McGwire comes clean

[dfwabel]

I know that most of us get "bigger/fatter" in middle age, but some of us get "it" and become in better shape. On the other hand, it appears that some athletes, especially in MLB at that time used PEDs (steroids, HGH, and others legal or illegal we don't know). From the transcript:

Costas: Would you have hit nearly 600 home runs etc..:

MM: I truly believe so. I believe I was given this gift. The only reason I took steroids was for my health purposes. I did not take steroids to get any gain for any strength purposes.

Costas: But Didn't you become stronger??

MM: I've always had bat speed. I just learned how to shorten my bat speed. I learned how to be a better hitter. 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.

Costas: What drugs did you use?

MM: The names I don't remember. But I did injectables. I preferred the orals. The steroids I did were on a very, very low dosage. I didn't want to take a lot of that. I didn't want to look like Arnold Schwartzenneger or Lou Ferigno. My weight was 250. I finished every season around 235 or 240. I took very very low dosages because I wanted my body to feel normal. The wear and tear of 162 ballgames and the status of where I was at and the pressures that I had to perform and what I had to go through to get through all these injuries is a very very regrettable thing. I wish it never came into my life. But we're sitting here talking about it. I wish I didn't have to. I apologize to everybody in major-league baseball (lip trembling), my family, the Marrises, Bud Selig. Today was the hardest day of my life (tears in eyes, biting his lip).

Costas: Did you feel you were cheating?

MM: As I look back now as far as my health and my injuries, trying to help my injuries to help me feel normal, I can see why people would say that. As far as the god-given talent and hand-eye coordinaton and the genetics I was given, I don't see it.

Some immediate things which game to mind earlier this afternoon.

1-If this was breaking today, how did Bob Costas make it to California in time for a 7 PM EST interview, when it broke at 3 PM? One can get to SNA (Orange County) from DFW or STL in that four hours, but they had to be rushing.

2-Costas was one of the handful of people who could do this interview. Your typical MLB TV reporter could not do it. Rosenthal was best post interview, but I think that the only people who could have done justice to the news item are Costas, Charlie Rose, Mike Wallace (still), Bryant Gumble, Letterman, or maybe Ann Curry (she does a very good lean-in on the serious topics).

3-I do not think he is proud of what he did, but he sure as heck is not really is that sorry. If he used over the course of a decade, is it acceptable we call him an "addict" or "a junkie"? How cannot you not know the specific drugs which you took for that long, but you easily know and can recall Androstenedione? It is clear that he was addicted to the money and fave which came about from his use.

4-He is disregarding that the "steroid era" which he is ashamed of being a part of is the same era which he is largely responsible for. He really did not talk about drug education, just that he was took it because of injuries.

5- Ben Johnson was fast, but until he took Stanozolol and Furazabol he became FAST. I think he just did this to avoid talking to local media at each road stop.

[Saintsfan]

I have to say that having seen whatever snippets of this the UK news has chosen to show (essentially the question about whether or not he could have done his achievements without and the bald admission), I'm less impressed with McGwire than I was when the news broke. It seemed to me that he was admitting the least he could plausibly.

On the HOF, to me it makes no sense letting McGwire into the Hall whilst Pete Rose is still banished. None at all. (The same goes for any player who has admitted to using steroids).

[Jigga]

I was able to watch the interview and see/hear the selected snippets...I'm glad he got it off his chest, but I believe that he's leaving some stuff out and flat out lying about other stuff. Just a belief, but not fact. I was really disappointed in Big Mac, I don't know what to call it, but it just seemed too controlled. He just didn't go far enough. Whatever. What we got is what we'll get from him, and all the ultra aggressive bottom feeders and sensationalists will now proceed to have their way with the story--speculating, assuming, perceiving, and creating as though it is fact.

[fiasco!]

I guess this issue means a lot more than what folks on the first page assumed.

My whole take on this and my feeling on McGwire, Sosa, et al: The summer of '98 was a big fat lie. The entire country was captivated by false "heroes". We were all duped into watching a bogus home run race and it just sucks.

[Saintsfan]

I guess this issue means a lot more than what folks on the first page assumed.

My whole take on this and my feeling on McGwire, Sosa, et al: The summer of '98 was a big fat lie. The entire country was captivated by false "heroes". We were all duped into watching a bogus home run race and it just sucks.

Speaking for myself, I did say that McGwire's achievements had been tarnished, though I was pleased he had fessed up.

BUT having seen bits of the Costas interview, I feel he has said as little as possible, not as much as possible. Thats the bit that now disappoints me.

[Wasatch]

It?s funny how Jose Canseco is saying now that he regrets writing that book!

[BaltimoreFan]

I guess this issue means a lot more than what folks on the first page assumed.

My whole take on this and my feeling on McGwire, Sosa, et al: The summer of '98 was a big fat lie. The entire country was captivated by false "heroes". We were all duped into watching a bogus home run race and it just sucks.

Speaking for myself, I did say that McGwire's achievements had been tarnished, though I was pleased he had fessed up.

BUT having seen bits of the Costas interview, I feel he has said as little as possible, not as much as possible. Thats the bit that now disappoints me.

I'm just happy he said something, even if it is not the full truth. Unfortunately we as fans will never know the full truth. Some players will never fess up and those that do probably won't give the full truth. I'm not even sure if Canseco has given the full truth. His motive seems to be to sell books, so he may have embellished some of the stuff he wrote. We'll never know.

