Mark McGwire finally admitted the obvious yesterday. He used steroids. In fact, it appears he used HGH, steroids, and just about everything one can inject or swallow to build body mass. He calls it a "mistake" and claims that it didn't affect his performance. Yet he used illegal substances for virtually his entire career. Several things here.
First, it's pretty clear now that McGwire is not a Hall of Fame candidate. He claims he began using steroids to help him back from injuries and continued to use them throughout his career. Taking him at his word seems ridiculous; he's lied for two decades now, which raises questions as to whether he would know the truth if it walked up and patted him on the butt. Nonetheless, let's grant the premise. That means, without them, he would have been an injury prone, occasionally productive home run hitter. At the bottom end of the range? Bob Horner. At the top end? Maybe Dale Murphy, but even that's a stretch (don't quite know why I came up with Braves). That's not HOF material. Heck, it's not even multimillion dollar contract material. Which may have been the point.
We've now got 4 poster children for the steroid era: Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire. The first two likely had the talent to make the HOF anyway and will probably get in after some controversy. The last two are artificial baseball sweeteners. Which puts 1998 into perspective.
Second, the St. Louis Cardinals have hired Mark McGwire as a pharm..um, hitting coach. That's the only reason he came clean. Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals manager, has orchestrated this deal and said his respect for McGwire has only increased. The team chairman expressed support for McGwire and claimed that we shouldn't judge him for what he did 10 years ago. McGwire retired roughly ten years ago, and so it's nice to see that their standard is this: if you don't take steroids in retirement, you're ok.
Tony LaRussa is another deal entirely. His cerebral reputation should not obscure an ugly truth. McGwire used for virtually his entire career; LaRussa was his manager and strongest supporter through much of that time, in Oakland and St. Louis. Both ballclubs, in turn, were at the epicenter of the steroid quake; McGwire was one of many LaRussa players swept up in the scandal. Along with Dusty Baker, the former San Francisco manager (Barry Bonds), LaRussa is clearly the manager most associated with these abuses. He was either knowingly complicitous or willfully ignorant.
For the Cardinals to add Mark McGwire to Tony LaRussa says a good deal about the values of that organization and the seriousness with which they take steroid abuse. Look, I'm a Cubs fan and so I'd have nothing good to say about the Cardinals anyway. But, folks, the Yankees aren't hiring Roger Clemons, the Giants aren't hiring Barry Bonds, and the Cubs aren't hiring Sammy Sosa. Somehow, those hires truly are unthinkable; Barry Bonds has been frozen out of baseball for several years now. But not Mark McGwire and the St. Louis Cardinals.
So, I don't want the Cardinals or LaRussa getting all self-righteous the next time someone wonders just how they manage to take on all these reclamation projects, all these pitchers and position players who are terrible with other teams but blossom with the Cardinals. Because the track record is clear. And y'all have lost the right to protest with this hiring.
Finally, when I think of the steroid era, I also think of Mark Grace. He was the Cubs first baseman throughout the Era and he came up at roughly the same time as McGwire and Rafael Palmiero. Raffy and Grace were Cub farmhands together. Both hit for average and doubles power. The Cubs traded Raffy to Texas for the Wild Thing, Mitch Williams, and Raffy met Jose Canseco. Palmiero ended up with better than 500 home runs, a positive drug test, mountains of money, and a bad day in front of Congress.
McGwire ended up with much the same. Throughout the era, guys like McGwire and Raffy were picked above Grace for the All-Star team and other such awards. Yesterday, McGwire insisted that 'roids had made no difference, that the hand-eye coordination necessary to hit as he did were a God-given talent. That right, Mark?
Because, if memory serves me right, the other Mark, Mark Grace, the clean Mark, led the nineties in hits and doubles. He sure had that coordination. He also fielded his position beautifully and helped the Diamondbacks win a World Series. Yet he's not even a blip on the HOF radar screen. Too bad he never had Mark McGwire as his "hitting" coach. That surely would have raised Gracie's meager home run totals.
Thanks for staying clean, Gracie. It's not the Hall of Fame. But it is the sincere thanks of one Cubs fan who really enjoyed seeing you play. And can still enjoy it today.
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