Bleachers' Brew #192 I'm Here To Talk About the Past

"I’m here to talk about the past."

by rick olivares

In 1998, Mark McGwire broke the most hallowed record in the game of baseball – the 37-year old mark held by the late great Roger Maris who knocked out 61 round trippers in 1961 -- by finishing with 70. That was four more than the 66 of Sammy Sosa who made that a summer to remember.

But even then, there were whispers that McGwire was taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). A bottle of androstenedione, an over-the-counter muscle enhancement product that had already been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the National Football League (NFL), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but not by Major League Baseball (MLB) at that time, was seen in his locker.

Big Mac finished with 583 HRs as he hit an astounding one in every 10 at bats. The best in Major League Baseball history. That’s better than the original Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, who Homerized the homer.

Yet when he was summoned to testify at a congressional hearing on steroids, on March 17, 2005, he declined to answer questions under oath when he appeared before the House Government Reform Committee as he said, “I’m not here to talk about the past. I’m here to be positive about the subject.”

In the 10 minutes he was engaged by Representative Elijah Cummings, McGwire said, “I’m not here to talk about the past” seven times! Incredible! That’s even better than his HR rate.

But now as he makes his return to MLB as the new hitting instructor of the St. Louis Cardinals, he has decided to come clean (he was also ignored in his first year of eligibility for baseball’s Hall of Fame). He admitted – no surprise there -- that he liberally used steroids throughout his career and during the Great Home Run Chase of 1998.

So is it time to talk about the past? Or should we be positive and forgive him and simply talk about the future?

I say, “Let’s talk about the past.”

When Maris broke Babe Ruth’s single season home run record by belting 61, an asterisk was placed next to his feat since he accomplished it in 162 matches whereas the Bambino did it in 154. It is hardly Maris’ fault since it was Commissioner Ford Frick who added more games to the schedule yet a highly influential and hostile New York media that didn’t want Ruth’s record broken turned on Maris even if he was a Yankee and won two consecutive American League MVP Awards in pinstripes. Journalism at its finest, folks.

One can argue that 1961 and 1998 were expansion years in baseball. That’s as far as similarities will end. The latter was the wild wild west in terms of performance enhancing drugs. It took 34 years for someone to break the Babe’s record. But between ‘1998 and 2001, Maris’ record was broken six time – once by Barry Bonds, twice by McGwire, and thrice by Sammy Sosa. All three are linked to steroid use.

Some say that even if one is on PEDs, he still has to go out on the field and win or achieve things. That’s true, but then, there is already an advantage.

Granted that baseball’s testing and inquiry begins at 2002, you have Ken Caminiti admitting that he used it when he was National League MVP in 1996 with the San Diego Padres. You have Jose Canseco who says he used it since 1985. And now McGwire says he used steroids when he broke Maris’ HR feat.

Whether Maris belongs to the Hall of Fame or not is debatable since he had what – three great years in his short career? Personally, I’d love to see him there but if the vote, which is all about sustained excellence during one’s career, is not given to sentiment then can I fault the voters for not putting him in? I know that Maris was treated rather harshly during and after his career and the subsequent honors given him didn’t do much to assuage the hurt. Baseball should do something about that.

But if we do talk about the past, let’s also talk about the future.

If Maris’ home run record had an asterisk placed beside it then it is only right that one should reside next to the numbers of Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa.

But they don’t get off that easy. Yes, MLB isn’t the IOC that took away Marion Jones’ gold medals for testing positive for steroids but what do you do now with baseball wrecked with all these dubious stats and records achieved at a time when it is opined that up to 85% of players were using it in one form or another? And it isn’t only the players but everyone (save for a few) conveniently turned a blind eye to what was going on? Holy Major League Headache, Batman!

Thinking of all this makes one’s head spin but when you reach out for medicine to deal with the ache and vertigo, make sure that it’s Excedrin, Tylenol or some approved substance. You just might take something that will make your head swell and the batting helmet just won’t fit.

Whether for the lack of rules or not, the use of PEDs was and is morally wrong. And so is McGwire being on the bench of the Cardinals. The use of PEDs is c-h-e-a-t-i-n-g. If MLB can ban Pete Rose, the all-time hits leader and one who was named to the sport’s All-Century Team, for betting on baseball then what is the difference with ‘roids users? Are an admission and an apology on steroids use sufficient to get off the hook? If that is so, then lift the ban on Rose as well (and while MLB is at it, they should really find a way to honor Maris for the injustice done against him).

With April just around the corner, it isn’t all about spring training. I’d say that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who is just to blame for turning a blind eye to these steroid troubles, should do some spring cleaning of his own.

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This column appears in the Monday, January 18, 2010 edition of the Business Mirror. This whole steroids scandal has made me sick to the bone. It has damaged the sport much more than anything else. IMHO, the REAL HOME RUN RECORD belongs to Roger Maris. The heck with Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire.

Read this for more on the steroids issue.