Mark McGwire

On the 17th of March, 2005, a congressional committee met to investigate the use of steroids, and other performance enhancing drugs taken by Major League Baseball players. Almost universally, we all agree that consumption of these drugs is cheating. This has only come to our attention because of a tell-all book written by a former player who admitted using steroids. He admitted injecting Mark McGwire who went on to break Roger Maris's home run record before retiring.

Did Major League Baseball know of the problem? If you didn't consider who the Commissioner of Baseball was you would think that they had to know. But after seeing and hearing, Bud Selig, the Commissioner of Baseball, and digesting his performance at this hearing, you could come to the conclusion that this guy is so stupid he probably did not know. MLB's reaction to the increase in Home Runs hit was to check out the manufacturer of the baseball used, to see if the ball was "juiced." Which way did they go.....which way did they go! Okay, MLB is clueless, but the fans were not. They recognized something was up when players gained 40 pounds of massive muscle during their off season. But we, as fans, thought the games integrity was foremost in the eyes of the league and the players. Here we were the stupid ones. Baseball and players only think about money, care about money and themselves.

All Mark McGwire had to do was say, "I did not take steroids." Mr. McGwire appeared much smaller than I remember him. In his opening remarks he cried and whimpered like a little girl, making obscure references to sexual preferences of his team mates, and unlike the other players present, never said that he did not take steroids. In two hours of testimony Mr. McGwire took himself from the pinnacle of success, to the mire of the scandal known to fans as the Black Sox scandal.

Mr. McGwire looked like a little girl who was caught in the act of cheating. He refused to answer any question concerning his use, or his knowledge of any use by other players. Almost 70 times he responded, "I will not talk about the past." Will not talk about the past? I wonder why.

I will talk about the past. In the past I saw a good player become a great, almost the greatest player in baseball history. I saw a player bulk up before my eyes who eventually looked liked the "Amazing Hulk" cartoon character. MLB didn't know----but the fans knew----and the players knew. I saw balls hit that would of normally gone for a long fly out become 450 foot monster home runs.

Mark McGwire is a cheater. Mark McGwire repeated, "I will not talk about the past, I am here to talk about positive things." He sat like that bump on a log, with a "why am I here" persona. Well, "in the future" we will remember that the reason he was there was to expose him for the fraud he was and is.

"Say it ain't so Mark!"

"I'm not here to talk about the past!"

Refusing to answer a question will always shroud your answer in suspicion. I think he broke down and whimpered because at that time everything he feared, came together for him. He knows that he cheated. You can run but you can't hide. Lies are fleeting. Only the truth endures. And the truth is: your home run output goes down as you age. Mr. McGwire's totals went up every year until his retirement. It would be nice to hear Mark's explanation, but conveniently he won't talk about the past. Darn.