A sorry apology

Apparently Mark McGwire is finally ready to "talk about the past." He had little choice, given that he will be the Cardinals hitting coach in the near future.

What amazed me about his admission that he used steroids is that he used them on and off for nearly a decade. I guess we now know for sure what fueled his remarkable statistics in the late '90s. I hope for the Cardinals' sake that he has more hitting wisdom to share than simply asking players "cream or clear?" I also think the "i" in Big Mac Land should be replaced with a giant syringe.

Shirking responsibility

Which is more ridiculous?

1) That when McGwire was summoned by Congress to provide valuable information in the effort to clean up the game of baseball, he demurred and refused to "talk about the past," and is only now willing to come forward about his steroid use because he has little choice given that he is going to be back in a spotlight of sorts as the Cardinals hitting coach.

2) His "woe is me" attitude in Monday's statement, in which he whined, "I wish I had never played in the steroid era." As if the "era" put a needle in his ass.

Birds of a feather

We know McGwire lied to the public for years, and I think we can assume his boss Tony La Russa knows more than he's willing to share as well. From a few years ago:

"I am absolutely certain that Mark earned his size and strength from hard work and a disciplined lifestyle."

--ESPN

And as recently as December, La Russa said:

"One of the reasons I defend Mark and have defended him and will defend him is I know in Oakland and St. Louis, we ran a 100 percent clean legal official program."

--Chicago Tribune

There are two possibilities here:

1) La Russa is full of s**t. He knew what was going on with Canseco, McGwire and presumably many other players both in Oakland and St. Louis. He lied continuously (as have other coaches, surely) to protect them and protect himself. He has vehemently done so in McGwire's case because he genuinely likes him and because he has now made the choice to bring him on as hitting coach.

2) La Russa was blinded by those sunglasses he wears, and truly believed--until Monday--that Big Mac was always clean. If that's the case, Monday's "revelation" would have to give him a great deal of pause about the hiring of McGwire. A guy that lied to him all these years? A man who helped lead baseball back from the brink while La Russa watched from the dugout, but apparently did so with some syringical assistance? What a betrayal of trust!

Yeah, #2 doesn't sound very plausible to me either. Which leaves us with option #1. Which means La Russa is full of it, just like his new hitting coach. Pete Rose bets on his team and gets banned from baseball while McGwire juices his way to the most hallowed record in all of sports and gets a job sitting next to Tony La Russa.

More on Drugs

So A-Rod was allegedly on the juice, too. I’m shocked, but not “OJ verdict” shocked. The fact is, there were 104 players who tested positive in ’03. I’m not sure how many were tested total, but even if we take all 40 players on each team’s 40-man roster, 40 times 30 is 1,200. That means at least 8 percent of players tested positive for steroids. Regarding steroids in general, we’re pretty sure about Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Giambi, and maybe a few others. Is it that surprising that A-Rod would be one of them?

Don’t get me wrong, it is saddening. For one thing, the more top players that go down, the less trust there will be among fans. It’s worse for a future would-be Hall of Famer like A-Rod to be on the list of 104 than, say, Daryle Ward.

Second, many fans (myself included) were hoping A-Rod could help save baseball by surpassing Bonds’s 762. If you assume that A-Rod’s legacy will be in tatters when all this is said and done, the next best hope to knock Bonds down to 2^nd is Albert Pujols. He just turned 29, and has 319 home runs. A-Rod had about 360 home runs at the same age. But instead of being perhaps five or six years away from a new—and legitimate—home run king, we’re perhaps 10 years away, and Pujols is no lock to break the 700 barrier. Plus, A-Rod may still surpass Bonds, and MLB could then have a home run king and queen (not to mention three of the other top 11 career home run leaders) who aren’t in the Hall of Fame.

But in the end, I’m with Curt Schilling on this whole thing. Who is it that’s leaking these names out one-by-one? Let’s get all the names out there. It’s 104 names no matter what the names are. Either way, the pieces are going to have to be picked up; might as well pick them all up at once. Baseball has to get past this before it can move forward.

Update: Alex Rodriguez has admitted to using PEDs during a 3-year period with the Rangers. This admission of course doesn't change anything, but I have to give him credit for coming clean about not being clean. After Giambi's "I'm sorry for something, but I can't say what" press conference, McGwire's "I'm not here to talk about the past" Senate hearing, Barry Bonds's indictment for lying to a grand jury, et al, this is refreshing. A-Rod's decision to cheat is just as wrong as everyone else's, but his immediate reaction is a world apart from most everyone else implicated in baseball's steroid situation.