Mark McGwire Has One More Apology To Make

Mark McGwire has (finally) admitted to using steroids.
And you act as if I'm supposed to give a damn.  As if I'm supposed to be surprised.

McGwire apologized, though I am not sure for what exactly he is apologizing for or who he is apologizing to.  He took steroids as he tried to heal quicker from his injuries and make his team better.  Do you blame him?  Maybe had he shared the wealth with the likes of Delino DeShields, Eli Marrero and Royce Clayton, the Cardinals would have been better off.

Is he apologizing to his family, who benefited significantly thanks to the paychecks McGwire received from the Cardinals and the endorsement money he received elsewhere.  I don't know anyone that would not do anything in his or her problem to give their family everything they wanted.

This, of course, was a little more illegal than other methods.

Still, I have yet to hear an apology to Tony La Russa.

While McGwire hid in a secret lair where he would go on and tutor Matt Holliday and others, La Russa was McGwire's only line of defense.  He often chastised media members for even questioning McGwire's past.

In the end, McGwires non-lies have turned La Russa into a liar.

Other than that, La Russa's blind eye act doesn't fool me, nor should it fool anyone else.  Of course Big Mac worked harder than everyone in the weight room.  He had supplements that allowed him to work for longer periods of time while helping his body cure up from its ailments. 
That's what steroids are for, not to make you big and strong, but to help with your endurance and speed up the healing process.  Always keep that in mind.

Then take into consideration the other former roided-up freaks that have played under TLR and with the Cardinals, including the team's starting center fielder much of last year, Rick Ankiel, and closer Ryan Franklin.

(Due to time constraints, we'll pretend that the Oakland Athletics of the late 1980s didn't exist.)

Yep, big surprise that a guy who hit 18 home runs in 279 PAs from 1993-94 jumped to 39 HRs in 422 PAs in 1995.

So, Mark.  If you want to make amends, why not start with the guy who made you relevant again in the first place?

BALCO Presents: Your 2010 St. Louis Cardinals

We'll get to the Bears stuff sometime tomorrow.  Until then, let's divert your attention to some baseball.

It looks as if Tony La Russa is returning to manage the St. Louis Cardinals, dashing the wet dreams of some idiot Cubs fans that prayed nightly for La Russa to leave his perch in the Redbirds dugout and travel up I-55 (along with sidekick Dave Duncan) and win a championship for the Chicago Cubs.

And in a stunning development which looks like an attempt to not be outdone by the Cubs' signing of a "superstar" scapegoat hitting coach, it looks like La Russa is bringing Mark McGwire out of hibernation with him.  Yes, that Mark McGwire.  The man who hit 583 home runs in his 16-year career and posted 1.111 OPS while with the Cardinals will be St. Louis' hitting coach for the 2010 season.

I'm not sure how McGwire, a career .217 hitter in 10 postseason series, is going to help the Cards not make Vicente Padilla and Randy Wolf look like Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.  However, when Skip Schumaker and Brendan Ryan each have 60 home run seasons next year, we'll know why.

Once Upon A Time, Even Wrestling Laughed At Mark McGwires (Alleged) Steroid Use

The funniest video you'll see all day. (Via The Big Lead)

Unless, of course, you live in, are from or are a friend, fan or associate of St. Louis or the Cardinals baseball organization.

Flaming Cards hat ... Pretty much sums up St. Louis, doesn't it?

Big Mac denied Hall once again

The Hall of Fame class of 2009 has been announced and Mark McGwire has been left out once again.

The man who saved baseball in 1998 will not be allowed into baseball's most hallowed halls for the third consecutive season.

This is a man who hit 583 career home runs, drove in 1,414 runs, hit 252 doubles, scored 1,167 runs, drew 1,317 walks and posted a .394 on base percentage has been left out because of the cloud of steroid smoke that hovers over his head every day.

What Mark McGwire used during his playing days was legal when he used it. It makes no sense to punish the man who saved baseball just because he took something that was LEGAL.

There is so much controversy regarding steroids during Mac's playing days, it's impossible to distinguish between who did and didn't use 'roids. Almost every player who was a star during that time, and even some who weren't, came under scrutiny of some sort. How can you point a finger solely at Big Mac and tell him he was wrong when the majority of the league was doing the same thing?

Excluding this man is a complete hypocrisy. Maybe he did juice it up. Maybe he did make an ass of himself at the Congressional hearings. But this man brought baseball back from the ashes.