Does Mark McGwire really want to step back into the spotlight? I’m sure you’ve already heard the news that the St. Louis Cardinals fired their hitting coach Hal McRae and Tony LaRussa brought in McGwire as his new hitting coach. Have the Cardinals gotten that desperate or is it a ploy to get Matt Holliday to stay and sign with the club?
Since McGwire’s infamous testimony or lack thereof in front of Congress several years ago, he’s pretty much disappeared from the sports world altogether. During that time, he became eligible for the Hall of Fame and got something 20% of the votes…so for someone who never tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and somewhat was a savior for baseball back in the historic 1998 season, wouldn’t you think he’d get a little more respect? Sure, Jose Canseco released not one but two tell-all books and claimed he personally injected McGwire with roids and pretty much introduced it to him back in the Bash Brothers era…since when does someone of Canseco’s background gain so much clout?
Man, we already know how America is a guilty until proven innocent society…but I’m not going to be naïve. Chances that Big Mac was on the juice is probably about the same chance that Barry Bonds didn’t know that ‘cream’ he took wasn’t steroids of some type.
I admit I was and could still be a Mark McGwire fan…what of it? You can’t tell me you didn’t thrive off baseball during the summer of 1998 and secretly wished you could have arms the size of Big Mac…okay but you were definitely drawn into the Sosa/McGwire home run chase.
So I have to ask…how would this benefit McGwire to come back into baseball as a hitting coach? Wouldn’t this immediately bring unwanted attention to the Cardinals club? Would his protégé Matt Holliday get questioned about steroid use and would the MSM insinuate he is taking something illegally because of his association with McGwire? (again, even though Mac never tested positive) There definitely will be a lot of questions…how will Big Mac react? I bet he goes Incredible Hulk on some reporters before all is said and done.
OR
Will this paint McGwire in a different light and improve his chances to enter the MLB Hall of Fame? Will the HoF voters see him differently?
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