Mark McGwire Steroids Admission #3

positive you were skinny back and he said that's ten plus years ago and welcome back inside studio three for our continuing coverage of this MLB special report Matt vasgersian Tom Verducci Joe McGrane Ken Rosenthal we continue talking about the big story in baseball perhaps the biggest story in sports this week and that is the admission by Mark McGwire that he did in fact use steroids throughout his major league baseball playing career this was the statement issued by McGwire at 3:00 p.m. Eastern quote now that I've become the hitting coach for the st. Louis Cardinals I have the chance to do something that I wish I was able to do five years ago I knew I never knew when but I always knew this day would come he went on to say it's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected I used steroids during my playing career and I apologized I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989 1990 offseason and then after I was injured in 1993 I used steroids again I used them on occasion throughout the 90s including during the 1998 season I wish I had never touched steroids it was foolish and it was a mistake I truly apologize looking back I wish I had never played during the steroid era we're getting ready to send you live out to Newport California where Bob Costas is standing by with Mark McGwire himself we'll be back here in studio 3 for reaction after Bob's interview but for now we send you to Bob Costas in Newport all right Matt thank you very much we have a considerable amount of time here so we'll get to all or certainly close to all the aspects of this but Mark first thanks for being with us and let's start with some of the particulars in your statement today you said you use steroids during the 90s you hit 49 home runs as a rookie in 1987 were you using steroids at that time no you use them first what season well what season well during the season would be starting I started using it 293 going from winter of 93 94 going in that that season and I was introduced to steroids any steroids is when the gyms that you work out that you know back then and back in day that was just that was it is readily available guys that gems talked about it you know I think it was the believe is the winner of 89 in the 90 I was given a you know a couple weeks worth tried it never thought anything of it just moved on from it but as far as using it in a consistent basis as the winner of the 93 and 94 he had a series of injuries early 90s to the mid 90s and in your statement today he indicated that that was at least part of the reason why you first used steroids but then I would guess that the performance-enhancing aspects became evident and even once healthy you continued because helped you perform right well no no no I did on health purposes I mean if you look at my career and injured 93 94 95 96 I was a walking mashing it you know I I told my my dad yesterday when I finally had to tell him about this I remember calling him in 96 I was so frustrated with injuries haha I wanted to retire so oh he's the one that told me to stick it out and at that time I was yeah I was using steroids thinking it was going to help me and help me it was brought to my attention that was going to help me heal faster make my body feel back to normal I mean I was a walking mash in it it doesn't feel good when we have teammates and people walking by saying he's injured again you know you know I knew I was talented I knew the man upstairs gaming the ability to hit this baseball gave me the hand-eye coordination gave me my parents gave me the great genetics but I was running these roadblocks and by something are very muchly regret adversary statement yeah yeah yeah it's just alright so you hit 49 homers in 87 those are great numbers but considering the home runs per time at bat they weren't freakish numbers are outside the norm of what had been done before in baseball history when we get to the great seasons of 97 98 99 2000 then you start hitting home runs once every seven and a half times at bat once every eight times at bat a big human ballplayer but could learn to hit could you have and there's no question that hard work knowledge of hitting technique all those things play into it could you have done those things could you have hit 70 home runs could you have had a home run ratio greater than anything Babe Ruth did in his time without using steroids absolutely you think so I believe so I was given this gift by the man upstairs yeah my track record as far as hitting homeruns my first hit bat in Little League was a home run they still talk about the home runs I hit in high school still talk about the home runs I had in Legion so talk about the hormones a hit in college I led the nation in homeruns I took talked to still talk about the home runs a hit in Maier leagues I was given the gift to hit homeruns see the thing is about were you the years you were talking about let me go back to the 93 and 94 those are the two years that I was really injured where I miss basically 3/4 of the season that was the first time in my life that I sat back and I really had to understand what this game was all about I started studying pitchers I started understanding how they try to get you out and during that my swing was changing I started off as a raw kid with the ability of just hitting from the back leg and hitting these what I call wall scraping homeruns and over the years as you saw my swing became shorter and shorter and I learned how to hit through the baseball granting all that do you think that you would have hit nearly 600 homeruns that you would have hit 70 homers one year and sixty five homers another year and topped 54 times if you would never touched anything stronger than a protein shake I truly believe so I believe I was given this gift I the only reason that I took steroids was for my health purposes I did not take steroids to get any gain for any strength purposes but did you get that gain incidentally for my health purposes to make my body but it'll become stronger in addition to helping you battle injuries and stay healthy didn't you become stronger didn't you get greater bat speed didn't you become not just a very good power hitter about an extraordinary power hitter I've always had I've always had bad speed I just learned how to short 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 the hand-eye or give any athlete a hand-eye coordination to hit a baseball a pill or an injection will not hit a baseball well if that's the case that you must genuinely regret not just the fact that you've been in virtual exile for a while you got only 23 percent of the Hall of Fame vote but what you're sitting here telling me is that you could have done essentially what you did without ever touching performance-enhancing drugs that's your much why it's just that it's the most regrettable thing I've ever done in my life during the stretch of time from 1985 to 94 there were 21 40 Homer seasons in all of baseball from 95 to 2003 now there was an expansion so there were more teams and more games but still there were 100 440 homerun seasons something was happening in baseball they