Mark McGwire comes clean 
January 14, 2010 by Sean Jaramillo
McGwire tells society what we already knew
The Steroid Era in baseball is like disco: no matter how much you try to kill it and claim it’s dead, it always finds a way to get back in the mainstream.
The biggest story of baseball’s offseason came this week, as Mark McGwire admitted that he, in fact, did use steroids and human growth hormone.
This will go down as the biggest story of the year that was in no way shocking.
When McGwire testified in front of Congress and failed to answer any questions directly, every analyst on ESPN and the general consensus of baseball fans everywhere presumed him guilty of taking steroids.
What no one could have imagined was the length of time that McGwire was taking the steroids.
As it turned out, McGwire took steroids during the 1989 and ’90 seasons and then sporadically from 1993 to 2001, including the 1998 season where he and Sammy Sosa broke the home run record set by Roger Maris.
This confession not only taints the 70-home run season that revived baseball after the strike in 1994, but it further establishes another, undeniable fact:
In a league full of liars, the most honest one there has been on this issue is Jose Canseco.
Ever since his book came out, the names that have floated around baseball about who took steroids have been high profile, and to this point, the book has not been wrong.
McGwire joins a less-than-prestigious list of players who have been caught for drug violations.
On that list are major names like Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and Manny Ramirez.
But the question now becomes: What does this mean for the career of Mark McGwire?
I can’t speak for the baseball writers in charge of voting people into the Hall of Fame, but if I had a vote right now, I would not put him in.
The fact of the matter is that McGwire may have been on steroids for more than half of his major league career, and the half where he was on steroids were the years when he was performing at his peak.
Besides the steroids, McGwire also admitted to taking HGH, which was relatively new at the time. By his own admission, his endorsement of the product got many within the baseball community on the bandwagon.
McGwire may very well be the poster boy for all that was wrong with the steroid era in baseball when all is said and done.
Well, unless Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens have anything to say about the matter.
Bonds, McGwire and Clemens have definitely done severe damage to the reputation of baseball in this country.
Between McGwire’s admission of steroid use and the alleged use of Bonds and Clemens, three of the most highly-regarded records in baseball have been tainted.
The single-season home run record was broken more than five times since 1998, but if you remove all of the steroid users and alleged users, no one has actually taken Maris off the top of the record books.
Bonds beat the career home run record by a mere seven bombs, and if he took steroids or HGH at all during his career, Hank Aaron’s mark looks pretty viable again.
Lastly, Clemens set the modern-era record for pitchers in career wins, but even his name floats around as a user, threatening to kill the record’s credibility.
At this point, not much can be done about these records. All that is left is the chance that these men will be able to make it into the Hall of Fame.
But if the hall wants to put personal qualities as a feature for their members, then they cannot allow any of these men in.
Andy Pettitte will be a Hall of Famer because he came clean and showed skill long after he stopped.
To this day, we don’t know how good McGwire was at the end of his career, or Clemens for that matter.
Bonds may not have officially been caught in any documents, but he is going to trial for perjury and has the investigation hanging over his head.
If Shoeless Joe Jackson can be banned for an allegation from which he was acquitted, then Bonds can be held to the same standard.
McGwire’s admission definitely puts an end to the doubts that he was unclean, but he has also brought up all the old feelings about the era we baseball fans are all trying to repress.
As long as there is still debate and speculation on the issue, the steroid era will keep staying alive.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, Stayin’ Alive!
Well, here we go. I recall when Canseco first came out with his book and you have to admit, Jose is a bit of a quack and it was truly hard to take his comments about widespread steroid use in MLB serious. Now look at Jose, still a quack, but he has without a doubt proven that his comments are bang on. If Jose says there’s more to be said then I have no doubt that there is more to be said. All those who have admitted and tested positive deserve no recognition by baseballs HOF. All of them. Those who have come under suspicion have something to hide and have done exactly that, gone into hiding. Why don’t the Texas Rangers ask AROD for their money back from the lucrative contract they gave him, the contract was based on his performance, a performance we now know was tainted. His and every steroid athlete has benefited financially from their lies, so are their current contracts illegal??? Non binding?? No admittance into the HOF is my opinion for any of them.