McGwire admits using steroids in 1998

[Guest GCMPats]

[size=12pt]McGwire admits using steroids in 1998[/size]

By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press
Jan. 11, 2010, 2:07PM

NEW YORK — Mark McGwire finally came clean Monday, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball’s home run record in 1998.

McGwire said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday that he used steroids on and off for nearly a decade.

“I wish I had never touched steroids,” McGwire said in a statement. “It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era.”

McGwire also used human growth hormone, a person close to McGwire said, speaking on condition of anonymity because McGwire didn’t include that detail in his statement.

McGwire’s decision to admit using steroids was prompted by his decision to become hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, his final big league team. Tony La Russa, McGwire’s manager in Oakland and St. Louis, has been among McGwire’s biggest supporters and thinks returning to the field can restore the former slugger’s reputation.

“I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come,” McGwire said. “It’s time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected.”

He became the second major baseball star in less than a year to admit using illegal steroids, following the New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez last February.

Others have been tainted but have denied knowingly using illegal drugs, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and David Ortiz.

Bonds has been indicted on charges he made false statements to a federal grand jury and obstructed justice. Clemens is under investigation by a federal grand jury trying to determine whether he lied to a congressional committee.

“I’m sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids,” McGwire said. “I had good years when I didn’t take any, and I had bad years when I didn’t take any. I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn’t have done it and for that I’m truly sorry.”

Big Mac’s reputation has been in tatters since March 17, 2005, when he refused to answer questions at a Congressional hearing. Instead, he repeatedly said “I’m not here to talk about the past” when asked whether he took illegal steroids when he hit a then-record 70 home runs in 1998 or at any other time.

“After all this time, I want to come clean,” he said. “I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my congressional testimony, but now I feel an obligation to discuss this and to answer questions about it. I’ll do that, and then I just want to help my team.”

The person close to McGwire said McGwire made the decision not to answer questions at that hearing on the advice of his lawyers.

McGwire disappeared from the public eye following his retirement as a player following the 2001 season. When the Cardinals hired the 47-year-old as coach on Oct. 26, they said he would address questions before spring training, and Monday’s statement broke his silence.

“I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989/1990 offseason and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again,” McGwire said in his statement. “I used them on occasion throughout the ‘90s, including during the 1998 season.”

McGwire said he took steroids to get back on the field, sounding much like the Yankees’ Andy Pettitte two years ago when he admitted using HGH.

“During the mid-’90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years,” McGwire said in the statement. “I experienced a lot of injuries, including a ribcage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years, and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too.”

Since the congressional hearing, baseball owners and players toughened their drug program twice, increasing the penalty for a first steroids offense from 10 days to 50 games in November 2005 and strengthening the power of the independent administrator in April 2008, following the publication of the Mitchell Report.

“Baseball is really different now — it’s been cleaned up,” McGwire said. “The commissioner and the players’ association implemented testing and they cracked down, and I’m glad they did.”

[Razor]

no big shock here...I have always felt that coming clean earns you more respect...he has done this now and it is time to move on...I suspect that 70-80% of MLB players during the 90s were juicing...they bear some of the blame as does the league itself for doing absolutely nothing to stop it...think about it, if you are competing for a job with someone who is taking juice and you are not and one of you is going home after spring training and there are no rules against it, would you take steriods?  MLB should have stepped in, they didn't and now it's over...time to move on because you cannot change the past, only learn from it.

[elhector1]

[quote name="Razor" post="742301" timestamp="1263244299"]
no big shock here...I have always felt that coming clean earns you more respect...he has done this now and it is time to move on...I suspect that 70-80% of MLB players during the 90s were juicing...they bear some of the blame as does the league itself for doing absolutely nothing to stop it...think about it, if you are competing for a job with someone who is taking juice and you are not and one of you is going home after spring training and there are no rules against it, would you take steriods?  MLB should have stepped in, they didn't and now it's over...time to move on because you cannot change the past, only learn from it.
[/quote]

So, if Bonds were to admit using right now, everything would be forgiven, and there would not be any calls to put an asterisk next to his name if her were to break the home run record?  I doubt it...I remember way back when, at the time he broke the record, him saying he had used "enhancements that were legal"...so now, it turns out they weren't...

I guess my beef is that the sports media loves to slam on Bonds, but gave a pass to McGuire...if you're (more a collective you, than you personally, razor) gonna be outraged, be outraged consistently...Otherwise it makes it seem that you are something you aren't...

[Ruckdad]

I remember McGwire getting slammed pretty good following the congressional hearings. I also remember him getting slammed pretty good after a reporter discovered Andro in his locker - which at the time was not a banned substance or illegal.  I also recall Clemens getting slammed pretty good as well after the debacle that was his congressional testimony.  All of the players that have been linked to it have been hit pretty hard by the media, the fans and baseball itself. 

