Confessing The Juice -- Mr. McGwire

As the entire sports world knows at last, as if most haven't known for close to the last five years, Mark McGwire used steroids and human growth hormone while playing Major League Baseball. The use alleged started before the 1990 season and included the year he broke Roger Maris's single-season home run record in 1998. According to McGwire, "It was a wrong thing what I did. I totally regret it. I just wish I was never in that era."

Yet, Mark McGwire did play major league baseball in "that era" of steroid abuse. And, now, he is apologizing for his actions, though he is refusing to apologize for his statistics. He claims the steroid use did not contribute to his great home run hitting years.

According to McGwire's statement, his usage of PEDs spanned a large portion of his career, which included parts or all of 16 seasons. He also told Bob Costas of MBN that he tried human growth hormone "once, twice maybe." His first full season in the Majors was 1987, so McGwire acknowledges beginning to use after his third full season. The 1993 campaign was the first in which he played fewer than 139 games, as he was limited by foot injuries.

"I did it [for] health purposes," McGwire told Costas. "If you look at my career, injured '93, '94, '95, '96, I was a walking M*A*S*H unit." He said repeatedly that he did not believe the drugs had increased his ability to play once he took the field. Are you looking for contradictory statements?

Ronald Blum in an APNewsBreak ("Mark McGwire Admits Using Steroids," January 11 2010) reported that McGwire had wanted to come forward at the congressional hearing on March 17, 2005, when he sat alongside Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, who denied using steroids but tested positive for one later that year.

"I wanted to get this off my chest, I wanted to move on, but unfortunately immunity was not granted," McGwire said. McGwire's lawyers, Mark Bierbower and Marty Steinberg, told him that if he made any admission, he could be charged with a crime and that he, his family and friends could be forced to testify before a grand jury. "That was the worst 48 hours of my life, going through that, but I had to listen to the advice of my attorneys," he said.

To make the hearings more unbearable according to McGwire, he knew that Don Hooton, whose son had died from steroids use, was in the audience. "Every time I'd say, `I'm not going to talk about the past,' I'd hear moanings back there. It was absolutely ripping my heart out," McGwire said, his voice cracking. "All I was worried about was protecting my family and myself. And I was willing to take the hit."

The fact is McGwire's declaration 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. Is he referring to the reputation of purposeful lying one might ask.

"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." Still, he sounded as if criticism had scarred his pride built during his major league career beginning with the 1987 Rookie of the Year Award and continuing through his selection as a 12-time All-Star.


"There's no way a pill or an injection will give you hand-eye coordination or the ability or the great mind that I've had as a baseball player," he said. "I was always the last one to leave. I was always hitting by myself. I took care of myself." Apparently, "taking care of himself" included injections and oral consumption of anabolic steroids, not proper rest and treatment.

Commissioner Bud Selig praised McGwire, saying, "This statement of contrition, I believe, will make Mark's re-entry into the game much smoother and easier."

A Few Considerations of Contrition

1. First all, this is the same Bud Selig who even in spite of urging by Hank Aaron and a growing number of influential Hall-of-Famers to pardon Pete Rose insists baseball's all-time hit king remain permanently ineligible, persona non grata, shunned by the major leagues.

Why? Bill Madden of the New York Daily News (July 27, 2009) said, "(Selig's) legacy is enveloped by the scourge of steroids in baseball that occurred on his watch as commissioner. He is desperately trying to position himself as the commissioner who rid the game of steroids, while distancing himself from the commissioner who celebrated the record-breaking achievements of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa along with everyone else."

Madden continued, "If anything, the steroids scourge has further compromised Rose with the commissioner. Selig's legacy is tied directly to steroids and how he ultimately is able to be portrayed - the commissioner who looked the other way with all the others and allowed it to get out of hand, or the commissioner who got tough and rid his sport of it." Selig can deal with the steroid issue but can easily see Rose as someone who broke baseball's cardinal sin.

2. Secondly, how is Mark McGwire's intial denial of steroid use and his continued insistence that his use did not affect his stellar power performances any different from Pete Rose's denial of his addiction to gambling and his desire to rejoin baseball's elite? Who actually affected the integrity of the game more? Rose or McGwire? Wouldn't it seem a concerned league would recognize both falsehoods as similar responses to the symptoms of  power and fame shown by so many in the game? Now, McGwire apologizes to the Maris family and now Rose writes a book of admission. Tit for tat.

