Every sports fan has a moment that made him sick to his
stomach.
For most sports fans, it happens after their favorite team
collapses or they see a player horribly injured on the field.
Mine came in front of Congress, of all places.
“I’m not here to talk about the past.”
Hearing Mark McGwire utter those words ““ repeatedly
““ in front of the House Government Reform Committee in March
2005 made me nauseous.
That sentence, which has become infamous, is the main reason why
on Tuesday, Mark McGwire was left out of the Hall of Fame.
When the voting results were released, McGwire received only
23.5 percent. Ridiculous.
McGwire should be in the Hall of Fame, whether he used steroids
or not.
For those of you unfortunate souls who don’t follow
baseball, McGwire is famous for breaking baseball’s most
famous record by hitting 70 homers in 1998.
It was a magical year in which baseball’s popularity
surged, bringing back fans who left the game after the 1994-1995
strike and producing new fans, mostly due to the home run chase,
which also saw Sammy Sosa hit 66.
I was one of the new fans. I had loosely followed baseball
before, but in 1998, I became a diehard, watching every game I
could and reading every baseball story possible in print and
online. I, like a good portion of America, was mesmerized by
McGwire and Sosa.
But since then, there have been allegations of steroid use all
over baseball, along with plenty of circumstantial evidence, and in
recent years, many positive tests.
Many prominent baseball reporters think McGwire may have been on
steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs because of that
unforgettable response he gave when congressmen asked him if he
used steroids.
“I’m not here to talk about the past.”
I, as much as anyone, want to believe that the 70-homer mark is
legitimate and not tainted. But that can’t happen anymore,
regardless of what McGwire says or does.
Recently, a federal appeals court revealed that over 100 MLB
players tested positive for steroids in 2003, the first season in
which MLB conducted tests for steroids. And that season, MLB only
tested players anonymously and didn’t reveal players’
names or suspend them until 2005.
McGwire retired after the 2001 season, before steroid testing.
So even if you believe McGwire used steroids, you have to believe
that many of the pitchers he faced used steroids as well.
Because baseball was so late to test players for steroids, we
have no idea how prevalent steroid use was when McGwire set the
record.
The members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of
America, who vote to determine which players are admitted into the
Hall of Fame, are holding McGwire accountable for an entire
generation of plausible steroid users.
Many of the voters who have publicly revealed their ballots have
tried to establish themselves on a moral high ground, trying to
feel better about themselves by making McGwire a scapegoat.
But we don’t know for sure who took steroids and who
didn’t. There was no testing back then.
Are we not going to allow any player from the 1990s and early
2000s into the Hall of Fame? The only two players the voters
elected, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr., don’t have the gaudy
power numbers McGwire has and haven’t been suspected of
steroid usage.
But how do we know for sure? We don’t.
McGwire helped save the sport of baseball with his magical
season. Steroids or not, his 70 home runs did baseball a service,
boosting attendance and ratings. Big Mac is one of the top five
hitters to play in my lifetime.
I, unlike McGwire, am here to talk about the past. And McGwire
had a Hall-of-Fame-worthy career.
E-mail Quiñonez at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.