This Bud's For Mark
Was there anyone left who thought that Mark McGwire was clean? I really don't have much to say about his "admission" today, but I did find this quote from baseball's commissioner to be interesting:
"I am pleased that Mark McGwire has confronted his use of performance-enhancing substances as a player. Being truthful is always the correct course of action, which is why I had commissioned Senator George Mitchell to conduct his investigation. This statement of contrition, I believe, will make Mark's re-entry into the game much smoother and easier."
So let's get this straight. McGwire cheated the game for years. He avoided telling the truth for years. He wouldn't even admit to using steroids when asked by Congress and Selig feels fit to be "pleased" by him? Now, let's look at a statement Selig issued 11 months ago when A-Rod admitted he used steroids:
"What Alex did was wrong and he will have to live with the damage he has done to his name and reputation. While Alex deserves credit for publicly confronting the issue, there is no valid excuse for using such substances, and those who use them have shamed the game."
There seem to be some inconsistencies in these two approaches and I would LOVE to hear the commissioner explain why the two different statements. A-Rod "shamed the game", but McGwire will have a "smoother and easier" re-entry into baseball because he told the truth.
From my view in the cheap seats we have two athletes who committed the same crime. Neither one of them would have ever admitted it unless they had to. I give A-Rod a little more credit for not dragging things out for years over this, but if one of them shamed the game, the other one certainly did as well. So, why the two completely different statements? Anyone have any ideas?
Comments
Yes, it's because ARod is a Yankee. Seem logical to me.
Posted by: Andy | January 12, 2010 10:18 AM |
It's because Mark didn't take the drugs to enhance his on-field performance in any way, he took them to improve his general health. Yep, sure, I got that, uh huh.
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
|
January 12, 2010 02:03 PM
|
Forget A-Rod and focus on Maris. While it may be impractical to strike all records from the steroids era, MLB will eventually strike Bonds', McGwire's, and Sosa's home run totals and reinstate Maris' record. It's as easy as striking out Ben Johnson's time in the 100 meters.
Posted by: Corey | January 12, 2010 02:40 PM |
he already re-entered the league, the time for Selig to force the "apology" would have been before the Cardinals named him hitting coach.
Posted by: blmeanie![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
|
January 12, 2010 06:45 PM
|
I swear I will never understand the obsession. Yeah, the steroids were cheating, but the speed and coke weren't? One could argue that morphine used to control pain gives them an edge as well. This game was NEVER "pure," players have always been trying to get away with something - greasing the ball, using illegal bats, anything to get an edge. As for the records, even when Hank broke the HR record most still considered Ruth to be the HR king. No disrespect to Aaron but babe did it in a different era, when he was hitting more HRs than entire teams... people understand that and take it into consideration. You can take the Bonds records with a grain of salt but you cannot rewrite history. As for Bud, he is an idiot and I don't care what he has to say. But what he SHOULD do is just spill out whatever he legally can and this whole embarrassment will be over a lot more quickly.
Posted by: Evan | January 15, 2010 01:39 AM |
Evan - to address your point about Selig spilling whatever he legally can? I think that Bud is truly stuck in that he can't, legally, reveal anything without violating the agreements reached with the players union about the confidentiality of those specific tests. This drama may play on for a very long time - to which I can only respond, ugh.
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
|
January 15, 2010 05:44 PM
|