Now that Mark McGwire confirmed what many already suspected about his use of steroids, there seems to be even more questions about the whole situation.
This five-year saga, which started when he got in front of Congress and decided that was not the time to talk, has accelerated greatly in the past six weeks. Advisers were brought in to advise. Spin doctors were solicited to make sure once it was thrown against the wall, it would stick for a while. Maybe some other image coaches had a part in this as well. In all, it was a well-orchestrated attempt to right a wrong.
It worked. McGwire had help in pushing all the right buttons. With that, most bought into what he was saying. Until disillusion set in.
In his interview with Bob Costas, McGwire was steadfast on the notion that he did not need steroids to hit home runs. Let me get this straight. McGwire admitted that he used steroids to stay on the field due to injuries, not to enhance his power, as it was well-documented that he had brought that to the party.
Injuries are why he used steroids. Steroids kept him on the field, hence the ability to hit so many home runs. So why isn’t Mark and others understanding that? One begets the other here.
The other element is: who knew what and when? Some within baseball have known this for at least six weeks, while others woke up and had no idea until they heard about it that day. In this day and age of technology and communication, how is it that so many have been left out of the loop?
You didn’t have to be Sherlock Holmes nor have seen the movie to have just a hint of something may not add up. I guess if you keep saying to yourself that pigs fly, the bacon may have feathers on at breakfast.
How about the purists and fans who had their head in the sand all these years and elected to ignore what was going on, only to say, “How do you know?” Or, “He may not be the only one.” Or, “just look at the numbers.”
O.K., so maybe there will be time to get to the others, but McGwire is the subject at hand here. Sure, he is not alone. Any imbecile could determine that, but that is no reason to not pay attention to the matter at hand. The talk shows are just full of them – one excuse for McGwire after another. Hey, the man admitted he made a mistake. He doesn’t need an excuse anymore.
The issue here is there is not enough McGwire can do to fix this overnight. He ran a media blitz to cover as many bases as possible early. He also had the same answers for everyone and cried at the same time when giving that same answer.
Coaching? Perhaps. Sincerity? Possibly. We don’t know. I am at the point that I don’t care.
Let me remind you that this is the time of the year for baseball when some sort of bombshell is dropped. Go back over the last few years and think about the Jose Conseco book, the congressional hearings, Roger Clemens and a few other eyebrow-raisers that happened as we awaited spring training. While it normally cannot get here soon enough for some, one would have to wonder: will it be a good spring training for Mark McGwire? Rest assured the questioning will not go away, but maybe it will shift to others who may have been associated with McGwire.
As for McGwire, he has weathered the toughest storm so far. The Cardinals will survive, as few will cancel their season tickets over this. This whole subject will be on the back burner as soon as we get the season underway. Sure, there will be the camera shots of McGwire in the dugout and there will be some chatter, but McGwire will be scrutinized more on getting Cardinal hitters to be more productive than on his old steroid cocktails.
The other chapter will soon be closed. One thing is for sure, Mark McGwire has set a new standard for asking forgiveness. The question now becomes: who’s next?
