Anyone who claims to be a baseball fan should hope not, and not in the life span of anyone else living today. It is bad enough and not surprising, that McGuire used steroids. In the minds of most he, and his former Oakland A's teammate Jose Canseco, and of course the other Bay area Bomber Barry Bonds were the poster children of what McGuire termed the "era of steroids."
What is even worse is the way McGuire came clean, with a speech of more excuses than substance.
McGuire insisted in his remarks that he took steroids for his health, not to hit more home runs. He said he would have still hit the same number of home runs without them.
He is right about one thing, hitting home runs takes a certain amount of natural ability. Most normal men couldn't do it with all the steroids in the world
He is wrong about another, and that has to do with the way he remembers his high school physics lesson.
Stronger arms make bats move faster. A faster moving bat obviously makes the smaller baseball travel further when hit squarely. To even suggest some of his home runs were not due to abnormal strength is absurd.
McGuire said he wished he had never played baseball during the era of the steroid. Fans of the 1980s would agree. We would also agree Nolan Ryan did OK replacing steroids with workouts and sweat.
Dale Murphy was known to hit opposite field home runs, a feat that takes strength. He didn't need injections or pills to do it. The list could go on. Dozens of players played at the same time as McGuire, they were just more concerned with the integrity of the game than getting an illegal edge.
In a statement the day after his admission McGuire said his steroid use was a secret to his wife and his parents. Funny thing, because it wasn't to the rest of the world.
He didn't play in the steroid era....he made the steroid era.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have said it better myself. Tonight, on Larry King, Jose Canseco talks about supplying McGuire. The fun continues!
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