"I should have had the opportunity to get help, but baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for drug addicts," Rose wrote. "If I had admitted my guilt, it would have been the same as putting my head on the chopping block -- lifetime ban. Death penalty. I spent my entire life on the baseball fields of America, and I was not going to give up my profession without first seeing some hard evidence. I just kept telling myself that permanently is a long goddam time. Right or wrong, the punishment didn't fit the crime -- so I denied the crime." (CNN/Sports Illustrated, 2005)

But Rose maintains that his crime never included betting against the Reds."There is no temptation on the planet Earth that could ever get me to fix a game. None. End of story," he writes. "As out of control as I got with my gambling, I never bet against my own team -- ever. The idea never entered my mind."

3. And, finally, how can Major League Baseball open new doors of coaching opportunities to Mark McGwire while treating Pete Rose as baseball's Public Enemy #1 for life (and possibly, for the hereafter). Does McGwire deserve the adoration of major league managers and fans more than Rose? If baseball is still truly the fan's game, one distant memory may bring an answer to this question.

At the 1999 World Series, Selig was embarrassed when fans voted banned-for-life Pete Rose to baseball's "All-Century Team." The ceremony, at Atlanta's Turner Field, was the first time Rose had been allowed inside a major league ball park since his 1989 expulsion from the game, and he got the longest, loudest ovation of any of the all-time greats -- more applause than Ted Williams, or even Atlanta's beloved Hank Aaron, and much, much more than Selig. And immediately after the ceremony, before the game, Rose was required to leave.

The Mitchell Report (The Huffington Post, December 14, 2007)

Here's a list of Major League Baseball players listed in the Mitchell Report.
The following players were connected to steroids, either use or possession, in the report:

Chad Allen, Mike Bell, Gary Bennett, Larry Bigbie, Ricky Bones, Kevin Brown, Ken Caminiti, Mark Carreon,Jason Christiansen, Howie Clark, Roger Clemens, Paxton Crawford, Jack Cust, Brendan Donnelly, Chris Donnels, Lenny Dykstra,Matt Franco, Ryan Franklin, Eric Gagne, Jason Grimsley, Jerry Hairston, Phil Hiatt, Matt Herges, Glenallen Hill, Todd Hundley, Ryan Jorgensen, Wally Joyner, Mike Judd, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch, Tim Laker, Mike Lansing, Paul Lo Duca, Exavier "Nook" Logan, Josias Manzanillo, Cody McKay, Kent Mercker, Bart Miadich, Hal Morris, Daniel Naulty, Denny Neagle, Rafael Palmeiro, Jim Parque, Andy Pettitte, Adam Piatt, Todd Pratt, Stephen Randolph, Adam Riggs, Brian Roberts, F.P. Santangelo, David Segui, Mike Stanton, Ricky Stone, Miguel Tejada, Derrick Turnbow, Mo Vaughn, Ron Villone, Fernando Vina, Rondell White, Jeff Williams, Todd Williams, Kevin Young, Gregg Zaun.

The following players were cited under "Alleged Internet Purchases of Performance Enhancing Substances By Players in Major League Baseball" in the report:

Rick Ankiel, David Bell, Paul Byrd, Jose Canseco, Jay Gibbons, Troy Glaus, Jose Guillen, Darren Holmes, Gary Matthews Jr., John Rocker, Scott Schoeneweis, Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams, Steve Woodard,

The following players were linked through BALCO in the report:

Marvin Benard, Barry Bonds, Bobby Estalella, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Benito Santiago, Gary Sheffield,
Randy Velarde.

Pete Rose -- The Greatest Unnatural Talent?