can't possibly be explained just by better technique or legitimate weight training and Barry Bonds was hitting a homer once every 15 times at bat throughout his career in 2001 he hit one every six and a half times it back well I can't talk about anybody I understand that but something was happening in baseball wasn't it well Susie there was the ER that we played in I wish I never played that era I wish we had drug testing if we had drug testing when I was playing even I wouldn't be having this conversation today I'll guarantee you that what drugs did you use with a full blown steroids the names I don't remember but I did I did injectables I preferred the world.the the steroids that I did were on a very very low dosage I didn't want to take a lot of that I didn't want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger Lou Ferrigno the most I ever got in a weight was my weight was 250 I finished every season around 235 240 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 to get through all these injuries it's a very very regrettable thing and I wish it never came in my life but we're sitting here talking about it I'm so sorry that I have to apologize everybody in Major League Baseball my family the Maris's but Selig today was the hardest day in my life we are we're jumping around here a little bit and I promise the audience will get back to everything which at least I would consider pertinent try to cover as much ground as possible but since you mentioned the Maris family he told me just before we came on the air live here that you called Pat Merrick Roger Maris's Widow today how did that conversation go well I think she was shocked that I called her I felt good I felt that it was I needed to do that they've been great supporters in light of mine she was disappointed and she has every right to be then I and I I couldn't tell her how much sorry helmets how sorry I was when you broke the single-season record but the night your 62nd in 1998 the Maris family was there it's a famous baseball scene part of the reason people felt so favorably toward this and maybe some people even suspended disbelief it wasn't simply a statistical achievement st. Louis is a great baseball town doesn't have a hard edge it's good-natured Sammy Sosa and the friendly confines of Wrigley Field your young son Matt acting as the honorary batboy you pick him up when you cross home plate and you go into the stands and embrace the Maris family and you give him in depth some of the respect he didn't quite receive in life for his achievement people genuinely appreciated that and I know that the Maris family to this day appreciates what you did and feels fondly to you but some of them have told me that they now consider their father's 61 and 61 to be the authentic single-season record that they don't consider bonds or socio or yourself to have authentically surpassed him they have every right to it's unfortunate I played in this era and I can't say it again I wish so hardly that there was testing during this time I mean I can't turn back the clock all I can tell you is I'm sorry it's been one of the toughest day of my life and I totally regret everything I've done this comes from Jose Canseco's look and at the time a lot of people said well the best thing McGwire and others have going for them it's that their accuser is Ken Seco now he seems more credible in retrospect he says what we did more times than I can count was go into the bathroom stall together to shoot up steroids speaking of you and him that's right after batting practice or right before a game we would load up our syringes and inject ourselves there's absolutely no truth to that what's that's not true absolutely not why do you think Jose would say that had to sell a book so that didn't happen in the clubhouse absolutely not I could be more adamant about that did Tony LaRussa know either in Oakland or in st. Louis that you were involved with steroids no he found out this morning yes he has out the hard call yeah he's been one of your biggest supporters even to the point where some people were skeptical about him saying you know what mark worked hard he did it legitimately didi did you feel as if you he's like yeah I was like he's like talking my dad yeah I brought a lot of people down it doesn't feel good does today feel better in some sense because at least your unburdening you're seven I don't know I mean it's just I mean all I've want to do is come clean I've been wanting to come clean ever since 2005 and you know I didn't know where or when or how just been wholeness in you said in your statement today that you weren't able let me see if I can get the exact a quotation here after all this time I want to come clean I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my congressional testimony but now I feel an obligation to discuss it why did you testify as you did before Congress in O 5 let me take you back to that time by the way are you okay to continuing are you getting emotional it's like a google stop as we have to and take a break and come back with this go ahead um so 2005 get subpoenaed to go back to testify flying back there I just I was ready willing and prepared to talk about this I wanted to talk about this I wanted to get this off my chest you would have said then what you've essentially said today absolutely my lawyers mark bierbauer Marty Steinberg I meet them back there we talk about the talk about the situation Marty and former federal prosecutor laid out a couple scenarios if you go out there and talk about this without protection there's a very good chance of a possible prosecution for grand jury testimonies so we talked to we were in meetings downstairs with congressman Waxman and Tom Davis ideas on bombers from Davis excuse me so we're in conversations were there the my lawyers were downstairs trying to get immunity for me I wanted to talk I kept em I said I want to get this off my chest well we didn't get immunity so here I am in a situation where I have a of two scenarios where a possible prosecution or possible grand jury testimonies well you know what happens when you when there's a prosecution you bring in your whole family you're bringing your whole friends you bring in ex teammates coaches anybody surrounding you how the heck am I going to bring those people in for some stupid act that I did so you know what I did we agreed to not talk about the past and it was not enjoyable to do that Bob I'm going to tell you right now standing up there or sitting up there listening with the Hooten family and the other families that were behind me that lost their loved ones mm-hmm and every time that I kept on saying I'm not talking about the past I hear these moans it was killing me it was absolutely killing my heart but I had to do what I had to do which is a pret protect myself to protect my family and to protect my friends anybody that was in my shoes they had the scenarios set out in front of him would have done the same exact thing I'm not a lawyer I'm not pretending to expertise but generally speaking the statute of limitations on these sort of theoretical crimes would be five years so now you're in the clear