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Eleven days ago former Oakland Athletics/St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs. Much discussion came of the subject, both from the media and fans alike. One subject that ensued was how his admission would affect his chances of entering the Hall of Fame. Most people recognized that it was a calculated move to increase his chances as voters have remained unmoved the past 4 years. Still even before McGwire made his admission it was common “knowledge” that he had used steroids. Considering all of this, I reasoned that voters opinions would most likely stay the same, with a slight chance of them going up, and no chance of them going down. I mean, he finally admitted the truth, how could people possibly think less about him?

I did, however, fail to recognize one major factor in the whole equation.

Mark McGwire is a stubborn, person.

When asked in an interview with Bob Costas whether he would’ve hit close to 600 home runs without steroids, McGwire responded, “I truly believe so. I believe I was given this gift. The only reason I took steroids was for my health purposes. I did not take steroids to get any gain for any strength purposes.’

People can probably deal with the idea that he used steroids only for his health, that’s an innocent statement, but when he says that they didn’t help him hit any of his 583 home runs, that’s when a line gets crossed.

And if the outcry by the respected men of baseball is any indication, he crossed that line big time.

A long and growing list of people who are still very angry with Big Mac and steroid users in general. These people include Ferguson Jenkins, Carlton Fisk, Goose Gossage, Jack Clark, Joe Torre, Ozzie Guillen, Whitey Herzog and Andy Van Slyke.

Oh yeah, and Adolphus A. Busch IV, great grandson of Adolphus Busch I and part of the family that used to own the Cardinals.

So far the people the list of people who have forgiven McGwire includes Hank Aaron, and Robin Yount.

It has to be said that if this response means anything, McGwire’s tactical decision is set to backfire, big time. The one thing I never conceived as possible is what I know expect to happen in next year’s Hall of Fame balloting. Mark McGwire is losing votes faster than he can deny that steroids improved his performance. If he really wants to get into the Hall he needs to forget about his image, because at this point it’s not so much tarnished as it rusted, molded, and rotted. He needs to do what he failed to do in front of Congress on March 17th, 2005. He needs to tell the world the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By Matthew Bunge

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