The Mark McGwire road show decided to pay a visit to St. Louis this past weekend at the annual Cardinal Winter Warm-Up.
The Winter Warm-Up is an event put on by the Cardinals to raise money for local charities in St. Louis. They have done a tremendous job over the last 14 years in raising millions of dollars. That money has been put to good use for kids around town.
However, this year’s event was different. Sure, the rabid fans who seek autographs and memorabilia from the past and present were there in full force. But, this year, it was all about Mark McGwire.
In a three-day weekend the Warm-Up normally draws in the vicinity of twelve to fifteen thousand people. Early estimates of last weekend’s event were more than 17,000.
There was a new venue, the presence of newly-signed free agent outfielder Matt Holliday and other perks, but again this was about the one person who didn’t even have an at-bat last season nor was in uniform.
When McGwire graced the stage Sunday afternoon, he was met with a roaring ovation. That was to be expected, considering the partial crowd. It would have been like George Bush W. speaking at the Republican convention, a homemade crowd of supporters.
Then came reality.
McGwire, in what was an audible-like call from the higher ups, held an impromptu press conference in a hallway that was not so nice. He was peppered with steroid questions and the who, whats and whens. He tried to answer calmly, but that was not good enough to satisfy a near bloodthirsty clan.
In all of about six minutes, which had to seem like six hours to McGwire, the questions persisted. He was ushered out as if he were Lee Harvey Oswald knowing that Jack Ruby was in the house. It was overdone, to say the least.
So now what? There has been a lot of time and effort and energy put into a person for a new job. A job that he has never had at any level. With that said, Tony La Russa wanted it, and now Tony got it. Let’s hope for everyone involved that it works.
I will reserve judgment. I am not so sure that McGwire can add 30 points to everyone’s batting average, and the distraction this may cause could prove to be detrimental if not handled right.
Here is some friendly advice.
Invite everyone in the media to spring training the day before it starts. Once everyone gets there, the man of the hour will take questions on his steroid involvement and items that surround it for at least an hour from any and all in attendance.
They will be selected to step up and ask the question with a follow up. No yelling over each other and shouting like we saw last week. Once McGwire is done, that’s it. The book is closed, and it’s time to move on to baseball.
There are a lot of people who are not on board with this. From how Hal McRae was fired to the well-orchestrated media blitz that followed McGwire after his admission.
While there is a lot riding on the success of the new hitting coach, even more is riding on the legacy of La Russa.
His record would indicate that he is a Hall of Famer. The way he handled McGwire and how he hired him will leave a bad taste in the mouths of many voters, though. It will also guarantee that McGwire will never get into the Hall of Fame unless you enshrine all the admitted cheaters during the steroid era, and I don’t think that will happen for awhile.
