Come Out of the Shadows, Big Mac

Since a few members of The Fifth Dimension are from St. Louis, they likely won't mind the way I tweak one of their songs -- you know, Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In. So here I go: Jupiter isn't aligned with Mars, but with the Gateway Arch when it comes to Mark McGwire these days.

That's because this is perfect timing.

In fact, for a bunch of reasons we'll discuss in a moment, there is no better time than now for the former St. Louis Cardinals star to end his cowardly seclusion. He could leave the shadows of southern California to speak in the spotlight of the All-Star festivities that begin this weekend in St. Louis . He could do so without a Jimmy Swaggert confession, but it wouldn't hurt his rapidly sliding chances for reaching Cooperstown if he included some crying and a lot of pleading.

Now is the time for McGwire to do what he hasn't done since the start of his little controversy involving performance-enhancing drugs, and that is, provide folks with answers to a slew of questions. Did you use steroids to bash most of those home runs? If so, when did you start the practice? If you are innocent, why did you vanish regarding baseball in general and the Cardinals in particular?

Now is the time for McGwire to tell us the truth. Now is the time for McGwire to tell us everything. Now is the time for McGwire to tell us something.

That's opposed to the nothing that McGwire said on Capitol Hill in 2005, when he made a fool of himself before congressmen and millions watching on television with his mantra: "I'm not here to talk about the past."

Now is the time for McGwire to talk about the past.

"Yeah, and I agree with you, but I just know that's not his make," said Brian Jordan, whose prolific slugging as a cleanup hitter behind McGwire in 1998 helped McGwire became better than Roger Maris regarding homers for a season.

In case you haven't guessed, McGwire isn't coming to St. Louis, and he never even hinted as much. Said Jordan, "I know that for Mark, he's thinking, 'Well, it would have been great to make the Hall of Fame,' but for him, if he does, he does, if he doesn't, he doesn't. That's his attitude. He's not like Roger Clemens who wants the Hall of Fame, so he's going to do whatever it takes to get there, whether it's lying to the end or whatever. That's the difference between Mark McGwire and others.

"Mark is so humble, and he's so quiet that it doesn't matter to him whether he is a Hall of Famer or not. And to be put back into the limelight by showing up to this All-Star Game, he knows it's just going to open up him being back in the storylines, and that's exactly what he doesn't want."

No question there, but this really is perfect timing. For one, you have that historical thing. I was there exactly a decade ago in Boston, where Fenway Park was magic during that All-Star Game week, and McGwire was among those sprinkled with pixie dust. More impressive, Ted Williams was there, too, and the Red Sox icon joined the rest of us who rubbed our eyes all evening as McGwire kept ripping shot after shot beyond the Green Monster during the Home Run Derby.

In the end, Ken Griffey Jr. won the title, but McGwire captured everybody's imagination after he established a record with 13 homers in a single round. Most of his blasts landed outside of Massachusetts .

Now is the time for McGwire to tell us the truth. Now is the time for McGwire to tell us everything. Now is the time for McGwire to tell us something.You also have this upcoming thing: On Tuesday, the All-Star Game will unfold in St. Louis, where McGwire was a local and national hero with his Louisville Slugger before that little controversy. Let's return to 1998, when he zoomed by Maris' 61 to shatter one of baseball's sacred records with flair. There was his colorful battle down the stretch with Sammy Sosa. Not only that, he had wonderful visuals throughout, courtesy of the Maris siblings in the stands and his son as a batboy on the field.

There mostly was McGwire slugging his way into the all-time power elite before his retirement in 2001. He led the major leagues in homers five times and ripped 50 or more in four consecutive seasons.

It's just that McGwire had that little controversy, which started with a reporter spotting a bottle of androstenedione (a testosterone-producing supplement) in his cubicle. That little controversy grew to former Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco and brother Jay McGwire saying they personally injected Mark McGwire with illegal stuff. Plus, you had his silliness during that Congressional meeting.

Now is the time for McGwire to step up and man up. Everybody will be listening, especially with all of the living former Presidents slated to attend. Current President Barack Obama will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. So, if done correctly, McGwire's presence and words during such well-scrutinized All-Star festivities could convince me and other Hall of Fame voters to place our pens at least a centimeter closer to the box next to his name on the ballot.

"The thing is, he is so unselfish, he wouldn't even want to come and take away from the All-Star Game," said Jordan, who has a point: McGwire would get much attention in St. Louis during the next few days.

Then again, McGwire would deserve it -- for the wrong reasons, of course, but he could start turning wrong to right.

Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning", an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta .

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

7-10-2009 @ 3:49AM

James said...

Poor Terence Moore. He is getting old and his articles are becoming increasingly worse.
Mac never tested positive for PEDs. Did he do them? Maybe. But Mac is retired...why bring up the past? What good would it do? None. We have 104 players who tested positive but MLB is keeping their names quiet. How about MLB 'Manning up' and come out with their names?
The Hall Of Fame is full of former players that used PEDs. Why bring it up now?
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2005-05-03-steroids-house_x.htm

7-10-2009 @ 4:25AM

Dan 65 said...