so to speak if there was any jeopardy at all that has passed as out of anything to do with the timing here though the timing has having to do with the Cardinals being offered the hitting coach of the signal's Cardinals do you think you would have come forward if Tony LaRussa had not asked you to be his hitting coach and I was turned on you someday somehow somewhere I was going to have to talk about this but you know it's funny how the universe works I didn't expect getting offered a job and I didn't you know here it is I accepted the job I was the one that went to the Cardinals and said hey we need to do something about this I need to come clean because the last thing I want to do is to put any pressure on the Cardinals players teammates and anybody to have me be a burden and not get this off the chest so this is where it's caught up to going back to the congressional testimony you hit upon the phrase which at least in the court of public opinion didn't serve you well and actually opened you up to ridicule I'm not here to talk about the past but that was a calculated phrase that kept you from flatly denying something which might have led you into a perjury situation but also kept you from acknowledging something is that correct well let me correct I want to add one more thing I was not going to lie I was not going to lie I wanted to tell the truth but because the position I was in and protect my family to protect me I decided that I would take the hits I think anybody's going to take the hits so I've taken hits for five years it doesn't feel very good and let's get to that in just a minute but just to further clarify this so you say you're not going to talk about the past if one of the congressmen on the committee had said mr. McGuire that's not good enough I'm asking you directly did you ever use steroids during your major-league career and said you will be held in contempt of Congress or subject to perjury if you answer untruthfully would you have taken the fifth amendment at that fifth fifth amendment at that point against incriminating yourself well I I don't know how that would have turned out I mean I just agreed with congressman Davis and Waxman that I would not talk about the past and that's what that was the agreement that was the agreement before the hearing began yes that was the understanding yes yes sir so as it's playing out while you're sitting there and testifying you know it's not going well right but yeah I know it's not going well but all I'm thinking about is protecting my family for some stupid act that I did this is an uncomfortable question to ask but I feel I have to ask and you say protecting your family were there members of your family that would have been in legal jeopardy if you had testified fully or if you had been pursued on legal charges if you wouldn't had acknowledged using steroids did you worry that members of your family would well when linguae jeopardy or sure they would have had to testify well at any time if there's any kind of prosecution all family members anybody close to you is going to be someone to talk to whoever why would I do that when they knew nothing about what I was doing they just found out yesterday my parents found out yesterday my son found out yesterday I kept this to myself see I'm gonna you kept this from everyone from your son Matt who's now in his 20s from your younger children you kept this from your parents yep it did they did they press you about it did they have questions I've never been asked I've never been asked point-blank but have you ever taken steroids did you assume that other people in baseball people within your family people you were close to did you assume that they just figured yeah you must be well I think a lot of people assume that anybody can assume yeah I mean that's what that's what I've been living with but I'm here today to come clean to be honest that's why I'm here so you walk away from Capitol Hill almost five years ago now you're 6-7 years removed from being the toast of baseball and again it wasn't just a mere athletic achievement a lot of people credited you and in the context of that time Sammy Sosa with revitalizing the game you get a phone call from the president in the clubhouse afterwards you're embracing your young son the Maris family there's such a good feeling around this the groundskeeper who catches the ball Tim for Narus instead of selling it he shows up on the field at the ceremony says mr. McGuire I have something here that belongs to you yes you know there's a feeling surrounding this that's so uplifting that even most of the skeptics suspended disbelief you go from that to an effect being in baseball exile the authenticity of your achievements disputed twenty three percent of the Hall of Fame vote what kind of toll has that taken on you during these five years well I mean we'll have to correct you there I wasn't an exile that's called retirement but you weren't you weren't out there publicly that's what I meant I chose not to be I chose to be retired I chose to start a family that was one of the biggest reasons that I wanted to get away from the game of baseball I want to start a family and I was happy I've been very happy but for somebody to say that was in exile I wasn't an exec so I was enjoying my life like everybody should when they're retired how much how much of a burden wasn't to carry this secret even in them if in the minds of some it was an open secret then carried the secret until today I think you see it well with Mark McGwire we're in Newport Coast California we have more time we'll get to as much as time allows and as I say we have a good deal of time here and we'll be back in just continuing live from Newport Coast California with Mark McGwire who today as you probably know acknowledged using steroids during his major league baseball career at the time that you were doing it did you feel as if you were cheating did you feel as if you were doing something dishonorable well as I look back now as far as my health and my injuries try to help my injuries to make me feel normal I can see how people can say that as far as the god-given talent the hand-eye coordination the ability the genetics that I was given I don't see it you know I've heard that explanation before and there's no question that you were at or near the top of the class in terms of god-given ability no one thinks that even an average ballplayer let alone a non ballplayer could take steroids and and hit 30 home runs let alone 60 or 70 home runs on the other hand if you take two cars at Indy and one gets normal Auto fuel and another gets rocket fuel they're both Indy cars we know which one might cross the finish line first so isn't it possible that you were a naturally great home run hitter and naturally great homerun hitters might hit 45 50 at the far end of every circumstance 60 all of a sudden guys are popping 65 70 home runs couldn't some of that be attributable to say I can't I can't talk about other people I don't know you I could talk about me and I just told you what my feeling is on that as far as I the toll that my body was going through and the level that I had to play at and