The Punishment Fits the Crime: Big Mac's Return to Baseball

Big Mac, Mark McGwire makes his return to baseball next year and already the uproar around the game is deafening. McGwire returns with Tony La Russa and the St. Louis Cardinals after last being seen in front of a Grand Jury flopping around like one of those wind sock men you see in front of the car wash. McGwire will be the hitting coach of a Cardinal team that won their division and boasts slackers like Albert Pujols and Matt Holiday in the middle of their lineup.

Regardless of his merits as a coach of hitters, all I have heard in the media or from baseball fans is that he will have to make some sort of statement about his alleged use of performance enhancers, namely steroids. For some reason all the babbling sports show hosts or so called baseball experts have decided they must hear a full confession and an apology or Mac’s future in baseball will forever be protested. All seem to agree that they want to hear the words come out of his mouth. My question is why?

A typical response to this seems to be, “Take a look at Petite or A Rod. They took ownership, came clean, now no one cares.” This issue will resurface once both players are subjects of hall of fame discussions, but the point is a good one. We have a forgiving public. The general sports fan will root for a player/person who is down and needs a second chance (Michael Vick), and tear down someone who has too much success (Tom Brady). I agree 100 percent, the best course of action for Big Mac would have been to come clean right away, admit to steroid use, ask for forgiveness from the fans, and get on with his life. But the ego is a fickle thing. It competes against the part of the brain that is rational and renders some incapable of swallowing pride (Barry Bonds).

This is all well and good, but really, so what? Why are we so obsessed with hearing the words come out of his mouth?

Question. What do the following players all have in common with their alleged or admitted steroid use? Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Roger Clemens, Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Ken Caminiti, Miguel Tejada, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Andy Petite, Gary Sheffield.

Answer. They are all guilty, every single one. We really don’t need a confession to tell us that, and apologies under the gun are overrated. Did we even need the Mitchell Report to confirm who we suspected of steroid use during the baseball equivalent of Woodstock? Nobody was looking. What did you expect? The only real surprise is that Albert Pujols has never been implicated in any steroid talk. Just look at the numbers hitters were putting up before the Mitchell Report and what they are after two years of testing. And what happened to all of baseballs ageless wonders? They all got old and retired once steroid testing began. Is anyone waiting on pins and needles to find out if Bonds and Clemens can clear their name? Nope. No one cares, unless Bonds gets hired as the hitting coach of the Giants, I guess. Those guys are off the baseball map and probably will be until one of them gets convicted of perjury.

When I think about Roger Clemens now, I have this image of him in some dark, dingy basement. The only source of light is a TV in the corner of the room playing analog snow on mute. He is sitting in a rocking chair wearing white boxers and a dirty wife beater under shirt, staring at a full length mirror unable to blink, and repeating I did not do steroids, over and over in some sort of brain washed trance.

We don’t need a confession to know McGwire did steroids, and we don’t need an apology to form an opinion of the player. He looks worse, and is suffering more because of the way he handled the situation. He pled the fifth in front of congress. Does that not insinuate guilt? He wasn’t an idiot like Rafael Palmeiro, pointing his finger and shouting his innocence from the rooftops only to be tested positive a few months later, effectively ending his career and sending him into total obscurity and seclusion, but he still admitted enough by not saying anything. What does a confession now do to change the way we look at him as a person or player? If he wants to avoid the subject forever, let him. The best punishment for his case is to keep him out of the Hall of Fame which is going to happen whether a confession is made, or not. It is not like confessing will pave his passage. The only part of his game that could get him in the Hall was his power, and we know he cheated to get it.

McGwire could learn a lesson from Pete Rose. Holding on to the truth is futile. Eventually the media will get you to crack. It’s just good business. It’s too late to save face anyway. Those that would forgive him already have. The rest aren’t going to be swayed by a confession. Unfortunately for McGwire, he cannot come back and perform on the field like several others have, and since recovered some good will from fans. As soon as A Rod came clean and started hitting homers again, the fans seemed to embrace him. The same goes for Petite. On the field heroics go a long way in swaying public opinion. McGwire doesn’t have that option.

Regardless of his disposition, and whether or not he chooses to come clean, McGwire has a place in baseball if someone is willing to hire him. He is still a great person, and every baseball fan loved watching Mac and Sosa chase the homerun record. Steroid homers resurrected the sports popularity after the 1994-1995 strike. Unfortunately, the little good it did for the sports popularity was overshadowed by the epidemic that followed with nearly every player of significance realizing that they must also level the playing field by taking steroids. Baseball’s non-testing policy was equivalent to the “Please Take One” bowl on Halloween . Major League Baseball’s stance seemed to be please use steroids cautiously so you help the game, but don’t make it obvious so the media and fans catch on. The bowl emptied before anyone knew it. When hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, personal health and ethics take a back seat. I would guess that 75 percent of the population would do as McGwire did if they were in his shoes.

It has been proven that steroids damage your body. Players of the so called steroid era set terrible examples for youth baseball players that idolized these stars. I feel, as a purist of baseball, that the game is tremendously better without goliaths hitting 70 homers a year. Speed and strategy come in to play much more, and the game should get more exciting as it gets cleaner. We will once again be able to distinguish the power hitters from others and a homerun will once again become a cherished moment rather than an expected feat three to four times a game. Nonetheless, I do not condemn Mark McGwire. The blame does not fall squarely on his shoulders. If he does not wish to make a confession then we should all just move on. Let him coach and forever be known as a guy who took steroids, hit a lot of homeruns, and is not in the hall of fame. The punishment already fits the crime.