Mark McGwire has been in the news again lately. The former all-star first baseman for the Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals has not only been in the news for being introduced as the new hitting coach for the Cardinals, but also by coming clean about his steroid use. It seems that McGwire took steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs at several different points during his 16-year Major League career, including the storied year of 1998 where he and fellow slugger Sammy Sosa were in a race to break Roger Maris’ single-season home run record. They both passed Roger’s 61 home runs, with McGwire ending up with 70 and Sosa with 66. That was a great year for baseball, who had been losing fans in the years prior, in that it allowed America’s Pastime to become popular once again.
McGwire, who finished his career batting .263 with 583 home runs and1,414 RBI, was hired this year as the hitting coach for his old team, the St. Louis Cardinals. According to YahooSports, Cardinal slugger Albert Pujols was in the news recently giving his support of his new hitting coach. And why wouldn’t he? Steroids or not, this guy could hit the tar out of a baseball. In my opinion, the only reason that he ended up with a lower average is because of his eyesight (which was probably effected by the steroids LOL), and the fact that he would play injured rather than sit out like some of his other teammates. This guy named Mark McGwire just happens to be one of the premier power-hitting first baseman in the history of the game. And just because he comes clean about his steroid use, people are trying to discredit what this man did for baseball in its time of need. People are snubbing him now for the Hall Of Fame, saying that his career was tarnished because of the steroid use. Do you mean to tell me that there are only a handful of players in the history of baseball that have used steroids? I beg to differ. I believe that there are quite a few players that have used, or still use, performance-enhancing drugs. It’s in the nature of the beast, and what makes us human… we all want to be better than the next person, and are willing to go to great lengths to do so.
To Mark McGwire: Thank you for finally coming clean about your steroid use. As you said, everybody makes mistakes, and hopefully we learn from those mistakes to become a better person. You were, and always will be, one of my all-time favorite players. I personally think that you should be a shoe-in for the Hall Of Fame. I wish you the best of luck in your new venture as hitting coach, and know that if you’re able to even rub off a little on those Cardinals hitters, that you will succeed.
source: Wikipedia, YahooSports
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