Bonds and Clemens just continue to vehementl deny it - likely to their detriment.

[adminbaberuth]

McGwire called Mrs Maris and told her he cheated.



[s]Barry Bonds 762** [/s]
Hank Aaron 755
Babe Ruth 714
Willie Mays 660
Ken Griffey Jr 630
[s]Sammy Sosa 609** [/s]
Frank Robinson 586
[s]Mark McGwire 583* [/s]
[s]Alex Rodriguez 583*[/s]
Harmon Killebrew 573
[s]Rafael Palmeiro 569*[/s]
Jim Thome 564
Reggie Jackson 563
Mike Schmidt 548
[s]Manny Ramirez 546*[/s]

[AJ25]

It's hard to have a right answer to this. If Bonds, Clemens, etc.. All call and admit it, you have to just kind of slap the hand and move on. Notice, I didn't say accept them into the Hall of Fame. But it's kind of like beating a dead duck. Continuing to talk and bash players about it once they've came clean and admitted to what they did.. That's when you leave it alone and move one. That's something the media is so terrible about. They have a lot of problems with moving on. Just an example when an athlete dies. It all ends up, in early news.. Blah blah. A person's life ends, but they're usually going to continue focusing on negative things. They need to move on, once things have happened there's nothing you can do. We realize steroids were present, and hopefully aren't anymore. Continue to keep them out of the game, but don't let anything else get out. Then making steroid use public ruined the game for a while.

[Guest Orangeboy]

[quote name="adminbaberuth" post="742440" timestamp="1263263576"]
McGwire called Mrs Maris and told her he cheated.



[s]Barry Bonds 762** [/s]
Hank Aaron 755
Babe Ruth 714
Willie Mays 660
Ken Griffey Jr 630
[s]Sammy Sosa 609** [/s]
Frank Robinson 586
[s]Mark McGwire 583* [/s]
[s]Alex Rodriguez 583*[/s]
Harmon Killebrew 573
[s]Rafael Palmeiro 569*[/s]
Jim Thome 564
Reggie Jackson 563
Mike Schmidt 548
[s]Manny Ramirez 546*[/s]

[/quote]

I hate that we have to look at the numbers in baseball like this. I grew up watching so many of these guys, just glad we had some greats to watch. Nolan, Boggs, Ripken, Gwynn, Brett just to name a few. Glad he finally fessed up. Respect him more now.

[Gabe]

Wow and I thought he was clean this whole time. Thanks for clearing the air mark!

[Gabe]

See I don't look at it like that. He is not more of a man just because he talked. He only talked for selfish reasons. If he was a respectable man he would either not done it or came clean at the first opportunity.

[westend1]

[quote name="Gabe" post="742643" timestamp="1263315913"]
See I don't look at it like that. He is not more of a man just because he talked. He only talked for selfish reasons. If he was a respectable man he would either not done it or came clean at the first opportunity.
[/quote]

Aw C'mon.  The man said he didn't do it to get stronger.  He was just trying to recover from injuries.    I also have a long bridge I want to sell.

[Guest GCMPats]

[quote name="westend1" post="742802" timestamp="1263329124"]
[quote author=Gabe link=topic=64624.msg742643#msg742643 date=1263315913]
See I don't look at it like that. He is not more of a man just because he talked. He only talked for selfish reasons. If he was a respectable man he would either not done it or came clean at the first opportunity.
[/quote]

Aw C'mon.  The man said he didn't do it to get stronger.  He was just trying to recover from injuries.    I also have a long bridge I want to sell.
[/quote]

I do not approve of steroid usage in athletics. However, someone explain to me how being "stronger" makes you a better baseball player?

[westend1]

[quote name="GCMPats" post="743119" timestamp="1263388793"]
[quote author=westend1 link=topic=64624.msg742802#msg742802 date=1263329124]
[quote author=Gabe link=topic=64624.msg742643#msg742643 date=1263315913]
See I don't look at it like that. He is not more of a man just because he talked. He only talked for selfish reasons. If he was a respectable man he would either not done it or came clean at the first opportunity.
[/quote]

Aw C'mon.  The man said he didn't do it to get stronger.  He was just trying to recover from injuries.    I also have a long bridge I want to sell.
[/quote]

I do not approve of steroid usage in athletics. However, someone explain to me how being "stronger" makes you a better baseball player?
[/quote]


For one thing. it's pretty obvious that it turns warning track flyouts into homeruns.  I don't think the numbers lie here.  Look at the admitted users and their homerun numbers year by year.