the injury-plagued that I was plagued with for many many years I mentally thought that by taking the low dosages that I did would make me feel normal and that's what I felt like I did not take this for any strengths purposes at all I'm like I look at my swing and look at how it evolved over time where my ball was getting so much backspin and driving that was going out of the ballpark that's that's that's from a lot of hard work that's from many many hours of hitting off the tee I was the first one at the ballpark and the last one early so I yes I asked this earlier I apologize for asking it again but just to clarify and those maybe maybe just joining us would like to hear it conceding that the reason you took it in your own mind was that at least first you took it because you needed it to recover from injuries and stay healthy you along and grinding season and conceding what anyone who was around the game knew that you were a very hard worker that you understood the science of hitting very well that's why Tony LaRussa wants you back as a hitting coach conceding all of those things didn't you say to yourself at some point mid to late 90s hey on top of all this whatever I could do really well I can do better because of steroids no never crossed my mind did not know because I just believed in my ability and my hand-eye coordination and I believed in the strength of my mind my mind was so strong I developed that on my own a no pill or no injection is going to do that your statement didn't mention HGH did you ever do hg yes I did how often I tried it I don't know once twice maybe so it wasn't a significant factor no did the use of steroids in retrospect did it cause you in any way to break down you had just turned 38 when you quit in your era a lot of players went beyond that did your body break down at all because of steroid use do you think well that's a great question because I mean if you look at when I started taking in the winter of 93 94 I broke down in 94 missed three quarters of the year maybe the whole year and you go into 95 or broke down again I don't know it could have been yeah mm-hmm but you know for some reason I kept doing it I mentally thought that maybe this keep doing this and maybe I'll feel better and better and I get out of this rudder be in a mass unit during the summer of 98 when the whole country was enthralled by this home run chase there was a bottle of androstenedione in your locker in open view now andrew was not illegal in baseball then it had been banned by other sports organizations some it subsequently been banned by baseball but you could walk into a GNC and buy it at that time nonetheless it raised some eyebrows and some skeptics said we wonder if Mark McGwire put it out there as a decoy he wanted people to see the andro that might explain his strength and his homerun surge and they wouldn't suspect something more powerful than that was there anything to that no when I took Andrew it was over the counter I took it made me feel good made my body feel feel good started taking Andrew 97 98 99 was the atmosphere around baseball such that what you were doing and other players were doing was kind of an open secret and if not encouraged it certainly wasn't discouraged I don't know I never die I hit it I never talked about it I mean I can't remember ever conversations about the subject in any of my Clubhouse as I play really if I ever did which I don't remember I walked the other way so other players in the Oakland Clubhouse the Cardinal clubhouse they wouldn't discuss it with you whether they were using or wondering if you were and if you could advise them and if they might benefit from it none of that happened not on the teams that I played on opposing players batting cage whatever beforehand nothing not that I'm not not with me didn't happen do you view your achievements now in retrospect we're coming up on nine years since your last major league game do you view them as pathetic authentic in what way that they're completely legitimate that all those numbers should be taken as at face value well I go back to the thing I mean unfortunately I decided to take steroids because of injuries but when I look at my hand-eye coordination and God gave me my ability I'd have to think so did the prospect of drug testing on the horizon there was a new agreement basic agreement that was going to come up in 2002 you retired after 2001 you figured that drug testing would be a discussion did the prospect of drug testing have anything to do with hastening your retirement hastening you know but that you've retired when you did rather than sticking around because drug testing might be coming Oh had you just broken down and that was the end of it no I I want I would I would love drug testing when I played again i repeating myself but we've beer talking about that no I was absolutely tired of rehab and getting beat up physically you know I missed the whole second half of 2009 II I rehab all winter 2001 I played I shouldn't have probably played but I played my knee was still thrashed at the end of 2001 I said I am so tired of rehab I'm done at the time I what I met my beautiful wife and I want get get off and start a family this just popped into my head and it's far from the most important thing but here you are mark mcgwire one of the great sluggers of your era no matter how people view that era and if I've got this right during the the playoffs what would have been your last at-bat it was a sacrifice situation and Tony LaRussa reluctantly had to pinch-hit for you I think he used Kerry Robinson yes it's a pinch hit for you hmm that was some way for Mark McGwire's career to end yeah I was but I look at my career ending and my last at-bat in Milwaukee after 9/11 it was a home run so my last official about an a major league ball game outside of playoffs was the home run I don't look at it as the playoffs because not every team everybody gets to play in the playoffs so you can't say that was your last official bat so yeah you know what deep down inside it it probably wasn't the greatest I didn't feel very great good about doing that but you know what at the time was the right move because I probably shouldn't have been playing in that game either I mean my knee was trashed there's no way I should have been playing lots of people including knowledgeable baseball people Hall of Fame voters have different perspectives on this some people say that there's a distinction between what someone might have done before baseball had any sort of official drug policy and what someone might have done subsequently they get caught on a test or however now that baseball has a real drug policy in place do you think that that distinction matters between what you did and what let's say Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for having done and Manny Ramirez may have done after a drug policy was in place I don't that's not for me to judge I mean that's for the the writers and rubber votes for the Hall of Fame I suffer me to judge how much does a Hall of Fame matter to you well first of all 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 when those numbers come out each year 