NO KIDDING: Mark McGwire Admits Steroid Use

Posted on January 11, 2010

Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals thinks in the dugout during a game against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California in 1998. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Like many others I learned about today’s big news via Twitter: “@timdahlberg McGwire statement to AP: Yes I did use steroids.”  That is how I found out about today’s announcement by Mark McGwire that he used steroids during his big league career. “It’s about time” is what my immediate feelings were. McGwire finally made a public statement this afternoon weeks after he had been named hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Everyone in baseball knew that McGwire would have to speak to the media sometime before spring training started if he was really going to do his job this spring, it was just a matter of when. Today was the day.

In his statement McGwire said, “I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era.” McGwire’s career began with the Oakland A’s in 1987, the same year I started shooting Major League Baseball as an intern with the Contra Costa Times. I still remember one of the first times I photographed McGwire, along with teammate Jose Canseco, as they posed for the famous Bash Brothers poster after a game in Oakland in July of 1987.

I was able to photograph McGwire for his entire career as an Oakland Athletic, and then later as a St. Louis Cardinal. My photographs show how much he grew over the years, thanks to the steroids he took and the weightlifting he did. We all knew that he took steroids and had been lying about it since he left the game after the 2001 season with 583 career home runs.

MCGWIRE PRE STEROIDS:

Immediately upon hearing this news I Twittered “McGwire admitting steroid use NOW makes Tony La Russa look like an ass. If I was Tony I would be PISSED.” For years McGwire’s former manager in both Oakland and St. Louis has vehemently defended McGwire’s stance that he was clean. So did many other friends of his in the game. I am sure deep down they were all waiting for him to come clean so they could stop lying. That day has finally come, but it sure must sting a little bit.

MCGWIRE POST STEROIDS:

What is next for McGwire? He is about to go on television to sit down with Bob Costas on the MLB Network to spill his guts. He will have to meet a horde of media on the first day of Cardinals spring training in Jupiter, Florida in about five weeks. He will not be getting into the Hall of Fame anytime soon, but at this point he probably doesn’t care. I think he needed to begin living his life again and couldn’t keep this secret any longer. It is time for him to move on with his life.

After all of this I am rooting for Mark McGwire. I will never forget the sight of seeing McGwire standing in the back of a packed church in Orange County in January on 2004 when he attended the funeral of our friend V.J. Lovero. Lovero was a staff photographer at Sports Illustrated and the best baseball photographer in the country. McGwire was his friend and he showed that he cared for V.J. when he came to pay his respects. I will never forget that.

Mark McGwire Admits Steroid Use – Images by Brad Mangin