Mark McGwire is a national disgrace

I wasn’t happy when I heard that Mark McGwire was becoming the St. Louis Cardinal’s hitting coach. For years, fans had suspected that McGwire had used steroids. When he testified before Congress a few years ago, he did nothing to counter these suspicions and seemed like someone who was guilty. Now, 11 years after breaking baseball’s single season home run record, Mark McGwire has admitted what many had suspected: He used steroids.

Mark McGwire’s apology seems sincere, but to me, it’s meaningless. His cheating and drug use has made a mockery of the game in general, and its records and history in particular. Him and other suspected and confirmed steroid users such as Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Andy Pettite, Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens, Ken Caminiti, and Alex Rodriguez have devalued the game and its history. The beauty of baseball was the constant comparisons of teams and players from differing eras. With a generation of baseball sullied by cheaters and drug users, those comparisons are largely null and void. » read more