Mark McGwire will end his baseball exile and accept a position with the St. Louis Cardinals as their hitting coach, a Cardinals source confirmed to FanHouse's Ed Price Sunday afternoon. He'll replace Hal McRae, who's held the position for five years. The story initially appeared on Brian McRae's Twitter account, though it's since been deleted.McGwire played 4 1/2 seasons with St. Louis, in which he hit 220 home runs and briefly set the single-season MLB record with his 70 homers in 1998. Of course, since then he's been surrounded by steroid rumors and has more or less dropped entirely off of the baseball radar after his Congressional testimony in 2005.
This news seems to make it pretty clear that Tony La Russa, who's been close with McGwire after managing him both in Oakland and St. Louis, should be back in 2010 as the Cardinals manager. There was initially some question about that, but a report by Joe Strauss Sunday morning pointed pretty strongly towards La Russa's return. It's hard to imagine any way McGwire accepts this job without La Russa in St. Louis.
What will be interesting is how the private McGwire handles his return to the baseball spotlight. He must know that by accepting this position, he's going to have to do some talking about the past, so to speak. Though, by announcing the hiring early, the Cardinals are probably hoping most of that dies down by the time the team is ready for spring training next February.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
10-25-2009 @ 4:45PM
dyespirits said...
Good news for baseball. I hope that Mr. McGwire will finally be at peace.
Reply
10-25-2009 @ 5:49PM
dinos1197 said...
Good news for baseball??????? are you serious?????
He should NEVER be allowed to have anything to do with the sport ever again......Every record he had or broke was do to the fact that he was using illegal drugs....
10-26-2009 @ 12:19AM
Jason said...
"at peace"?!?! Why should a cheater who made million$ be at peace?
10-26-2009 @ 11:01AM
junior said...
Don't know why you boys are upset that another drug user is allowed in the sport, after all the drug induced Yankees made it to the world series.
10-26-2009 @ 11:55AM
caljv said...
I see that dino is Judge, Jury and Executioner. And he NEVER snuck a peek at another test paper, NEVER exceeds the speed limit, and is ALWAYS totally honest. Good for you, dino. Flaws are NORMAL with us NORMAL humans. You Greek Gods can stay up in your perfect little world. Welcome back, McGwire
10-26-2009 @ 1:04PM
taguacipa said...
I can see Mark Mcwire being a hitting coach it will be his easiest job ever. He'll never have to leave the club house. Mcwire will be instructing the playes where to inject the steroids into the body.
10-26-2009 @ 2:44PM
Sieben said...
Now you can bring Barry Bonds back into baseball He has NEVER been found GUILTY of ANYTHING
10-26-2009 @ 6:11PM
drumbodave said...
some good news, alright... when someone like Pete Rose can't get in being a hitting coach... He sure didn't eat steroids, and only bet AFTER his playing days were done... ROSE for the Hall of Fame for a hitter, not a manager...!!!
McGwire choked during his last season's playoffs, 'cause he stopped the steroids... see???
10-26-2009 @ 8:06PM
dinos1197 said...
caljv: 1ST OF ALL, IM AMERICAN NOT GREEK. SECOND OF ALL IM A US SOLDIER, WHO LIVES BY RULES. NO IM NOT PERFECT, BUT I DONT USE ILLEGAL DRUGS TO ENHANCE MY CAREER, AND THEN LIE ABOUT IT. HE IS SCUM. I WISH I GOT PAID MILLIONS TO PLAY A GAME.
10-25-2009 @ 4:55PM
xpac121186 said...
hitting coach? maybe he could be the strength and conditioning coach too!
Reply
10-25-2009 @ 5:29PM
Steve said...
Mark McGwire shouldn't be allowed to have a job in baseball, that's the first thing.
Second, what will his advice to hitters be? Answer - juice up, see the ball, hit the ball far, then lie like hell!!
Last but not least - will Selig do anything to stop this, as usual the answer is NO !!
SELIG MUST GO !!!!
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10-25-2009 @ 6:28PM
Wan Xion said...
Prove that he did anything. You can't, baseball can't, so they can't stop him.
10-26-2009 @ 12:19AM
halt20 said...
he never lied about anything. he simply refused to recognize congress' right to ask him questions about steroids, so he refused to answer.
i'm reasonably certain mcgwire did steroids in the past....... but there is no evidence to support the idea that any of the substances he used were either against the rules of baseball, or illegal......
....and there are probably hundreds of players who used steroids in the 80's and 90's..... as there were hundreds of players who used illegal amphetemines in the 60's and 70's.
anyone who can't handle that fact, should probably find another sport to watch instead of baseball.
good luck finding one where a large number of the competitors haven't used illegal substances.
10-26-2009 @ 5:22AM
NjHudson53 said...
SELIG IS A BUM,HE'S BAD FOR BASEBALL AND SHOULD GO
10-26-2009 @ 9:26AM
lnburchard said...
So he can't come back, but A-Rod and all these others who are still in the game are ok??
10-26-2009 @ 12:09PM
james setzer jr said...
he used andro which at the time was not illegal in baseball.
10-26-2009 @ 1:41PM
dtenore said...
Who made you the judge, jury and executioner?
We all know (because we saw the bottle in his locker) that McGwire used andro. At the time, it was not a banned substance, and you can buy it in most supermarkets.
When you can PROVE that he did something else - something illegal - then your opinion might count. But until then, you are simply throwing out accusations that YOU CANNOT PROVE.
And, whatever you think... the fact remains that McGwire - wether "juiced" or not - was an outstanding hitter, regardless of his size. If he can contribute something to the game, what harm does it do to you?
10-25-2009 @ 6:08PM
netscoach said...
If you gentlemen are truly baseball fans and more importantly, HUMANS..... you will note that your comments are without basis... whilst you might make certain assumptions, NO legal or criminal charges (including perjury) have been filed against Mr. McGwire. Least you forget, you are presumed innocent unless PROVEN guilty. By the way, what crime did he commit? Did Baseball have a rule during the ASSUMED time period YOU assumed he took steroids? Be human my friends and look inside at your anger.... you might need some help yourself.
Reply
10-25-2009 @ 6:31PM
Wan Xion said...
You are completely correct. This is also amazingly good for the Cardinals because Hal McRae was not doing his job. He outright said he wouldn't help players unless they "came to him". That's not what a hitting coach is supposed to do. They are supposed to watch players all the time, and tell them what bad habits they've picked up, and what they can do to hit better.
10-25-2009 @ 6:34PM
MHAMLEG said...
WHEN A PLAYER STARTS HITTING 50 ,OR MORE HRS. AFTER HIS BETTER YEARS ARE BEHIND HIM . ? MARKS COME UP ? YOUR SKILLS AS A HITTER DECREASE AS YOUR AGE GOES UP. BAT SPEED SLOWS DOWN! THE PITCHING IN THE LEAGUE WASN'T THAT BAD !! GUYS HITTING 25 TO 38 HRS A YEAR OUT OF NO WHERE STARTS HITTING 50 , 60 , 70 ??? COME ON !!! MLB LOOK THE OTHER WAY STADIUMS WERE PACT WATCHING THE SHOW. THE WHOLE WORLD NEW THESE GUYS WERE ON SOMETHING WE ARE NOT STUPID! PETE ROSE BELONGS IN THE HALL OF FAME . WE HAVE DRUGGIES , RACIST, AN OTHER GAMBLERS IN THERE . GIVE ME A BREAK .