The Cardinals in a surprising move announced that former slugger and fan favorite Mark McGwire has been hired as their new hitting coach replacing Hal McRae. This selection surprised many fans as well as people in the baseball world because of McGwire’s history in the congressional steroid hearings. Many believed that McGwire would be blackballed from the sport and the Hall of Fame due to the answers that he gave during Congressional testimony.
The are many questions surrounding McGwire’s hiring in the minds of just about every person you ask. This is not a question of on or off the field performance in my mind. McGwire during his career hit 583 homeruns with 1,414 runs batted in, not to mention his amazing performance of 70 homeruns in the historic battle with Sammy Sosa during the 1998 season. He has also proven that he can coach hitters by his off-season work with several major league players during the past few years. No one would question the hiring of a hitting coach with the career numbers and awards of McGwire, but because of past allegations many are shocked that the Cardinals would even consider him as a candidate.
The real issue here is not what McGwire took or did not take or how it affected his performance. It is not about what he has to say on the subject or what the rest of baseball world thinks. The real question is how long can McGwire take the day in and day out questioning of his past. The truth of the matter is that as long as McGwire is coaching people will be talking about his past, which we all know is a subject he does not wish to go into. The reporters will ask him everyday if he has anything to say about the steroid issue. The issue will be pressed every time a player has a breakout game or season.
To think that McGwire hasn’t already thought about this is silly but to question if he really understands how trying this season will be on him personally is a question that can only be answered by time. It is safe to say that while he is in the friendly atmosphere of Saint Louis that the media will skirt the issue and ushers will remove any signs reminding Mac of previous issues but it will be a different story when the fans looking back at him are sporting a big red C or a snow white LA.
There is no question that McGwire has a world of knowledge to share with younger players. The question that must be answered is how long will the people ask for answers from the past and how long will McGwire want to stay under the spotlight before returning to the silence of waves crashing on a surf board?
Topics: Allegations, Baseball World, Big Mac, Breakout Game, Cardinals, Career Numbers, Congressional Steroid Hearings, Congressional Testimony, Field Performance, Hall of Fame, Hasn, hitting coach, Homeruns, Major League, Mark Mcguire, Mark McGwire, People, Sammy Sosa, Sport, Truth Of The Matter
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C’mon, man, if you’re gonna write about the Cards, you gotta spell some of the more popular names correctly. M-C-G-W-I-R-E. What’s next, an article about Albert Puhols?
Mike thanks for pointing that out I didn’t even notice that it did that my auto correct was fighting me on the name it must have changed them all on the final check before posting.
Thanks again Mike for letting me know that the auto correct changed the name. I have fixed the problem. Thanks Again