Swing and a Miss - Chris "Preach" Smith

So Mark McGwire decided to talk about the past after all.

Every news station was alive with the news that Mark McGwire admitted
to steroid use. Big Mac's statement comes nearly five years to the day
where he was before a Congressional committee with Sammy Sosa and
Rafael Palmiero and said famously, 'I'm not here to talk about the past'
every time he was asked about his involvement with steroids. This also
comes before spring training begins and with it, a job as a hitting coach
with the St.Louis Cardinals. I watched his statement like everyone else
and my main conclusion?

Juuust a little bit outside of reality, Mark.

There is nothing courageous about how you handled this simply because
it puts you in the same class as Pete Rose, who admitted that he bet
on baseball only because he knew that by doing that he would get into
the Hall of Fame. Tony LaRussa, your former manager with the Oakland
A's and Cards more than likely told you that this is what you had to do.
But how you did it leaves a little bit of a bad taste. Especially when you
got choked up. We've all seen you emotional and that didn't seem too
genuine. Crocodile tears don't work for little children and they don't
work for athletes in trouble. Also, telling everyone that you didn't use
steroids for strength is a load of bull. You gain that extra edge from it
along with the supposed quicker healing process. As we've seen over
the years, that's a bonus many will have to get those big paydays a la
Giambi, A-Rod and the rest. Saying that 'God gave me a gift' to hit
those home runs...I guess you were highly impatient with the man
upstairs to do what you did, huh?


The biggest issue I have with you, is about what you've done up
to this point. NOTHING. You've become a veritable hermit, up until
recently. What happened to all of that youth outreach you spoke
so forcefully about on Capitol Hill? To date, we've heard nothing
or seen nothing. That makes this all the more regrettable because
once again, we have someone who did dirt and got rewarded(for
Major League Baseball needs to get some of the blame) and may
wind up with no punishment. And this is someone who certain
parts of America held up as a true hero. Some hero.


I'm not saying the Hall of Fame is pure when you've got pitchers
who used pine tar and one of the best hitting racists of all time in
there(Gaylord Perry and Ty Cobb respectively)but if I was a voter,
I'd make this man sweat. Wait until the last ballot to put him in and
even then, do it by a scant margin. Give him the same treatment
you'd give Barry Bonds, people. Or am I asking for something that
won't happen for obvious reasons? Make McGwire and any other
player who used steroids feel the shame of it. Telling the world 'you
wished you never played in the steroids era'? YOU WERE THE
STEROIDS ERA!!! You and a lot of other players. McGwire, I am glad
that you spoke up, I'm glad you told the Maris family directly that
you used but the real apology begins when you stop the snow job
and just come clean and not because it's the better business
decision.