Honesty is the best policy. It is a pretty standard rule most people live by and when someone is caught in a lie and the person apologizes, often times all is forgiven. So why does new Cardinals hitting coach, Mark McGwire, think this does not apply to him?
A few years back McGwire refused to “talk about the past,” and his alleged steroid use. Now he has agreed to a job where he uses his past experiences to help players improve their hitting. It should all be fine because McGwire was a prolific talent and a fantastic hitter. The only problem is that he is the face of the steroid era in baseball.
Tony LaRussa’s decision can be seen as a way of trying to restore McGwire’s damaged image throughout the game. Since he became eligible, McGwire has been kept out of the Hall of Fame. McGwire knows that a hitting coach is a fairly anonymous job in the MLB and that he can fly under the radar standing beside LaRussa. But next season, McGwire will get more coverage on ESPN than any hitting coach in the history of the game.
That is not to say McGwire should not be allowed to coach. He was never proven guilty of anything beyond what he admitted to using. This offseason, he demonstrated that he may actually be a good coach; he helped Matt Holliday work on his swing and Cardinals fans know that Holliday started to produce once arriving in St. Louis.
The real problems may arise when the Cardinals leave the incredibly friendly confines of Busch Stadium. Maybe for the first time in baseball history, fans will be booing and chanting at a team’s hitting coach. Delirious fans will make blind accusations that the Cardinals will now start taking steroids, merely because of McGwire’s position as hitting coach. Sure, these will be baseless and mindless accusations, but this team does not need these kinds of distractions.
The decision to hire McGwire was clearly because he and LaRussa are friends and know each other from their days with the Oakland Athletics. Of course, memories of that time are tainted with the images of a young McGwire bashing inflated forearms with fellow “Bash Brother,” Jose Canseco. Fortunately, Canseco does not really have friends around the league, so no team would think of hiring him as a hitting coach.
McGwire has had the option to repair his image. His best chance was when Congress questioned him in 2005. His response of, “I’m not here to talk about the past” was maybe the worst thing he could’ve said. He was, in fact, there to talk about the past. By not doing so, he all but admitted he had used steroids, and his historic 1998 season — where he hit 70 home runs — was a sham.
McGwire has had four years to come clean and should haven taken a cue from Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez, whose name was on a list of positive tests from a number of years ago, apologized for taking the drugs and admitted that he had used drugs. He is now in the World Series having the best playoff run of his career. Yankees fans do not seem to mind and have embraced him. Rodriguez’s teammate, pitcher Andy Pettitte, admitted to using steroids to help him recover from injury. No one seems to mind since he owned up to it. The reason for such acceptance among the fans is that both of these players came clean and admitted their mistakes.
Mark McGwire will not make friends or fans throughout the game by becoming the hitting coach for the Cardinals. He will not convince Hall of Fame voters to let him into Cooperstown because he helps Yadier Molina work on his swing. The only way for McGwire to make amends, with the fans of the game that loved to watch him play, is to say exactly what he did and apologize. Until then, baseball fans will just have to wait until McGwire remembers that honesty is always the best policy.
You can reach this columnist at slindauer@theeagleonline.com.