22% 23% knowing that in the year 2000 if someone had ads the only question would have been how close to you anonymous would it be was that a dagger when you saw those numbers I had a feeling it was coming I didn't watch I haven't watched any of this the the only time I know about percentages about Hall of Fame is when friends or somebody brings up tells me about it when I retired I retired I moved on with my life baseball as a baseball player was the chapter in my life and now I'm excited to start another chapter dating coach you released your statement today you've had some phone calls with family members Pat Maris Roger Maris's Widow Tony LaRussa you spoken with a few writers this is the first time you've gone on television to talk about it what do you plan to do in terms of addressing this beyond this interview between now and spring training or Opening Day as far as what will you be available to the media or is it your hope that in a short period of time this week or whatever you can address all the pertinent questions and then say that's it we move forward well I mean that's will allow the Cardinals and rambro to take care of that and we'll try to do our best at it I think this the most important part is they have come clean and people out there know and I hope they really see how truly sorry I Ryan Bartow by the way is the head of PR for the Cardinals what if and you hope this doesn't happen Tony La Russa and the Cardinals hope it doesn't happen but what if despite your best efforts to address everything it just becomes an ongoing distraction you can't go to Cincinnati or Pittsburgh and stand batting cage without something happening are you prepared for that possibility and prepared to walk away if it's getting in the way of your job well we'll take it as a cups but you know the old saying the truth will set you free so we'll see if this is really true you know I mean this is this something that's been on my chest for good five years and just have to wait and see it so it's something that can't be answered at this time if any of the Cardinal hitters you coach asks you about performance-enhancing drugs what will you tell them what's the stupidest thing I've ever did there's no reason for to even go that down that road it's an illusion and look at I'm look what I have to do I'm sitting here by a stupid mistake well with Mark McGwire speaking with him lives in California and will return after the short break continuing now with mark mcgwire you have acknowledged that it was the worst mistake you ever made you've acknowledged in your statement today and then this interview your use of steroids so that's not in dispute but did you ever feel over the last several years in any sense it's human nature in any sense unfairly singled out yeah you were among the very best but it's obvious to most observers that hundreds and hundreds of players used you may strongly suspect or know some of them you ever feel unfairly singled out now I never thought about it that way I mean I just knew after I left Congress that I knew what I did and I knew I knew I had to take the hit I knew I was going to live with it but then again I knew one day I was going to have to talk about it so I never I never thought in that 10th sense it's obvious that this day in this conversation in some sense are difficult and emotional for you but even now before you have a chance to really think about it in retrospect even as it's happening do you feel better uh I know I stuck a lot of I've been asked that question a lot today it's I think it's going to take a few days you know it just it's it's tough because you know when you have to tell your son and your family for the first time you know something that I've hid for a long long time especially my wife close friends it's it's not pleasure while doing that I'm one who believes that there are personal boundaries and and I don't want to step over them so to the extent that you are comfortable with it here what would you like to say about what those conversations were like with your son with your dad with Tony LaRussa's like a second dad I like to keep in private you know I've always been a private person and that's just something that I'd like to keep but they what they were meaningful to you how obvious that they were meaning I was very very emotional they were very very supportive they were very proud of me they think this is going to be good for me you know I just I don't I just don't want to be any distraction to the Cardinals I just want to be a really good hitting coach I have a lot to offer and I'll be I'll be there from sunup to sundown helping these guys out so I don't want all this stuff to be a distraction so hopefully after a few days when this is all said and done we can all move on from this and you know I mean that's what I'm planning on hopefully happening these are cliches but cliches become that because they have large elements of truth they say the truth will set you free confession is good for the soul you feeling that I'm sure I'll find out soon but it's like it's just it's just a lot of built-up emotion my guess would be you and I both know st. Louis well nothing is ever unanimous you can't get a hundred percent of the people to agree it would be a good idea to give milk to orphans but pretty close to overwhelming I'm guessing in st. Louis not that people will approve but they will forgive that in st. Louis my guess is that you will be welcomed warmly well I'm asking for a second chance I hope they give it to me because you know it's I have a lot to offer I have a whole rolodex of things that I love to teach hitters and I can't wait to get the spring training I can't wait to to teach and it's just it's always been it's been a passion of mine so it just came to a head this last October when Tony's that May attacks to see if I was we considered being the hitting coach yeah he has told me and other people through the years that he has asked you either to come to spring training or to be involved even to a greater extent than that and up until now you've resisted that what made you say yes this time I think my wife my wife was the she knows how much I really enjoyed teaching and for the last five years and she thinks it would be really really good for me especially for my six and seven year old because you know the last visual that people have of me is standing up with my right hand in Congress so now my children can see me in a uniform again yeah because the little the younger children Matt obviously was there as a tenure but the younger children they don't they don't have any idea what they know what baseball is but they don't have any idea but they just I can't wait to to expose them to it have they ever seen video of their dad donating alders and that's why there's there's dad look at that all the time but you know they're so young they don't don't really understand and they you know they they want to be mark mcgwire and I always sell note you want to be max McGwire you want to be Mason the choir want to be what God gave you but it's just very very cute and just that this could be great to have around the ballpark you got that M&M thing