No one ever played baseball, or in my opinion is presently playing baseball, like Charlie Hustle, Peter Edward Rose. His father, Harry Rose, who once played semi-pro football, pushed his son into athletics at an early age. One day, the story goes, Harry went to the store to buy a pair of shoes for his daughter and came back with a pair of boxing gloves for Pete. From then on, sports dominated Pete's life. Rose became the champion of the man with the least natural ability overhauling himself into one of the most productive players of the game. Also, he is widely credited by baseball professionals and fans as the man with the greatest work ethic and most boundless enthusiasm to ever play major league baseball. His aggressive style of play won the hearts of millions of baseball fans everywhere. On the day he graduated from high school in June 1960, Rose signed a professional contract with the Reds. They offered him seven thousand dollars to play in the minor leagues. Rose made his Major League debut on April 8, Opening Day, 1963, against the Pittsburgh Pirates and drew a walk. On April 13, Rose – who was 0-for-11 at the time – got his first Major League hit. He hit .273 for the year and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, collecting 17 of 20 votes. Pete entered the Ohio Army National Guard after the 1963 baseball season. He was assigned to Fort Know for six months of active duty, which was followed by three years of regular attendance with a Reserve Unit at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. Pete Rose, later dubbed "The Hit King," played Major League Baseball for twenty-three years. His list of accomplishments during that stint is staggering. Rose remains the major league all-time hit leader (4,256), all-time games played leader (3,562), and all-time at bat leader (14,053). Also, Rose holds major league records for playing in the most winning games (1,972), most seasons with 100 or more games played (23), most seasons with at least 100 hits (23), most career total bases by a switch hitter (5,752), and the only player in major league history to play more than 500 games at five different positions - 1B (939), LF (671), 3B (634), 2B (628), RF (595). Pete won three World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, and the Rookie of the Year Award. He made 17 All-Star Game appearances at an unequaled five different positions (2B, LF, RF, 3B and 1B). The most prolific switch-hitter in history, he is the only player to play 500 games at five different positions and was named the Player of the Decade for the 1970s by TSN. Rose compiled a 44 game hitting streak (1978), a modern National League record and tied for the second longest streak in Major League Baseball history. Rose was also was the youngest player to attain three thousand hits, a feat that he accomplished on May 5, 1978. Rose, renowned for his trot to first base after a walk and his headfirst slide into a base, also garnered the 1968 Hutch Award, the 1969 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, the 1975 World Series MVP Award, the 1975 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Award, the 1975 Sporting News Man of the Year Award, the 1976 Roberto Clemente Award, and the 1985 ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year Award. Rose's endurance was an impressive testament to his determination. Many have given Pete acclaim as the greatest hustler in the game who worked harder than anybody else and played the game the "right way." Others believe that Rose was the ultimate team player, that he put more heart and soul into the game of baseball than any other man ever has and ever will. He served as manager of the Cincinnati Reds from 1985 to 1988, helping the Reds to four consecutive second place finishes, and to this day is considered one of the best managers in baseball. On August 24, 1989, Rose voluntarily accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list for allegedly gambling on baseball. Rose accepted that there was a factual reason for the ban; in return, Major League Baseball agreed to make no formal finding with regard to gambling allegations. In 1991, the Hall of Fame officially voted to exclude ineligible players from entering the Hall of Fame. Due to this, “Charlie Hustle,” the only living ineligible baseball player, has been excluded from baseball’s highest honor. In 1999, despite MLB's official ban on Rose for gambling on baseball, it was willing to ask him to participate in commercial promotions like the All-Century Team that benefited MLB. Earlier that season, Rose had been ranked at number 25 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. Still, MLB refused to allow him to participate in local events in Cincinnati such as the 25th anniversary reunion of the Big Red Machine, the closing of Cinergy Field, and the opening of the Great American Ballpark. On January 8, 2004, in his autobiography, My Prison Without Bars, Rose finally admitted publicly to betting on baseball games and other sports while playing for and managing the Reds. He also admitted to betting on Reds games, but said that he never bet against the Reds. Always colorful and considered arrogant off the field my some, Rose remains somewhat bitter that Major League Baseball has dealt with crimes such as drug abuse and domestic violence with penalties less severe than gambling addiction. Pete Rose is often quoted in baseball lore and in pop culture. Unfortunately, he is remembered as much or more for his banishment from the sport he loves as for his amazing on-the-field contributions. "I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to keep playing baseball." -Pete Rose

"It's a round ball and a round bat, and you got to hit it square." -Pete Rose

"Does Pete Rose hustle? Before the All-Star game he came into the clubhouse and took off his shoes and they ran another mile without him." - Hank Aaron

"He is Cincinnati. He's the Reds." -Sparky Anderson

"I think just about everybody ought to get a second chance and I'd like to see it worked out, because he brought a lot of joy to the game, and he gave a lot of joy to people, and he's paid a price - God knows, he's paid a price." - Bill Clinton

And, in a somewhat prophetic and ironically phrased quote that may apply to any chance Pete Rose has of making the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, Brian Williams relates: "I will remember Pete Rose one way. Horizontal." –Brian Williams, actually speaking of Rose's aggressive style of play.