Name 5 players in the HOF that have used PED.

7-13-2009 @ 6:41AM

miloe77 said...

McGwire was an arrogant [deleted] in his days with Oakland and still is today. NO Hall of Fame for him, HALL OF SHAME is where that cheat belongs

7-10-2009 @ 8:40AM

Carl Sutera said...

Tell me again who you are Terence Moore ? Did you forget just for a little while Mark and sammy saved baseball with that great display of homerun hitting even if it was tainted . Mark made it look great the way he embraced his son at home plate . When Bond's tryed the same thing it looked phony and like a cheap copy. And tell me again what do you know about baseball ? that you if you do have a vote for the hall, that shithead's like you and the rest of the reporters that vote know.It should be voted on by exbaseball players that have been out if the game 7 to 10 years. Now terence you have had your 15 min of fame, Get lost.

7-10-2009 @ 9:58AM

geraldr5 said...

I've read a lot of crap by so-called sportswriters on AOL. This is by far the worst garbage in years. This is the worst example I've ever seen of third-rate character assassination by a writer who has virtually no facts at his disposal. There is not one iota of proof that Mac ever used an illegal substance. Canseco? Anyone who believes him believes in Grimm's Fairy Tales. He would write an expose on his mother if he could get another headline or sell another book. I guess he forgot that this is America where a man is presumed innocent till proven guilty. There is no proof that McGwire took anything illegal....NOTHING. He admitted to taking Andro, which was not an illegal substance at the time. Sir, you are a disgrace to your profession.

7-10-2009 @ 10:46AM

Mike Horn said...

Now, this person that wrote this article has convicted McGwire based on ........ a book by Jose Canseco!!!!! He must be hurting for believable sources. And someone else who commented here called McGwire arrogant. I have seen a multitude of off-the-mark comments but this may be the furthest from the truth ever. McGwire hit 49 homers as a rookie, admitted to taking Andro while he was active, and refused to play games with politicians in Washington who insist on getting involved with any cause that comes with a TV camera. Andro was not a banned substance when he took it. In addition, all these ridiculous opinions totally ignore how hard Mark McGwire worked to improve his skills, both defensively and hitting for average. It is totally unrealistic to hint that he took some mysterious magic potion that has never been discovered and suddenly became a prolific major league baseball player. Due to this article and some of these zany comments I would support an investigation into what the author and these loons have been taking.

7-10-2009 @ 11:07AM

elannanco said...

I don't know what McGuire did or didn't do but he owes no explanation to any reporter. In fact, maybe we would all be better off if no one spoke to reporters who, instead of the public's right to know, actually seem to believe that the key right is the reporter's right to fame and glory.

7-10-2009 @ 1:09PM

chevyliddle said...

Carl Sutera says...
"Tell me again who you are Terence Moore ? Did you forget just for a little while Mark and sammy saved baseball with that great display of homerun hitting even if it was tainted ."

Excuse me???? Do you mean that baseball wouldn't be here now if it weren't for the juiced duo that chased each other through the year? I was never aware that they saved baseball so thanks for enlightening us. Baseball may have gained a few extra fans during McGuire and Sosas' home run competition but I doubt that it would have disappeared without them. We need to build a basball "Hall of Shame" in a deserving place like Hollywood and put up photos of McGuire and Sosa right next to Bonds and Clemens. I ain't no racist...I hate all overpaid juicers equally.

7-10-2009 @ 9:34PM

milo97 said...

They saved baseball, no matter how you look at it! After the strike that cancelled the World Series, baseball couldnt give tickets away to get fans in! So yes, absolutely, baseball was saved by the two or three seasons that Big Mac and Sammy chased the homerun records! And we will never know who took PEDs back in the old days, look at why Mantle had dropped out of the homerun race with Maris when he broke it! But baseball didnt test for it than and everyone of those "Hall of Fame" greats are not going to go out and admitt to something that no one can prove! The Hall of Fame votes need to be taken away from these "glory writters" doing all the can to sell newspapers and give it to some worthy ppl. You want to bash the players for abbiding by the laws back than that says more about you than it does about them. steriods dont make you magically able to hit a baseball, it does not improve your hand eye cordination. So there is no reason to pull a man who owes no explantion to you or anyone else, out of the "shadows" just to give you another years worth of storys for you to write about how he stole someones spotlight and just needs to go back!

7-10-2009 @ 8:14PM

yougabsports said...

While I agree to some point that now would be a great time for McGwire to step up and admit to his past mistakes, but look at it from the Pete Rose angle. People are going to wonder why he remained silent all these years and think that he's only doing this to get further Hall of Fame consideration out of it. Whether he stays quiet or comes out an admits what many suspect of him, his life isn't going to change one bit.