going Mark McGwire Matt McGuire max McGwire Mason McGwire it's a mental marys thing you got it yeah yeah it is and sometimes it's its stuff for the house because they I called max Mason Mason max you're going to be away a lot let's make increase the confusion that's always a tough decision when you have young kids how much you're gonna be away well it's it's it was a concern but you know being that my wife is from the area she's got so many st. Louis st. Louis area she's a live from Illinois across the river and it's just going to work out great because the kids who you know they just are in love with their cousins and they get to spend the whole summer back there and fish and and and do things come to the ballpark and you know my wife loves it back there so it's good it's going to work out really well we talked a little bit about what the likely reception is in st. Louis are you all concerned about the reception on the road now you don't get introduced you're not going to the plate but you're there you're concerned about that I don't think I'm concerned I I'm sure I'm sure they'll go people people yelling and screaming at at me but you know what and that's okay and that's that's that's just the name of the game and that's what you have to do is be in the public eye as an athlete but I'm a coach not on the field playing anymore but you know I'll accept as it comes it seems to be a fact that you're held generally in high regard by baseball people those who played with and against you regard you as a good teammate they like you many of them do not approve of what you did but they are willing to give you a second chance I don't sense that before today or in the reaction I've seen and heard since the statement was released several hours ago I don't sense a whole lot of antagonism toward you this is the teammates baseball people baseball field I can't speak for the fans of the people watching the people within the game even those members of the press who would be critical and might not vote for you for the Hall of Fame I don't sense that they have a great dislike for you personally well I mean as far as when I was a baseball player all I ever did was work my tail off and did what I can to help this ballclub win and I didn't really like all the attention I'm a very shy guy and unfortunately I was putting a situation where I had a lot of attention but you know I did my best what I could with the media during those years but you know what I always tried to include my teammates you know my teammates were were fantastic to me and Paul knew but I don't have any one thing from the 98 season I didn't keep any of that stuff I gave everything away to teammates players coaches umpires people that came through I just wanted them to have the mementos and it meant more for me to give all that to them to them for me to keep it which of those teammates did you speak with today any of them on the 98 team or no nobody from the 90 18 but I spoke to Albert Poole's today and I left a message for Matt Holliday I saw him at called I haven't had a chance to call him back but had a great great talk with Albert he is by far one of the most terrific human beings and when it's all said and done we'll be probably the best baseball player to ever play this game you think that absolutely it'll be the best player ever ever there is absolutely his his swing is Foss his work ethic is Follis he is he is one of those guys is a grinder he's very intense and I'm just happy to say that I can be his hitting coach and sit back and watch history be made yeah what are you going to tell him al Albert Albert really you're opening up too much Albert about your stance well that's one thing I do I have a very good eye watch a very good eye about watching video I can I can see what guys are doing I've studied a lot it's a I mean that's probably the biggest thing in the game that's helped players out the most is his video and you know hitting coach is the guy that sits on the monitors during the season yeah there's things you can do to try to help out and you know make guys try to hit down through the baseball I have a lot to teach them and I'd love to talk about hitting but I haven't talked to a lot of the guys in the Cardinals yet so I will be a little reserved to talk about that you know it kind of runs against the easy stereotype of you as this Paul Bunyan guy who hit the ball a mile but people within baseball know that you took a scientific approach I mean people can say what they want about Barry Bonds he was one of the smartest hitters ever he couldn't get him to go for a pitch outside the strike zone if he made a mistake he hammered it I mean he really was one step ahead of the pitchers you were the same way some people might be or casual baseball fans surprised why would Mark McGwire be the hitting coach but you always approached it as a science well it's absolutely a science and the sooner the player learns that this game is mental the better off they're going to be I mean mental meaning you have to memorize and get that rolodex of that pitcher where his release point is where what pitch is wrong it has to be in your head and then you have to know yourself as a hitter once you start getting those things in line you're going to be very very successful does this thought ever cross your mind there are skeptics about even Albert Pujols though he's never been connected in any credible way there's an atmosphere around the game where people say gee I hope this player who I like and admire didn't do something or isn't doing something kind of a guilty until proven innocent or I'll withhold judgment until I know for sure kind of thing that surrounds the game do you feel that it advertently you and some of your contemporaries may have contributed to that no I played in the era but it's very sad to think that they're going to put Albert Poole's his name and I've said this you know the man upstairs gives us greatness only a few times through our lifetime and this is greatness being played right before us and I just hope people understand how great this guy is and let's just sit back watch and enjoy because you're not you're going to be missing it giving us a lot of time here and I appreciate a couple of things before we let you go when you look back now on what at the time seemed like some of the most glorious moments in baseball history and again as I said not just because you broke a record but the atmosphere the good-natured miss the good feeling that seemed to surround it lifting Matt up when you cross the plate after 62 going back to touch first base because you almost missed it chest bumping with with Sammy Sosa embracing the Maris family can you still look back on those moments and feel a glow about it or has it been compromised in some way no I can't because that was me that just that's who I am I was that kind of guy you know I just you know pick it up my son it's just that's just what I felt you know picking up Sammy going over to the Maris's that's just the kind of person I am if you had a Hall of Fame boat would you vote for Mark McGwire if I had a Hall of Fame vote I'll leave it up to you guys and leave up to the