[Guest GCMPats]

[quote name="westend1" post="743120" timestamp="1263389633"]
[quote author=GCMPats link=topic=64624.msg743119#msg743119 date=1263388793]
[quote author=westend1 link=topic=64624.msg742802#msg742802 date=1263329124]
[quote author=Gabe link=topic=64624.msg742643#msg742643 date=1263315913]
See I don't look at it like that. He is not more of a man just because he talked. He only talked for selfish reasons. If he was a respectable man he would either not done it or came clean at the first opportunity.
[/quote]

Aw C'mon.  The man said he didn't do it to get stronger.  He was just trying to recover from injuries.    I also have a long bridge I want to sell.
[/quote]

I do not approve of steroid usage in athletics. However, someone explain to me how being "stronger" makes you a better baseball player?
[/quote]


For one thing. it's pretty obvious that it turns warning track flyouts into homeruns.   I don't think the numbers lie here.  Look at the admitted users and their homerun numbers year by year.
[/quote]

I would venture to say that Maguire had adequate "power" prior to using steroids. I would agree that his home run records should be stricken from the books because the drug probably allowed those numbers to be inflated. I do not think his usage made him a better ball player. It may have extended his career, but he had the necessary "tools" to be a major league player before he started using the drug.

[venom33]

you still have to be able to put the bat on the ball... steriods doesnt help the ol hand/eye coordination.

also, what about the pitchers who were using roids that k'd mcgwire throughout his career? or the fielders who made outstanding plays that otherwise wouldnt have been made had they not been juicing? we could go on and on and on....

there has been performance enhancers since baseball was invented, not all being roids!

[BLUEDOVE3]

[quote name="adminbaberuth" post="742440" timestamp="1263263576"]
McGwire called Mrs Maris and told her he cheated.



[s]Barry Bonds 762** [/s]
Hank Aaron 755
Babe Ruth 714
Willie Mays 660
Ken Griffey Jr 630
[s]Sammy Sosa 609** [/s]
Frank Robinson 586
[s]Mark McGwire 583* [/s]
[s]Alex Rodriguez 583*[/s]
Harmon Killebrew 573
[s]Rafael Palmeiro 569*[/s]
Jim Thome 564
Reggie Jackson 563
Mike Schmidt 548
[s]Manny Ramirez 546*[/s]

[/quote] The Babe used illegal substance too! Beer ;)

[Guest GCMPats]

[quote name="BLUEDOVE3" post="743156" timestamp="1263392942"]
[quote author=adminbaberuth link=topic=64624.msg742440#msg742440 date=1263263576]
McGwire called Mrs Maris and told her he cheated.



[s]Barry Bonds 762** [/s]
Hank Aaron 755
Babe Ruth 714
Willie Mays 660
Ken Griffey Jr 630
[s]Sammy Sosa 609** [/s]
Frank Robinson 586
[s]Mark McGwire 583* [/s]
[s]Alex Rodriguez 583*[/s]
Harmon Killebrew 573
[s]Rafael Palmeiro 569*[/s]
Jim Thome 564
Reggie Jackson 563
Mike Schmidt 548
[s]Manny Ramirez 546*[/s]

[/quote] The Babe used illegal substance too! Beer ;)
[/quote]

One could argue that the "Babe" was "juicing". ;)

[AJ25]

[quote name="GCMPats" post="743121" timestamp="1263390192"]
[quote author=westend1 link=topic=64624.msg743120#msg743120 date=1263389633]
[quote author=GCMPats link=topic=64624.msg743119#msg743119 date=1263388793]
[quote author=westend1 link=topic=64624.msg742802#msg742802 date=1263329124]
[quote author=Gabe link=topic=64624.msg742643#msg742643 date=1263315913]
See I don't look at it like that. He is not more of a man just because he talked. He only talked for selfish reasons. If he was a respectable man he would either not done it or came clean at the first opportunity.
[/quote]

Aw C'mon.  The man said he didn't do it to get stronger.  He was just trying to recover from injuries.    I also have a long bridge I want to sell.
[/quote]

I do not approve of steroid usage in athletics. However, someone explain to me how being "stronger" makes you a better baseball player?
[/quote]


For one thing. it's pretty obvious that it turns warning track flyouts into homeruns.   I don't think the numbers lie here.  Look at the admitted users and their homerun numbers year by year.
[/quote]

I would venture to say that Maguire had adequate "power" prior to using steroids. I would agree that his home run records should be stricken from the books because the drug probably allowed those numbers to be inflated. I do not think his usage made him a better ball player. It may have extended his career, but he had the necessary "tools" to be a major league player before he started using the drug.
[/quote]

GCM, you can do that.. But where do you stop? What homeruns were legal and which ones weren't? No one knows.. Sadly, the 90s was a steroid era as everyone knows. Either they throw every steriod record out, or keep them all. Meaning, none of these records are going away for a long time, because it will take them a long time to figure out the best way to go about things.

