Big Mac Delivers Hollow Revelation January 13, 2010
Posted by Paul in : Uncategorized , trackback
The answer to the photo caption above is “yes”. Mark McGwire has finally come clean. He has finally told us that he played dirty. In a carefully-crafted statement released to the Associated Press, McGwire delivered a truth that most of us were already suspecting: the man used steroids during his playing career. Most of the baseball world is reacting loudly to this latest revelation. Before getting yourself in a tizzy over this latest admission, let’s try to think about this with a cool head. In the end, very little new material came into the public sphere today. The back room murmurs and behind-the-scenes judgments slung at McGwire were finally validated, by the written prose he put out on the press wire.
First things first: did you really think that McGwire wasn’t juicing, or hadn’t taken any performance-enhancing substances throughout his career? If that’s the case, I might have had a chance to convince you that Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, or unicorns exist. You are naive if you did not somehow suspect that Big Mac had, at some point, taken some kind of performance-enhancing drug. The guy had increased considerably in muscle mass over the years. So much so, that he came to be known as a larger-than-life figure in baseball; a Paul Bunyan of sorts, towering over fellow players, and belting home runs with such ease, that his bat looked more like a toothpick than wooden stick, in his bulging arms. In this case, like many involving steroids or HGH, the eye test just did not deceive us. All of our suspicions were verified today, as McGwire set out to perform a well-thought out public relations campaign with the goal of rehabilitating his image, as he re-enters the game of baseball.
There are a few reasons why McGwire came out with this long-awaited admission today. This is the first time in a while that Big Mac was about to come back into the public eye. Since leaving the game a few years back, the former Cardinals slugger had largely lived a very private life. Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa brought him in as his new Hitting Coach this season. With that new role, McGwire was going to be pressed by reporters. “Why do you think you haven’t made the Hall of Fame, yet, Mark?”, he would have been asked. “Do you think that your reluctance to discuss your involvement with performance-enhancing drugs in front of Congress plays a role in your not getting the required votes for Hall of Fame induction?”, another sports writer would have followed-up. The fact is, the barrage of questions and media activity around the Cardinals would have been intense both for McGwire and his new employer, the St. Louis Cardinals. Consider this statement by Big Mac as a preemptive PR strike. Instead of facing an onslaught of media attention that would have been distracting to both him and his organization, Big Mac and his people decided to diffuse the punch that would have been packed by the press had this confession not come forth. After all, in our modern media world, if a public figure doesn’t run, journalists just do not chase. It is when something is kept hidden, that reporters dig even deeper. When the truth comes out in the open and sits there motionless, reporters are left with very little to do.
In his wordsmithed statement, McGwire intimates strongly that he only used steroids only to recuperate from injuries, and not to improve his performance, “During the mid-’90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years. I experienced a lot of injuries, including a ribcage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too. ” For the sake of the exercise, let’s imagine that this statement was 100% accurate and that one was to believe this assertion fully. At the end of the day, injuries are part of high-level athletics. Performing at a top level in sports means performing “in the red.” Your body is constantly put at risk of injuries. Those that maintain longevity are lucky enough to have bodies which resist to the constant strain of high-performance sport. This type of blessing is equivalent to the luck one has in having the talent required to hit a curve ball. It is in the realm of natural ability. Some bodies have the proficiency to remain healthy or heal quickly, just as others have a hard time recuperating from intense strain. This innate characteristic plays as much a part in an athlete’s career as the innate ability to hit a 100 mph fast ball over the center field fence. Even if we were to believe McGwire’s rationale fully, it takes the most essential logic to prove that these steroids had an effect on his performance. With the drugs he was taking, Big Mac was able to return to the baseball diamond. Without them, he clearly could not have returned to the field of play. As hitting home runs takes getting some playing time, it is no stretch in logic to posit that steroids did indirectly help him hit some home runs.
