“Would you rather spread manure, or play hockey in Madison Square Garden in front of 20,000 people?”- Youngblood
Anyone remember back in 1998, the great homerun race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa? Who would of thought baseball’s comeback was because of these two great sluggers? Well little would anyone know about 10 years later, steroids would be baseball’s new topic of discussion. As I recall McGwire and Sosa were the topic of a baseball investigation, The Mitchell Report. Both denied taking steroids and McGwire said he did not want to talk about the past but focus on the present. All in all, both were one time first ballot Hall of Famers. Now, they are both lucky if they get into the Hall at all.
Interestingly enough, the Big Mac is back in St. Louis. This time, McGwire will become the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Surprisingly move? I would love to hear what Cardinals fans think. Who knows maybe a public relations move to clear up McGwire’s image? Then again, if the whole team starts to smash homeruns, people are going to start thinking steroids. In my opinion, McGwire may actually be a smart, hitting coach for the Cardinals. I am sure there are plenty of St. Louis fans who still appreciate all McGwire did.
Still I wonder what this move does for the St. Louis Cardinals and McGwire. If somehow McGwire proves he was steroid free, is baseball’s legacy changed forever? Think about Pete Rose and his situation. He was banned from baseball because of betting. Why is baseball allowing McGwire back in the game after he refused to talk about “the past?” I understand McGwire was never found guilty of steroids but the man disappeared from the game. Anyone else see that as a sign?
Well best of luck to you, Mark McGwire. I hope you prove baseball wrong. Honestly, since this hiring has occurred, I think it is time baseball looked at Pete Rose.
However, as a Cubs fan, I hope McGwire ruins Albert Pujols’ swing.
I'm not a Cardinals fan, but I'm skeptical about McGwire becoming the Cardinals' hitting coach. He was never a great hitter that hit for average and hit only for power, I'm not sure how that's going to translate into being a good coach. We shall see.
ReplyDeleteBut, I do agree about the Pete Rose argument. McGwire supposedly "cheated" during his historical homerun battle with Sosa, and then hides the past and refuses to talk about it. Sounds like he's hiding something. Not saying what Rose did was right, but he did bet on his team to win and not like he bet on them to lose and then threw the game to make sure they lost. So, I think it is time for baseball to seriously consider the Pete Rose case.
It is intresting that a man claimed to be involved with steroids be allowed back into baseball. How can a man that many people believe cheated be able to get back in? Worst of why would they let him come back? I agree with what Ben said about the situation and they should start looking more into Rose case, or don’t hold double standards. Pete did not do anything to change the game of baseball like the athletes that use steroids.
ReplyDeleteEven though Mark has not been found guilty for the steroids they should start taking a stronger action about preventing usage of steroids. I feel that hiring McGwire back into baseball still keeps the image and the steroid stigma floating around the league, which is one thing that the league has been trying to avoid.
What if it were found that McGwire was on the list of 104 athletes who at one time tested positive for using steroids or some form of performance enhancers? Then, it would seem to be a foregone conclusion--he should definitely not be hired as the hitting coach for the Cardinals. I always thought Tony La Russa was such a players' manager that he would never say anything bad about a player. But this seems like taking it to the extreme. One thing that Mark McGwire was not good at was talking to the media--until Sammy Sosa got into the chase. He seemed to loosen up McGwire so that he enjoyed it after that. I wonder who will be there to loosen McGwire up now that he has signed on to be the hitting coach?
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