7-10-2009 @ 1:17PM

mweiss53 said...

Why is now the time? Is it because you guys in the media need a break from making stuff up?

7-10-2009 @ 1:29PM

mike said...

Let's be clear about one thing: No one can claim that they didn't know that steroid use was ramapant in major league baseball during this era. Just look at Jason Giambi, for instance. How do you explain how he went from an average baseball player's physique to looking like he was chiseled from stone? Well, he did what it took to get to the top, namely a contract with the Yankees, where the big bucks were. And didn't Steinbrenner ever ask any questions? Nope, he just wanted a big-name player, and didn't care how the big-name got so big. And none of the fans ever wondered, either. They were more interested in seeing the ball leave the park. So McGuire and Sosa and Bonds, etc. were able to thrive while juicing up, and nobody had to acknowledge what everyone knew.

7-10-2009 @ 1:46PM

sharffj said...

Can there be any conversation on the web page without the black and white card BONDS CHEATER MCGUIRE CHEATER. END OF TOPIC

7-10-2009 @ 1:47PM

jzz3skys said...

Can we avoid (or "eschew," to borrow a Mariotti "perp" word) the ad hominem remarks? It's not credible for anyone to claim they've never heard of the myth, propagated in large part by journalists, that Sosa and McGwire "saved baseball" back in 1998.

The following is from a March, 2005 article, the "Myth of [the] Men Who Saved Baseball" from the New York Times:

"JOURNALISTS, baseball executives and players like to construct tidy narratives to explain the ups and downs of the game. It is part of a deep human desire to tell stories that make sense of a messy world. Player strikes and owner lockouts are cast as the villains that cause disgusted fans to turn their backs on a sport..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/sports/29iht-fans.html

Now the journalists want to dissociate themselves from the same myths that they, as younger men, promulgated back in '98. It surprise anyone whose familiar with how they mythologize every other sports figure on these blogs.

7-10-2009 @ 2:02PM

john said...

I've heard that there is a player that has had bionic implants..It's so hush hush that only a handfull of people even know it was applicable to this sport

7-10-2009 @ 2:23PM

caveman3366 said...

OK, first of all Vilmael your comment about "Amerikkka" being as racist now as it was 40 years ago is retarded. We have come a long way just in the past 10 years. You need to quit living in the past. If you don't like how your being treated in this great country, do something about it or get out. Go live in Africa, Germany or Russia and you will appreciate the freedoms we have here in this so called 'Racist' country. As for Mark Mcgwire....He was 6'5 225 when he came into the league and could already hit the ball 550 ft. Even most of his pop flys were home runs. He played baseball for the love of the game. When he played his worst season in Oakland he was up for a new contract. He turned down a huge bonus in his contract because he didn't feel he deserved it after the season he just had. Do you think Barry Bonds would have done that? Bonds is just a whiney, arrogant ass! He got caught using steroids after the league banned the substance. McGwire admitted using Andro up until they banned it and there is no proof that he used anything after the bann. Its like getting a speeding ticket before the lowered the limit.
There was definately a lack of interest in baseball up until McGwire and Sammy's personnal Home Run Derby. They brought interest and fun back into the game. However, he definately could have handled his Congressional Heariing in a better manner. You can't blame him for secluding himself and his family. Any time he comes out, all people want to ask about is if he used steroids. Nobody asks about his records or the many charitable contributions. The baseball HOF need so loosen up a bit and focus on his records and performance. Look at the NFL...they elected Michael Irvin into the Hall of Fame! How many times did he get arrested for cocaine possession? That drug is not only performance enhancing but illegal too! Now I'm not saying Irvin doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame based on his performance but to keep Mcgwire out because of Andro prior to the ban?! Get real!

7-10-2009 @ 2:29PM

Kevin said...

mcgwire took andro which at the time was not illegal, Ive taken it and it does have some steriod effects, But at the time Andro wasnt illegal then. He may have taken needle steroids, but I have seen people get pretty big off of using andro. So whos to say, unless you were right there when canseco was jabbing friends, noone knows for sure. Androstene does work almost like the real deal. Again at that time Andro wasnt illegal.

7-10-2009 @ 2:40PM

fahded25 said...

It has nothing to do with race but some of you are too stupid to see that. Bonds is demonized because hes a major league asshat. Bonds was already one of historys best players before he turned himself into the Hulk in an offseason. When you put on 25+ lbs in 6 monhts in your late 30's youre a juicer. His repeated denials, ego and throwing his teammates under the bus is why people dont like, not his skin color.

7-10-2009 @ 2:42PM

garydurham said...

When the baby boomers are old and grey hollywood is going to do a "sandlot 2", instead of using names of ruth and mantle, they are going to use the names of bonds and Mcguire! Did they, didn't they? In the overall scheme of life who gives a rats ass!!! They will always be players that loom larger than life in the hearts and minds of tomorrow's children who look at these two great players with the same awe that ruth and mantle held in our eyes...