writers mark thank you thank you Bob for allowing me to do this I'm connected here I can barely wait forward thank you very much mark mcgwire from Newport Coast California let's go back to Matt vasgersian in the studio Matt all right Bob thank you when we are here in studio four to do three rather having watched the entire our interview that Bob conducted with Mark McGwire once again we welcome you back into studio three Matt vasgersian Tom Verducci Joe McGrane Ken Rosenthal guys I think we all had similar reactions during parts of that interview and I'll start out with this Tom there are limits to Mark McGwire's contrition we learned that very clearly over the last 60 minutes absolutely I mean I think it was obvious to see the pain and anguish that he's going through in this day my question is if it was just about as he was explaining it just being healthy and being on the field why do you have so much anguish I mean they're called performance-enhancing drugs and yet we heard him talk about he doesn't remember what drugs he took he took only low doses it was about hand-eye coordination it was about god-given ability there was no connection to steroids and performance and I'm sorry in 2010 I think you'd be naive to believe that there's no connection between steroids and performance you know I'm inclined to agree with that I think we've seen this so many times when people get put on to the klieg lights that the one thing that that I think everyone wants to see and I have questions is as to how helpful this was for Mark McGwire is to just completely own it the one thing that I can't get beyond and I believe in his heart of hearts that he was really believing what he was saying but the one thing that I can't get beyond is that it was god-given ability and technique he was very strong and he had perfect technique and he had an incredible power but his power was able to take something that could go 480 feet and turned into 4 575 I still believe that he was helped by steroids this should have been a great day for McGwire the day that started the first day of the rest of his baseball life a day that began a period of forgiveness and he blew it and he blew it because people are not going to believe that there was no link as Tom said between taking performance-enhancing drugs and performance and for him to say that and he may believe that and I can understand where his mind might be there because no one wants to admit this but the average fan watching that tonight I have a really hard time believing the average fan is going to say wow Mark McGwire nailed and he hit that out of the park let's start anew it's difficult to put it in those terms and to me in many ways this was as bad as his performance before Congress simply because it was not credible there was a lot of steering into the skid all right we're reacting to the interview we all just watched live right here on MLB Network Bob Costas chatting with Mark McGwire for a good 60 minutes the first televised interview that McGwire has granted since his statement issued at 3 p.m. Eastern earlier this afternoon that was an admission that McGwire had used steroids throughout his major league baseball playing career to steer it back in a more sympathetic light to McGwire he did paint in my mind a rather believable picture almost of a Hitchcock film character of a man that was caught in an untenable situation he knew he had done something wrong but he didn't know how to move on from there he he's honest with the world and he indite friends family and teammates and opens up an enormous can of worms the likes of which he wouldn't have been prepared to handle or he puts his hand on a Bible and lies I mean this this was an unbelievably tight rock and hard space position for Mark McGwire I'm not sure that there would have been a better way to handle it back in 2005 well I think Kenny you make a good point it depends on what he truly believes and in fact if he believes that there is no connection between steroids and his performance on the field then he was being truthful I find that very difficult to believe but in his mind if he believes that he feels like he's taking taking the truthful route here now I do think he shed some light on explaining what happened in front of Congress when he totally whipped in 2005 he clearly thought he was in legal jeopardy if he came out and told the truth which a pair he said he wanted to do I've got to believe that there was a way around that by working with the congressman because I can't recall any steroid user not distributor but user who's been prosecuted and Jose Canseco wrote a book in full detail explaining using steroids testified to it in Congress the last time I checked nobody went after him for that so you know I understand his point there he clearly was very lawyer din that situation but he did explain why he didn't want to talk about the past and o-5 and also Rafael Palmeiro and doing some revisionist history they're committing perjury they didn't follow up on that as well it comes back to what Tom said right away if there was no link if he did this only for health reasons if that was the motivation the sole purpose then why is this such anguish for him what is so difficult about saying what actually happened and again hey this is a hard thing he's going through we can all respect that none of us can even relate to it but at the same time you look back at the start of the day when you hear hey he is saying he started in eighty nine ninety went all the way through this should have been a good day for him it's not ending that way well and to your point Kenny there were a number of moments I feel that were kind of cringe moments for the viewer where I think all of us we you know we wanted this to start and end and everybody to kind of end unbeatable we wanted to exhale and feel a little bit better about this instead we heard things like I didn't want to look like Lou Ferrigno or Arnold Schwarzenegger well boy we were all watching the game in the late 90s and he was darn close so I think it was unfortunate I would also suggest that perhaps the same bad advice he got in 2005 and I thought it was interesting he named his lawyers who gave him said advice he may have been victimized by some more bad advice today because I'll reiterate I don't think Mark McGwire is a bad guy and I don't want any of this to come off as a witch-hunt I don't think that's what we're trying to do here but but there were some tactical mistakes made along the way that unfortunately didn't stop in the interview we just watched I think you're right I think he we have to recognize this is a huge step he took and a very painful one he deserves a lot of credit because hundreds upon hundreds of players have not taken that step now go back though to what Dave Parker said this afternoon you know Mark McGwire is hitting balls that as Dave said were abnormal abnormal length and frequency to his home runs and Mark wants us to believe that all of that would have happened things that had never happened in the history of the gay before leaps and mountains not just by incremental advances but by leaps and bounds would have happened