Mark McGwire Admits To Steroid Use, Says He Took Them For Health Reasons

Mark McGwire's Steroid Admission Express rolled on Monday night, when the slugger sat down with Bob Costas for an interview on MLB Network. In the first interview since his admission, McGwire discussed, among other topics during the hour-long talk, when he first began using steroids, how they may (or may not have) affected his performance and what it was like to call the Maris family Monday morning. 

ON WHEN EXACTLY HE USED STEROIDS:
"I believe it was the winter of 1989 into 1990. I was given a couple of week's worth, tried it, never thought anything of it. I just moved on from it. But as far as using it on a consistent basis, it was the winter of 1993 into 1994."

ON WHETHER HE THINKS HE WOULD STILL HAVE PERFORMED AS WELL WITHOUT STEROIDS:
"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... I've always had bat speed. I just learned how to shorten my bat speed. I learned how to be a better hitter. There's not a pill or an injection that is going to give me -- or any athlete -- the hand-eye coordination to hit a baseball. A pill or an injection will not hit a baseball."

ON EXACTLY WHAT PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS HE TOOK:
"The names I don't remember. But I did injectables. I preferred the orals. The steroids I did were on a very low dosage. I didn't want to take a lot of it. I took very, very low dosages, just because I wanted my body to feel normal. The wear and tear of 162 ballgames and the status of where I was at, and the pressures that I had to perform, and what I had to go through to try and get through all these injuries, it's a very, very regrettable thing."

ON REGRETTING HIS STEROID USE:
"I wish it never came into my life. But we're sitting here talking about it. I'm so sorry that I have to. I apologize to everybody at Major League Baseball, my family, the Marises, Bud Selig... Today was the hardest day of my life."

ON CALLING ROGER MARIS' WIDOW THIS MORNING:
"Well, I think she was shocked that I called her. I felt good...I felt that it was...that I needed to do that. They've been great supporters of mine. She was disappointed. She has every right to be. And I couldn't tell her how so sorry I was."

And the steroid-fed elephant in the room was addressed, when Costas asked McGwire if he belonged in the Hall of Fame: "I'm not here doing this for the Hall of Fame. I'm doing this for me, to get this off my chest. I played this game of baseball because I was given the ability to play. If I'm lucky enough to get in there, that's just icing on the cake. But I played this game because I loved it."

St. Louis congressman William Lacy Clay, who was at the infamous 2005 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, released a statement today saying the case is closed when it comes to Mark McGwire and his steroid use:

I spoke with Cardinals management today and they briefed me on Mark McGwire's admission.  I'm glad he finally told the truth and has taken personal responsibility for his mistakes.  He owes that to the Cardinals and to baseball fans everywhere.  From my perspective, the issue is now closed and we move on.  I wish him well in his return to the dugout as the Cardinal's new batting coach.

In reaction to Mark McGwire's admission of steroid use on Monday, Bud Selig has issued his official response. 

"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 reentry into the game much smoother and easier.

"While we, along with all sports organizations, continue to battle the use of such drugs and continue the intensive search for a valid test for HGH, I believe our drug testing program is the toughest and most effective in professional sports. Last year in the Major Leagues, we had only two positives for steroids out of 3,722 tests. We have banned and aggressively test for amphetamines, substances which club doctors and professional athletic trainers have told me had presented serious problems for the sport for decades. Our minor league program will begin its 10th year in 2010. We conducted 8,995 tests in the minor leagues last year of which less than eight-tenths of one percent was positive.

"The use of steroids and amphetamines amongst today's players has greatly subsided and is virtually non-existent as our testing results have shown. The so-called "steroid era" - a reference that is resented by the many players who played in that era and never touched the substances - is clearly a thing of the past, and Mark's admission today is another step in the right direction."

While Mark McGwire came up with the Oakland A's, he is best remembered for his time with the Cardinals. It was in St. Louis that he had some of his best years, particularly in 1998, when he and Sammy Sosa battled for the home run title and brought an excitement back to baseball that the sport had not seen in years. Heck, he's still an employee now, having been brought back as the team's hitting instructor this offseason. Which is what makes today's steroids admission so difficult for Cardinals fans. Fortunately, SB Nation's Viva El Birdos has a post where you can go to express your feelings. The comments section: it's 2010's support group, people. 

It's pretty clear they still love the big guy.

And he still loves St. Louis, too. 

"I'm grateful to the Cardinals for bringing me back to baseball ... I can't wait to put the uniform on again and to be back on the field in front of the great fans in Saint Louis. I've always appreciated their support and I intend to earn it again, this time as hitting coach. I'm going to pour myself into this job and do everything I can to help the Cardinals hitters become the best players for years to come."

Even Mark McGwire himself knew that the general public already assumed he was a steroid user, something that has followed him around since his appearance in a hearing before a House Government Reform Committee in 2005, where he famously said, "I'm not here to talk about the past." But apparently, he's ready to talk about it all now.

In a longer, more detailed report from the AP, McGwire opens up about his steroid use (which, by the way, he takes zero responsibility for, and instead blames it on "the steroid era"). His decision to come clean now was a result of his new position of hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. It's all a wide-sweeping effort to save his image (presumably for a chance at the Hall of Fame).

"I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come," McGwire said. "It's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected." [...]

"I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids," McGwire said. "I had good years when I didn't take any, and I had bad years when I didn't take any. I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn't have done it and for that I'm truly sorry." [...] 

"After all this time, I want to come clean," he said. "I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my congressional testimony, but now I feel an obligation to discuss this and to answer questions about it. I'll do that, and then I just want to help my team." [...]

"I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989/1990 offseason and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again," McGwire said in his statement. "I used them on occasion throughout the '90s, including during the 1998 season." [...] 

"During the mid-'90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years," McGwire said in the statement. "I experienced a lot of injuries, including a ribcage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years, and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries, too." 

He added, "Baseball is really different now -- it's been cleaned up. The commissioner and the players' association implemented testing and they cracked down, and I'm glad they did."

Is there any surprise to his admission? Any at all? Remember, this is a guy who fully admitted to taking androstenedione in 1998, which was legal at the time (though banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the NFL and the IOC), but has since been classified as a anabolic steroid. McGwire has also been named a steroid user in two books: Jose Canseco's "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big" (claimed McGwire had been using since the 1980s), and his own brother's "The McGwire Family Secret: The Truth about Steroids, a Slugger and Ultimate Redemption." 

It all seems like a desperate player making a final, desperate attempt to earn back the public's favorable opinion -- or at least, in this case, their forgiveness. The Mark McGwire PR-train will continue Monday evening, when he sits down the Bob Costas for an interview at 7:00 p.m. ET on the MLB Network.