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.