without steroids hard to believe that but clearly mark believes that I know that ballpark I pitched in at that old Busch Stadium I know where the best bolts ended up and you're right they were just superhuman Herculean distances that you didn't think it was was humanly possible that I just said I wish he would have got it a little bit more right than he did tonight because it's pretty difficult to unring the bell that was just rung here people want to like this guy and they really want to go back to 98 and think of Mark McGwire the way they once did that's not possible we all know that but there could have been with what he said some step toward that and that step didn't occur Tom mentioned the length of the homeruns look at the statistics the home run rate the numbers of home runs he hit everything points to abnormal performance and he won't acknowledge that that abnormal performance took place we've been checking in with our own Harold Reynolds throughout this busy news day here at MLB Network and Harold joins us once again via remote from Oregon Harold thanks for staying with us you know Harold my question to you is that as a former athlete and one that accomplished a whole lot on a big professional stage Mark McGwire is a very proud man and it seemed to us and let us know how you think that this is a guy that doesn't want his accomplishments and his career belittled to the point of complete nothing by these steroid admissions today well yeah I can see some of that but I also want to back you guys up a little bit I don't think it's as bad as you guys really making this I thought it was great for him to come forward this was live this was not rehearsed it was not it was all spontaneous he wasn't given questions ahead of time you could clearly see that was what's great about this enemy it was live and they had the time to go straight through it I loved the fact that he was broken and contrite ready to cry breaking down but I the one point everybody's belaboring and I and I agree with is the fact that steroids help you I mean if I hit a ball of the track and I'm stronger it's going to carry out the ball park he obviously was stronger the other benefit was being able to recovery took it for injuries and that allows you to recover that allows you to get through 162 games scheduled the beauty of baseball and is the battle through the year do I have to get a lighter vadas I'm getting tired through the summer those things aside I still got to give him a whole lot of credit for sitting on live TV answering tough questions and Bob did not let him go and really having to be there I think he really felt like he's one of the greats he really is I mean you go back and you look at his ability did he hit a ball 570 feet yeah but mate maybe had it had he hit it 500 possibly but I still think just the fact that he got in there he talked about things I thought the insight into conquer something we had not heard about anything who knew that he met with the congressman before they walked into the chambers I mean who knows that type of stuff you know so Matt I thought you documented it perfectly talking about this sounds like a movie it may be some day but I got to give him a little bit more credit for sitting on the hot seat and I didn't think it was as bad as you guys are saying well Harold is Tom Verducci I certainly don't want to characterize it as really that bad we do acknowledge that this was a huge step that he took there's no question about that you mentioned the word contrite you know I'm interested for a guy who clearly said this is the stupidest thing they ever did we saw this face many many times the anguish what do you suppose he's contrite about is this all about just wanting to get on the field and that's why he feels so badly well I think there's more to come I mean number one this is day one and even in the middle of the interview Bob bass and you feel better he said I you know I'm gonna have to wait and see I think as he goes through and he's able to be around more and I think I what things will be said he'll have a chance to really think about how he wants to put his words together and make sense of the questions III think there's a lot more to come but I'm saying for first step out the gate I don't know what he what he what he's feeling Tom I really don't but I think out of the gate this is a great first step compared to all the other guys we've seen come forward Harold can I hear what you're saying and certainly compared to some of the others a rod and you can go right down the line mr. Clements as well this was different it was unique it was an admission and at the same time as a former player when you hear him say that there's no link in his mind between taking the performance-enhancing drugs and his performance how does that make you feel as a former player yeah I can't buy that one I'm on page with you guys there 100% it allowing you to get on the field and anything that allows you to recover is performance enhancing and particularly when you're getting stronger and you're hitting that ball you know everybody yes hand-eye coordination those type of things you know there are certain strands of steroids that even help your eyes and your eyesight so that's going to help your hand-eye coordination but I think as far as brute strength being a guy got it and hit a ball in the track I would love to be able to have a ball carry into the seats that adds to the average dance the homeruns and everything else so yeah it helps there's no doubt about that yeah Harold its Joel I'm not saying this was the the worst thing in the world because I think we all agree that one of the reasons he was coming forward was to an opportunity to get on the field and and be the hitting coach again I think the thing that was kind of disappointing as someone that that's worn the uniform before it and you've already said is that the story he said the steroids did not help his performance and I just had a hard time being down with that no III think that's the one misstep he might have said everybody stuck to his guns on it that's what was really interesting he really believed it you guys have been around great athletes and around people who convinced themselves that this is what I it and always had plenty of time to believe that he quite felt like it would have been great without it I still think it helped the performance at the end of the day I still believe there's more to come you know if he continues to stay out in front of people and answer questions I would be interested in how he learned about it why did he take it for so long and and you know maybe then we start getting those answers well maybe it did help me you know maybe his story adds a little bit fuel to the fire and there is more to come here as well Harold Reynolds live from Oregon thank you for your contributions I'm sure we'll be hearing from you again before this day is through stay where you are and we'll invite you at home

Channel: BashBrothersVideos

Views: 147,652

Keywords: mark mcgwire, mark, mcgwire, steroids, admission

Id: oHdShl6psyg

Length: 65min 44sec (3944 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 21 2016