steroids, HGH and other performance-enhancing drugs.  Canseco’s revelations and testimony, both private and under oath, prompted a 2005 Congressional investigation led by former Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine).  McGwire testified under oath before House Government Reform Committee March 17, 2005, refusing to answer questions about past steroid use.

            McGwire’s refusal to answer the committee's questions raised eyebrows, prompting Congress to apply maximum pressure on MLB, both Commissioner Bud Selig and Players’ Union Chief Donald Fehr, to adopt a tough zero-tolerance steroid policy.  McGwire’s decision today to admit his past steroid use seems timed with St. Louis Cardinal Manager Tony LaRussa announcing that he would name McGwire St. Louis’ hitting coach.  “I wish I had never played during the steroid era,” said McGwire, expressing regrets about using performance-enhancing drugs.  He claims he took steroids and HGH, not to improve his on-field performance but to help heal injuries that plagued his career.  McGwire acknowledged using steroids during the 1998 season in which he battled Chicago Cubs’ slugger Sammy Sosa for the homerun title, eventually beating out Sosa 70-66.

            While McGwire lost his homerun crown to San Francisco Giant’s slugger Barry Bonds who broke his record Oct. 5, 2001, eventually ending the season with 73 homeruns.  Since Bond’s spectacular feat, he’s been dogged by allegations of steroid abuse, HGH and other performance enhancing drugs.  Bonds, like McGwire, denied any use of performance-enhancing drugs, despite well-documented reports by San Francisco Chronicle Sports writers Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada’s 2006 book “Game of Shadows,” implicating Bonds with his trainer Greg Anderson of BALCO, Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, a supplement company that supplied athletes, including Bonds, with the “clear,” a cream that contained Human Chorionic Gonadatropin [HCG] hormone, one derived from the amniotic fluid of pregnant women, a potent testosterone booster.  

            McGwires’s mea culpa presents problems for Bonds, whose Nov. 15, 2007 grand jury indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice for steroid abuse hangs over his head.  McGwires’s public confession puts pressure on Bonds and former Boston, N.Y. Yankie and Houston Astro ace Roger Clemens, who, like Bonds, denies any steroid use.  “I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come,” said McGwire about his mea culpa.  “It’s time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected,” putting more pressure on Bonds, Clemens and others not yet willing to cop to using performance-enhancing drugs.  “Big Mac” blamed his March 5, 2005 Congressional stonewalling on his lawyer’s advice.  “I’m not here to talk about the past.  I’m here to be positive about the subject,” said McGwire, refusing to name names or answer any questions.

            McGwire’s confession comes almost 12 years since his Sept. 8, 1998 record-breaking moment at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  While he despised his former teammate Jose Canseco for blowing the whistle in 2005, McGwire now sees the value of coming clean.  “That was the worst 48 hours of his life,” McGwire reflected on his stonewalling before Congress.  Now that Mark seeks a return to professional baseball, he sees the value in telling the truth.  “His willingness to admit mistakes, express regret, and explain the circumstances that led his to use steroids add to my respect for him,” said St. Louis Cardinal Manager Tony LaRussa.  While there’s nothing wrong with asking for forgiveness, McGwire needs to extend a personal apology to Canseco for showing the courage to endure his endless denials, wrath and public scorn for exposing MLB’s dirty little secret.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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