Big Mac Too
Greasy
by Dennis "The Viking" Altenburg
Mark McGwire comes up for election to the Major League Baseball
Hall of Fame, along with Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr., on January
9, 2007. There are many who feel that he should be handed the same
fate as Pete Rose for his admitted use of Androstenedione -- a dietary
supplement banned by the National Football League and International
Olympic Committee. McGwire’s home run records and performances
have been called into question because the diet pills are a steroid,
and steroids are known to be performance enhancing drugs.
McGwire’s baseball accomplishments almost entirely have to
do with power hitting, although he did win a Gold Glove in 1990.
In 1987, he set the MLB rookie record with the Oakland A’s
by hitting 49 home runs. Over the course of his 15 year career,
he pounded the ball out of the park a total of 583 times.
After McGwire retired from baseball, an article by Steve Wilstein
of the Associated Press brought the public’s attention to
high profile players and steroid use. McGwire admitted soon thereafter
to using Androstenedione, or Andro for short. Andro was not banned
by Major League Baseball while Big Mac was playing, although the
drug was banned by most other major sports governing bodies. That’s
what makes this Hall of Fame induction process so controversial.
McGwire denied using steroids in all media interviews but, when
he appeared before a congressional committee in March, 2005, he
said over and over, “I’m not here to talk about the
past.” His opening statement contained the message that, if
asked about personal steroid use, a “No” answer would
never be believed, and a “Yes” answer would be met with
public scorn, humiliation, and government investigations.
Morally, what McGwire did was wrong, and that should be enough
to keep him out of the Hall of Fame -- at least for now. Cal Ripken
and Tony Gwynn don’t need their names associated with steroid
use. McGwire has gone on record as being an Andro user, but the
crucial point is that the drug was not illegal while he was playing
baseball. So what do you do with all his statistics? Maybe we can
search the attic for some more of those home run asterisks! This
is going to be a wait-and-see situation and that’s what will
keep Mr. McGwire out of the Hall this time around.
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