Mark McGwire Returns to the Crosshairs

Man, what a strange off-season this has been so far. Nothing, absolutely nothing, on the Cardinal front for two weeks, straining the available subject matter for bloggers.

Then everything happens at the same time.

My Blogger Round Table Post.
My NL MVP award Post at the BBA site.
Interview with Bill DeWitt III this afternoon on the UCB radio show.

Then, the Cardinals announce the return of Tony LaRussa for 2010. Dave Duncan is expected to return as well, as is virtually all of the coaching staff. Except for the hitting instructor; Hal McRae to be replaced by Mark McGwire.

Wait, hold up: THAT Mark McGwire? Living in exile in Orange County these past 5 years, following his appearance before the Senate Select Committee on Steriod Use in Baseball?

Get ready for the firestorm and recrminiations, folks.

There will be lots of voices out there demanding McGwire come clean about his steroid use (see here), and some voices saying who cares if he doesn't talk about it (see here). You want my opinion? Either McGwire shouldn't talk about it at all, or he should say something like this:

"I was asked by Tony to be the hitting coach for the Cardinals. It's a great opportunity, and I'm grateful he thinks highly enough of me to ask me to be a coach. There are a lot of great hitters on this team, and I hope in some small way to make them better.

"Because I've been out of the spotlight for a number of years, and the allegations of my steriod use during my playing days, many in the media and general public believe that, as part of my stepping into this coaching position, I owe an updated answer on what, if any, supplements I used during my career. I'm here today to say I won't be responding to those questions, now or ever.

"Enough time has passed, and enough ink has been spilt speculating on what I did or did not do, that everyone who cares to form an opinion on this has. If I say 'Categorically, I didn't use steriods', some will believe it, some won't. If I state I used steroids, I won't be able to coach effectively because players can say 'I can't do what you did without cheating'. That's before and after the media and bloggers 'spit on my grave' over the statement.

"So you can print and believe whatever you want. I'm here to help this team be more productive offensively in 2010. Judge me on that, question me on that, not on what might or might not have happened while I was playing baseball in Oakland and St Louis."

(Update #1: Or, he could fly into a rage, flip the podium over, and tell everyone to kiss his not-as-big-as-it-used-to-be white ass. You know, whichever works for him.)

McGwire doesn't owe me an explanation and he doesn't owe the BBWAA an explanation. How they're going to vote on his HOF resume is already well documented; he's not going to change any minds now. What they should judge him on is his performance as a hitting instructor. I for one look forward to seeing what he can do in that regard.

Update #2: Some bonehead at Cards Clubhouse wondered why the Cardinals would hire a .263 career hitter. Consider:

- St Louis as a team ranked 18th in MLB in wOBA.
- McGwire has a career .415 wOBA.
- McGwire's average wOBA would have been fifth best in the majors in 2009.

Maybe that's why.

Jay McGwire's an IDIOT

I've been purposefully mum about the reports Mark McGwire's brother Jay is shopping a tell-all book in which he describes introducing Mark to steroids in 1994. But I have a couple of things I'd like to offer, as public comment:

- Deadspin broke the news, so I wasn't sure if it was real or a really good spoof.

- For those who believe Mark used steroids, this new allegation will come with the 'I told you so' tag.

- Several publishing houses have passed on the project. This from an industry that once green-lighted OJ to write a book describing how he would have killed his wife and Goldman kid if he had done it. So if these people, who will publish anything, won't touch this manuscript it's probably false.

- Jay and Mark are estranged, which again questions the veracity of the manuscript.

- This quote from Jay:

"My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love. I want Mark to
live in truth to see the light, to come to repentance so he can live in freedom
-- which is the only way to live. "

What a pompous ass.

My comment? Jay's an IDIOT, and I don't think we need to give Jay another thought.

Hall of Fame Results

Rickey Henderson is a Hall of Famer. As he should be.

Jim Rice is a Hall of Famer. A good ballplayer, not great. He should remember the sports reporters in the NE area with a Christmas card for the rest of his life. If he could get an accurate address list for every Red Sox Nation fanatic, who lit up phone lines whining about Rice not being in the hall, a fruit basket to each of them would be a nice touch, too.

McGwire lost 10 votes from last year, and is stuck at 21%. Which is frustrating, but won't really REALLY piss me off until Sammy Sosa is voted in.

Dawson didn't make it, again. Good. I always thought he was overrated. Rob Neyer wrote an excellent article today torpedoing the Hawk's HOF credentials when compared to Tim Raines. You should read it.

Nova beats Georgetown - AGAIN.

Banner day in the Rant household - the Wildcats of Villanova secured their first Big East Win of the season, smiting lowly Georgetown 56-52. I soooo love sticking it to this bunch of pretentious bastards (the whole school is full of them; I have nothing per se against the basketball team). So to recap, Georgetown teams coached by a Thompson and featuring a Ewing are no match for the Rulers of the Main Line.