I think we really have MLB to blame for this mess. They should have known about the problem and ended as quickly as possible. I'm not even sure if we're past the steroid era yet. Reports seem to indicated that the current drug testing policy is very weak and easy to pass.

[NJTank]

It?s funny how Jose Canseco is saying now that he regrets writing that book!

Not a shock he likely lost allot of friends.

[Wasatch]

It?s funny how Jose Canseco is saying now that he regrets writing that book!

Not a shock he likely lost allot of friends.

Well what do you think he honestly expect that book was going to do? Go under the radar screen?

[Eye]

Additionally,

That's it?

Jigga? Hedley? DG? Lee?

Someone wanna step up here and show him how it's done?

Well, you'd edit my post like a baby if I went the delusional fanboy, crying over the retirement of a mascot, claiming to be part of a team and acting like he had no idea that McGwire was taking performance enhancers route, so I didn't.

[The_Admiral]

managers started to manage the lineup in a way where they wait for a 3-run HR instead of manufacturing runs via stolen bases and sacrifice flies/bunts

You're smart enough that you knew but for the people that don't, Earl Weaver literally wrote the book on this strategy in the 1970s. It's called, in fact, Weaver on Strategy. I don't know how many other teams were playing (or could play) that style, but I'm glad more managers wised up to the fact if you play for one run, that's all you'll get.

I find it incredibly hard to believe that anyone who makes--and vastly improves--one's living through physical performance has no idea what sort of drugs he's taking. It's not like he's some high schooler buying lousy adulterated e out in the suburbs or something. He knows, he knows.

[STL FANATIC]

Additionally,

That's it?

Jigga? Hedley? DG? Lee?

Someone wanna step up here and show him how it's done?

Well, you'd edit my post like a baby if I went the delusional fanboy, crying over the retirement of a mascot, claiming to be part of a team and acting like he had no idea that McGwire was taking performance enhancers route, so I didn't.

Oh. You're upset that I edited your personal attack on a member, gotcha.

I've never edited someone's post for disagreeing with an opinion or viewpoint, only for over the top inappropriateness and/or a personal attack on another member. And I've certainly never edited a post that was negatively directed at me (attack or not).

Thanks, though.

[STL FANATIC]

I guess this issue means a lot more than what folks on the first page assumed.

My whole take on this and my feeling on McGwire, Sosa, et al: The summer of '98 was a big fat lie. The entire country was captivated by false "heroes". We were all duped into watching a bogus home run race and it just sucks.

Speaking for myself, I did say that McGwire's achievements had been tarnished, though I was pleased he had fessed up.

BUT having seen bits of the Costas interview, I feel he has said as little as possible, not as much as possible. Thats the bit that now disappoints me.

There's no doubt McGwire could have said more. And he certainly could have said things differently for better PR. But think about all the other steroid admissions, and then consider whether McGwire did "as little as possible." Even if he didn't do nearly enough, he still did more than most. I think people would have seen this interview a lot more positively if he would have said "I can't really say for sure what they did for my numbers." But great athletes believe in their abilities, usually to the point of irrational arrogance, and I think that's case here. Or maybe he's intentionally lying. It's still more than anyone before him has said.

[BBTV]

Is it possible that sometime in the (probalby distant) future, this could end up being good for the game?

Remember the hype when Sosa and McGwire were chasing Maris in '98? Just imagine when some (assumed to be) clean player starts approaching Bonds' records. I think there will be a lot more hype, and more people rooting for that person, so that there's a "clean" home run king. That race could be just as big as '98, even if for totally different reasons.

Personally, I don't care, but I know that most of the fans do.

[Jigga]

I'd love to see a "clean" player break Bonds' single-season and career records...too bad such a thing does not and has rarely existed, if ever, in the history of professional baseball.

[BBTV]

Agreed. I guess "clean player" should be changed to "player who is not known to be on steroids that we have the ability to test for". If they're on something that nobody knows about and can't be tested for, then it's kind of like a tree falling in the forest...

[BBTV]

Here's a serious question - what the hell is wrong with McGwire's neck? Does he have a huge scar, or is it just from aging, or a disease? It's really tough to look at.

[Wasatch]

Remember the hype when Sosa and McGwire were chasing Maris in '98? Just imagine when some (assumed to be) clean player starts approaching Bonds' records. I think there will be a lot more hype, and more people rooting for that person, so that there's a "clean" home run king. That race could be just as big as '98, even if for totally different reasons.

I?d like to believe that someone could break what is now Bonds? record, but I really don?t think that?s possibly for someone who is honestly a ?clean athlete?!

Here's a serious question - what the hell is wrong with McGwire's neck? Does he have a huge scar, or is it just from aging, or a disease? It's really tough to look at.

I think McGwire?s scars on his neck were probably due to acne in his adolescence.

[Sport]

I don't think he did this to get into the hall of fame. I think he did so he could have a more comfortable working relationship within Major League Baseball. If the motivation behind the admission was to get into the hall of fame then I think he would've done so more closely to the vote.

[Sodboy13]

Is it possible that sometime in the (probalby distant) future, this could end up being good for the game?

Remember the hype when Sosa and McGwire were chasing Maris in '98? Just imagine when some (assumed to be) clean player starts approaching Bonds' records. I think there will be a lot more hype, and more people rooting for that person, so that there's a "clean" home run king. That race could be just as big as '98, even if for totally different reasons.

Personally, I don't care, but I know that most of the fans do.

Well, we had that with Alex Rodriguez, until 2009 happened.