Now, having established that, I refuse to believe that steroids did not somehow enhance McGwire’s performance. Granted steroids play a huge role in helping people recuperate from injury. But the Steroid Era has taught us that power numbers are greatly enhanced by steroids and HGH. Sure a bottle of pills is not hitting the home runs. It takes great hand-eye coordination to be able to make contact with a baseball and hit it far. But it has become undeniable that steroids and HGH can provide additional length and power to hits after impact. I won’t get into the science of fast-twitch muscle fiber or additional muscular growth brought on by PEDs. Those lessons are better taught by physicians and sports medicine experts. What I can give you is a personal anecdote. Back a few years ago, when I was training extensively in the sport of tennis, I had a sparring partner from Germany, who had been a semi-pro handball player, in his youth. The man was a great mover on the court, and a consistent ground stroker. In other words, he was a highly competent practice partner. When the steroids controversy first broke, I can distinctly remember a conversation I had with him. Back in his handball playing days, he had had a leg injury, which involved tendon and ligament damage. His doctors had recommended he take steroids for rehabilitation. This gentleman recounted this anecdote because it was meaningful. He went on to tell me that while on these steroids, he had never felt this explosive, as an athlete. He was able to do things that, before taking them, were just unconscionable. His leaps were more dynamic. His legs thrusts more powerful. All in all, his athletic ability had been clearly increased by taking steroids. There was a distinct positive difference in his sporting prowess brought on by his use of steroids for recuperation purposes. The fact of the matter is McGwire may have tried steroids in an effort to get back from injury. But to sell the general public on the fact that none of this steroids use helped him in hitting home runs is more than a stretch. It’s an outright lie.
The final question that should be addressed here, is whether or not this announcement enhances McGwire’s chances of making the Hall of Fame. Some may say that his coming clean may make him more likable to the writers and therefore give him a better shot at entering Cooperstown. Another faction may try to convince you that his admission puts a dagger in any chance of him getting admitted. The fact of the matter is that at this current pace, McGwire was not going to make the Hall of Fame. As of this year’s voting, Big Mac earned just 23.7% of the votes; needing 75% to get in. With this trajectory, and despite having a few more years on the ballot, there was little doubt in most peoples’ minds that McGwire would most likely not make it in Cooperstown. This latest admission could not hurt. It only contained upside for McGwire and his Hall of Fame standing. Will he now make it? Probably not. Even though the former Cardinals slugger has built himself plenty of good will within baseball circles, this latest mea culpa will not help his chances much with Hall of Fame voters. Baseball writers, who are largely responsible for inducting hall-of-famers, tend to be purists when it comes to their treasured National Pastime. Although McGwire has been an endearing figure with most media members, there is a large-scale sentiment that he had largely been a one-dimensional player. Take away his home run statistics and power numbers and the larger-than-life legend sinks down to a mere mortal. Because steroids and HGH have demonstrated a larger positive effect on power numbers above all other performance metrics, it becomes tough for these Cooperstown gate keepers to give McGwire the nod. Mac may have done a little to repair his image after a Congressional hearing intervention that left many disappointed. But, when it comes to his baseball immortality, many will consider this a small airbrush to his image; far from a permanent change that will have him walk through Cooperstown’s white pearly gates….
Comments»
Damn this was long. McGwire did not come clean at all, he did the bare minimum. But Baseball is colluded anyway and he will get the job as Cardinals hitting coach. I just hope the writers do their part and keep him OUT of Cooperstown.
Paul, Baseball writers are ENTIRELY responsible for voting players into the Hall, unless it gets to the veteran’s committee but that’s 15 years after their eligibility period.
Ryan–thanks for your comments. I’m glad that reading the piece was painless to you ;).
And thanks for your suggestion about the nuance of the Hall of Fame. When I wrote that baseball writers were “largely responsible” for inducting players, that’s exactly what I had in mind. I did look up Hall of Fame rules, and I was surprised to learn a few additional wrinkles.
Great piece co-host! I think his “confession” was an insult to the public’s intelligence. I agree completely with you that it did very little (if any) to change the way that people perceive him. It is absolutely absurd to come out with a “mea culpa” and then claim that it didn’t help his performance.
I believe (as I know you do) that a vast majority of players were using some sort of PED’s in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I have accepted that a long time ago. However, if the media is going to drag players down, then I would like to see the same spotlight shone on guys like Bud Selig and Tony LaRussa. Players come and go, but figures like these two have been influencing the game for decades. I have no direct knowledge of LaRussa’s knowledge of his players doing steroids, but I frankly find his claimed ignorance to be truly unbelievable. How could he not know that his players were using, when he presided over some of the most steroid-enchanced teams of the past two decades in Oakland and St. Louis? I would like to see him grilled if everyone is set on interrogating former players.