Mark McGwire: Got Juice?

[GoodFella69]

Mark McGwire didn't get arms that size by drinking his milk, taking his vitamins and saying his prayers. McGwire finally grew some balls and admitted to using steroids off and on for a full decade. No big surprise here, but still disappointing for all of us who love baseball. Memories of the amazing 1998 season--and in some ways the entire sport--are tainted forever. Sosa, Bonds, McGwire...how many other Big League boys of summer are on the juice?

 

http://cdn.bleacherreport.com/images_root/slideshows/1102/slideshow_110204/display_image.jpghttp://www.themoviemind.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/mcgwire-juice.jpg

[KMEM]

How many are on juice? Probably too many. However and this turned out to be a short term gain, remember that when Big Mac and Sammy Sosa were running for the HR title, MLB had just started to recover from a devastating strike. Fans were throughly annoyed and staying away in droves. The run for HRs made them forget to some extent the players walking out. A case could be made for the HR race "saving" MLB. Now we might wish the whole thing never happened.

 

This could easily start the "role model" vs. just being professional players controversy all over again. I would prefer that "stars" were role models but I also know they are human and, like pols, have feet of clay. Where is the decent middle ground? I wish I knew.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[whipped guy]

A case could be made for the HR race "saving" MLB. Now we might wish the whole thing never happened.

Of course back then we were told that it was the ball that was was juiced... something to do with the innards being wound more tightly or what ever by the manufacturer... and the fact that they were not made in the USA under stricter quality control... or some such thing...

[+ purplekow]

Interesting time for McGwire to bring this to the fore. I wonder how much Tiger paid him to turn the media eye away from him.

[+ Lucky]

McGwire has been hired by the St.Louis Cardinals, and his old manager, Tony LaRussa, to be the hitting coach for the team. Thus it was inevitable that he would discuss the steroid issue before the season begins.

 

Sad to see that he still feels compelled to lie about it. He says he took the drugs, the names of which he cannot remember (yeah, right), only to help heal his body from injuries. That's pure bullshit. Just look at the muscle development compared to his early career.

 

Nonetheless, I see nothing wrong with athletes using steroids to improve their performance. Modern science allows many different ways for athletes to tweak their stats that older athletes never had, but we don't ban them. As long as everyone has the same opportunity to use steroids, why not?

[whipped guy]

McGwire has been hired by the St.Louis Cardinals, and his old manager, Tony LaRussa, to be the hitting coach for the team.

That's the only reason he sort of came clean...

Modern science allows many different ways for athletes to tweak their stats that older athletes never had...

Think of it! Roger Maris, the Mick, and a few others (actually quite a few others) from that era... did just the opposite... their life styles (booze, tobacco, etc.) resulted in much abuse to their bodies and more than likely significantly inhibited their performance... and still they achieved a certain degree of greatness. I have heard stories from guys who worked the rails about the wild drunken shenanigans that occurred on those road trips between NYC and Boston..

[+ Lucky]

"Think of it! Roger Maris, the Mick, and a few others (actually quite a few others) from that era... did just the opposite... their life styles (booze, tobacco, etc.) resulted in much abuse to their bodies and more than likely significantly inhibited their performance... and still they achieved a certain degree of greatness."

 

So are you saying that greatness tricked with these guys, or that he too is a lush?

[+ deej]

Fans were throughly annoyed and staying away in droves. The run for HRs made them forget to some extent the players walking out. A case could be made for the HR race "saving" MLB. Now we might wish the whole thing never happened.

 

I don't wish it never happened. Fans may whuff and snort over 'roids, but the sport has fans. I lived just a few blocks from Wrigley Field when all that happened. The entire city (and I later heard other cities as well) was basically ignoring baseball after the strike. It's the only time I can ever remember it being EASY to get Cubs tickets.

 

Then came Sosa & McGuire. A Cubs/Cardinals game has always been a hot contest. Throw two sluggers into the mix and it became magic. On days when a record might fall, people all over town would ask "did he get it?" -- all day long it was "anyone heard yet?" all over town.

 

Sure, the HR races got the fans interested, but while they were getting interested they got interested in the rest of the game too. When the HRs stopped, the fans stayed.

 

It was a good thing.

[whipped guy]

Yes Greatness!

 

"...a certain degree of greatness."

 

So are you saying that greatness tricked with these guys, or that he too is a lush?

I was hoping that someone would pick up on that one... as I try to choose my words carefully... and almost changed the word to renown, and then to fame. However, in the final analysis I thought that greatness would be the better choice... even though it might evoke our greatest fellow poster... and all the more so given the renown and fame that greatness has achieved in this forum.

 

As for greatness tricking around with those guys I rather doubt it... and I doubt that he is a lush as well... as for having a good time and seeing the world through Hoffmannesque glasses as those guys probably did... that seems to fit the bill!