And all this with our best player fouling out after scoring only 5 points.

Nova moves to 12-4 on the year, although only 1-2 in the Big East. Very, very early in the season; there's no need to panic.

Oh yeah, there was some college football game on yesterday, too. You might have heard about it.

One more item - Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr were voted into the Hall of Fame today. Well deserved for Gwynn. I had the pleasure of being a season ticket holder and watching him during the 1997 season - statistically his finest offensive year. The man hit .500 with runners in scoring position that season - superhuman. It seemed like every time the Padres needed a key hit, he would double up the alley in right center.

Ripken? He's pretty good, too. I think his consecutive games streak was over-hyped, but he's a member of the 3000 hit club and a 2-time MVP, as well as a 19-time All Star. Nice selection.

McGwire got only 23.5% of the vote. I've already shared my thoughts on that subject. I'm a little too pissed off to vent on this vote result yet - maybe in a couple of weeks after I give it some careful thought.

What's really bullshit, though, is Wally Joyner got no votes. You got to be kidding me! Bobby Bonilla got 2 and WallyWorld none? There is no God.

Anyway, I'm still digging out from moving this weekend, so there may be a dearth of posts for about a week or so. But don't despair, dear reader - I'll be back.

A Defense of Big Mac

Based on all the hand-wringing the BBWAA is doing, you'd think they were being asked to formulate a new policy for winning in Iraq. But no, they've been presented the 2007 Hall of Fame ballot. The cause of their angst?

Mark McGwire.

You see, writers, like most people, don't like being suckers. And for some reason, they feel like they were had by McGwire - and all this stems from the great HR chase of 1998. They fawned on McGwire and Sosa, told us how they'd saved the game after the 1994 strike by again sparking interest in baseball among a fan base mostly fed up with multi-millionaires bickering over money.

Then a container of androstenedione, a body-building supplement that is completely legal, was seen in his locker, and whispers of steroid abuse started. Circumstantial evidence (Jose Canseco's book, McGwire's 'testimony' before the Senate Committee) have 'proven' to these journalists that Mark is guilty. So the jealous high-school girl came out of them, demanding they exact some measure of revenge.

That's why McGwire didn't win the MVP in 1998 (dressed up as his team didn't make the playoffs). And that's why we've seen a proliferation of stories in national media from guys with votes who say they won't elect McGwire to the hall. They want to send a 'Statement'. Remember, this is the same organization that didn't vote Ted Williams (arguably the greatest hitter who ever dug in) into the Hall on his first ballot because he was 'mean to the media'.

Which. Pisses. Me. Off.

You want make a 'Statement'? Let's start here. Work to indict these people with malicious negligence and conduct detrimental to the game:

1. Donald Fehr, Bud Selig, Fay Vincent, Bartlett Giamatti - the men entrusted with running the league who allowed steroid abuse to start and fester.
2. All those team employees in positions of authority and responsibility (managers and GMs) who knew about the steroid abuse and DID NOTHING TO STOP IT.

Have the following personnel brought up on manslaughter charges: Those who employed Ken Caminiti and allowed him to abuse his body with steroids, which indirectly led to his death.

Work to remove the MVP awards for players 'suspected' to have used steroids (Bonds, Caminiti, Sosa, Tejada, Juan Gonzalez, da-da da-da da-da). Hell, if we're going to pick on McGwire based on circumstantial evidence, let's pick on everyone.

But no, it's so much easier to crucify McGwire.

You say this is a moral issue? McGwire 'violated the trust of the game'? Fine. Then I expect the organization to work with the HOF and remove those already ensrined people who exemplified low moral fiber. Here's a short list:

Babe Ruth (alcoholic and womanizer), Cap Anson (Racist), Ty Cobb (Racist), Fergie Jenkins (Pothead), Orlando Cepeda (Pothead), Grover Cleveland Alexander (alcoholic), Rogers Hornsby (curmudgeon), John McGraw (curmudgeon), Reggie Jackson (general principle).

But no, we can't do that - they deserve to be there based on their STATISTICS, right?

May I remind you of some pertinent facts on Mark McGwire:

1987 ROY
12-time All Star (1987-1992; 1995-2000)
Finished in top 6 for MVP 4 times (1987 6th; 1992 4th; 1998 2nd; 1999 5th).
3-time Silver Slugger Award (1992, 1996, 1998).
Gold Glove (1990)
583 Career HR.
Single season HR record holder (1998-2001).

Those look like HOF numbers to me.

Mark is also made of sterner stuff than those folks listed above. McGwire donated $3 Million dollars of his 2001 contract extension to 'start a foundation to aid abused and neglected children'. He will not participate in any autograph enterprise where he charges people money to get his autograph. AND, when called in front of the 'green table' (Navy slang for Captain's Mast), he refused to incriminate himself (oh yeah, that's a protection guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment), but did so without lying (unlike Rafael Palmerio).

How can you not vote this man in?