[Guest GCMPats]

[quote name="AJ25" post="743169" timestamp="1263393649"]
[quote author=GCMPats link=topic=64624.msg743121#msg743121 date=1263390192]
[quote author=westend1 link=topic=64624.msg743120#msg743120 date=1263389633]
[quote author=GCMPats link=topic=64624.msg743119#msg743119 date=1263388793]
[quote author=westend1 link=topic=64624.msg742802#msg742802 date=1263329124]
[quote author=Gabe link=topic=64624.msg742643#msg742643 date=1263315913]
See I don't look at it like that. He is not more of a man just because he talked. He only talked for selfish reasons. If he was a respectable man he would either not done it or came clean at the first opportunity.
[/quote]

Aw C'mon.  The man said he didn't do it to get stronger.  He was just trying to recover from injuries.    I also have a long bridge I want to sell.
[/quote]

I do not approve of steroid usage in athletics. However, someone explain to me how being "stronger" makes you a better baseball player?
[/quote]


For one thing. it's pretty obvious that it turns warning track flyouts into homeruns.   I don't think the numbers lie here.  Look at the admitted users and their homerun numbers year by year.
[/quote]

I would venture to say that Maguire had adequate "power" prior to using steroids. I would agree that his home run records should be stricken from the books because the drug probably allowed those numbers to be inflated. I do not think his usage made him a better ball player. It may have extended his career, but he had the necessary "tools" to be a major league player before he started using the drug.
[/quote]

GCM, you can do that.. But where do you stop? What homeruns were legal and which ones weren't? No one knows.. Sadly, the 90s was a steroid era as everyone knows. Either they throw every steriod record out, or keep them all. Meaning, none of these records are going away for a long time, because it will take them a long time to figure out the best way to go about things.
[/quote]

I know, I know. I guess if you "do the crime, you do the time". I just believe that most of these players would have been just as successful without using the drug. I hope that era has passed. Now we just have to wait for the next "get rich quick" scheme to hit.

[Ruckdad]

Look at it this way:

From 1900 until 1994 - the strike year - there were two players that hit 60 hormeruns in a season (Ruth and Maris once).  From 1995 through 2003 there have been six players that hit 60 homeruns (Bonds, McGwire twice, and Sosa three times).  Since that time (when the league started testing), there have been zero 60 homerun seasons.

You can't tell me that it doesn't help.  IF you're stronger you get the bat through the hitting zone faster, not only giving you more pop, but also giving you just a few milliseconds more to determine where the pitch is.  I know these guys are tremendous baseball players already, and you and I taking steroids really wouldn't improve our game, but for these guys - that 1/100 of a second can mean the difference between a deep fly to left center and a homerun over the left field wall.

[tnt_mom]

[quote name="Gabe" post="742643" timestamp="1263315913"]
See I don't look at it like that. He is not more of a man just because he talked. He only talked for selfish reasons. If he was a respectable man he would either not done it or came clean at the first opportunity.
[/quote]

I totally agree. He has some alternative reason for finally doing so now.

[AJ25]

He's doing it now because LaRussa probably made him. But regardless, he did it. Unlike everyone else. The people in Cooperstown will get it figured out eventually on what to do, but don't expect any results right away..

[Gabe]

It doesn't help hand-eye but come on, it is enhancing because he was hurt and should not have been out there.

[baddog]

Babe Ruth had to hit a baseball with the reaction of today's hackysack (sp.). Plus, his bat was not far removed from being a pine tree branch. If the Babe could have juiced, we wouldn't be talking about these other bums.

[baseballjunkie]

[quote name="baddog" post="743462" timestamp="1263416239"]
Babe Ruth had to hit a baseball with the reaction of today's hackysack (sp.). Plus, his bat was not far removed from being a pine tree branch. If the Babe could have juiced, we wouldn't be talking about these other bums.
[/quote]

56oz. bat!  :o
thats no joke fellas

[adminbaberuth]

[quote name="baseballjunkie" post="743617" timestamp="1263436873"]
[quote author=baddog link=topic=64624.msg743462#msg743462 date=1263416239]
Babe Ruth had to hit a baseball with the reaction of today's hackysack (sp.). Plus, his bat was not far removed from being a pine tree branch. If the Babe could have juiced, we wouldn't be talking about these other bums.
[/quote]

56oz. bat!  :o
thats no joke fellas
[/quote]

[IMG]http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r63/adminbaberuth/Ruth.jpg[/img]