Mark McGwire admits to steroid use

[MaineDolFan]

I know this will come as a "well, duh" to the world, but I am shocked he finally admitted it.

I applaud him for finally fessing up.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/01/11/mcgwire.steroids.ap/index.html?eref=sihp

[Phishfan]

I am happy he finally admitted what everyone knew (non-pc for saying expected). The only players who look halfway decent in all of this are the ones who said they did it and regret it. The rest have come off looking like complete fools.

[CF DolFan]

At least he never said he didn't do them.  Congrats to him for fessing up.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

I know this will come as a "well, duh" to the world, but I am shocked he finally admitted it.

I applaud him for finally fessing up.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/01/11/mcgwire.steroids.ap/index.html?eref=sihp

I don't applaud him at all.  If he would've admitted it when he was called before Congress, I would've applauded him.  If he would've admitted it back when he was doing it, I would've applauded him.  But to do it now, years after the fallout from all the positive tests, the BALCO scandal and the Mitchell Report tells me he's just trying to win enough sympathy votes for the Hall of Fame. 

[Guru-In-Vegas]

Why even admit it now?  I can understand when the subject was hot and he was getting pressed but now?  I would have shut my mouth and fallen into obscurity and left it at that.  I guess some just crave headlines and people talking about them.

[StL FinFan]

He's the Cardinals hitting coach now, that's why.

[Sunstroke]

I still hope he never gets within sniffing range of the HOF...just for being a putz about it until now.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

I still hope he never gets within sniffing range of the HOF...just for being a putz about it until now.

Exactly.  He had a chance to come clean and look honorable by fessing up to what he did back when he was called before Congress.  He blew that chance. 

This is the same situation as Pete Rose finally admitting that he bet on baseball. 

[Denver_Bronco]

While we are all coming clean I may as well admit to having sexual relations with that woman. 

You're a douchebag meat-head McGwire.

Good job trying to get back into the good graces of MLB because you are probably broke. You should be banned for life.

[Pats2006]

WOW McGwire used steroids!!  Why is this even a story? Tell me something we didn't know.  Now we have to fu*king listen to ESPN and all sports channels talk about fu*king ROIDS for the rest of the month and then again when the season starts!!!!WTF I am so sick of hearing about roids.

Sorry but sh*ts getting old.

[JVides]

Can you imagine the whispers if any of his players made quantum leaps in power, or average?  The rumor mill would be out of control.  Now, he fesses up, gets ahead of the rumors.  I think it needed to happen if he was coming back to the game.  I think he knows he has no chance at the HOF.  Middling to below average first baseman, mediocre batting average, and inflated power numbers tainted by steroids.  He had no chance before the admission, and he has no chance now.  I'm just glad he admitted it.

I also don't mind that he waited until now, when admitted users are not facing criminal prosecution, than back then, when they might've. 

[Dave Gray]

I don't think it matters that he did steroids, at all.  It's baseball's fault for not testing, so they can't cry foul when players admit to it years later.  Baseball knew it was happening and did nothing about it, because it was guys like McGwire that made it possible for baseball to come back into America's good graces.  It's disingenuous for them to be all outraged about it now.

[CF DolFan]

I agree Dave.  He never denied using them which I felt was his way of saying he did ... without being prosecuted. I don't think anyone went away from the hearings thinking otherwise.

[wyvernmcd]

I don't think it matters that he did steroids, at all.  It's baseball's fault for not testing, so they can't cry foul when players admit to it years later.  Baseball knew it was happening and did nothing about it, because it was guys like McGwire that made it possible for baseball to come back into America's good graces.  It's disingenuous for them to be all outraged about it now.

I think this is one of the reasons why I do not like baseball. People (and the commissioner) knew McGwire was using and they didn't question it when he was going after the home run record for the simple reason that people love home runs more than strategic plays in baseball. A baseball home run (to me) is like a touchdown in football, a goal in hockey or the clutch 3-pointer in basketball that ices the game. Other than hockey, the other sports have other ways of scoring and it is not as attention getting as the "big score" so if it brings in more people (say after a lock-out) then its OK to look the other way and confess everything when people are already back in the stands. So what lesson do we learn from this? Cheat the system, get everything to happen your way and then when you are comfortable in life and your 15 minutes of fame run down then admit to your wrong doing because they can't take everything away from you.   

Of course now that he admitted he "cheated" its not like he can give everything back. Even if he could pay back the money he made from cheating, it does not take away all the experiences that were given to him because he was the home run record holder. Even when Bonds was going after the record, people stood by McGwire because they tried driving it into everyone that he didn't cheat....well, now we know better.

Since I don't really follow baseball that much and I feel that people who "cheat" to break records don't count, who is the current home run record holder?

[Tepop84]

I don't think it matters that he did steroids, at all.  It's baseball's fault for not testing, so they can't cry foul when players admit to it years later.  Baseball knew it was happening and did nothing about it, because it was guys like McGwire that made it possible for baseball to come back into America's good graces.  It's disingenuous for them to be all outraged about it now.

You hit the nail on the head there.  Baseball fans are a bunch of hypocrites.