Yumcha

Cool. He'll teach the Cardinals' players to take steroids and turn them all into cheaters...

Story here: http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=296174

Moog-Type-S

Remember the MLB motto:

If you're not cheating....you're not trying.

paz840

iTrader: (2)

Terrible move IMO, McGwire should have stayed out of the MLB and just faded away. This will not end well.

Too late...Troy Glaus and Rick Ankiel have already been implicated for HGH/steroid use and Ryan Franklin was suspended for failing a drug test a few years ago.

Maybe he can teach them better injection points.

subinf

Meh

Gfaze

This may work for them. McGwire at the end of his career was hitting above .300 mostly. I think he might have some good advice for these guys. Everybody can bitch and moan about steroids all they want but they don't make you a better hitter, they just make you hit harder.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

Well yes and no, roids don't help you see the ball better or have a better swing. But they can turn routine fly outs to outfield into home runs, thus increasing your average. But to get back on topic, never a fan of McGwire, I thought the Cards were considered to be an up and coming team. I guess they need more help than I thought.

JediMindTricks

is he still not going to talk about the past?

i assume he's gonna have to talk at some point.

Yumcha

We've been down this path a bazillion times.


Sorry, but WRONG. Very simplified: Roids increases your healing time and thus helps an elite athlete train harder which will thus contribute to greater strength and faster batspeed. Mr. Andro was always a so-so hitter for average for most of his career and then suddenly, he "gets" it on his HR-record years...? Please.

Of course, to quote Mr. McGwire, I won't stink up his hiring: I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to be positive about this subject.

waTSX

A lot of mediocre baseball players used steroids and did absolutely nothing in their professional careers. Steroids do not give you better hand-eye-coordination or vision, which are probably the two most important factors to being a good hitter. You are born with those things.

Using your argument, anyone who took steroids would have become a great hitter, which is clearly not the case.

McGwire made a mistake. So did a lot of players. I believe at his core he's a good guy, and I'm happy the Cards are giving him a second chance. A so-so hitter who hit 49 homers in his rookie year? Please.

Yumcha

I think he was roiding to start with in his career.

Put it this way: There is no denying the fact that an athlete needs to have some talent in order to hit for power, hit for average, etc. So, I'm sure McGwire was a capable player...no argument there. But, does this change the fact that he cheated to enhance his abilities and give himself an unfair advantage...? Nope.

Doom878

Can you really teach Pujols anything more about hitting?

waTSX

He was pretty lanky early in is career, so I'm taking the high road and saying I don't think he used PED's at that time. Nobody is denying he cheated, he as much as admitted so himself, and yes it likely did give him an unfair advantage. But I also believe people deserve a second chance, and that's what he's getting. It was a bad era for baseball, but also just another in a long line of such scandals in baseball history.

I may well be in the minority though. I just heard on sports talk radio that many Cardinal fans don't like the move either.

waTSX

You could say the same thing about any hitting coach on a team with a great hitter.

paz840

iTrader: (2)

When did McGwire admit to cheating?

waTSX

I was referring to his not denying it when directly questioned. Tacitly admitting he used. He was caught with Andro in his locker back in the 90's, when it was legal. Did he ever come out and say, "I used PED's?" I don't think so.

Are you implying he didn't?

Gfaze

waTSX. At least somebody has some common sense around here.

McGwire used steroids, a fact that has been beaten to death.

McGwire unfairly singled out for it, also a fact.

I think all the critics need to get over it. He's not the only one, there were (and maybe still are) many others that have used. Everybody deserves a second chance. It's not like he murdered somebody.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

He was singled out?

What about Bonds? Palmiero? Giambi? And more recently, A-Rod?

I dont think he was singled out. The only reason people make such a big deal out of it is because of his bullshit testimony.

But as you said, everyone knows he juiced. I dont think it was a good move by the Cards as far as PR goes.

paz840

iTrader: (2)

I misunderstood your post. I think he took PEDs, I just didn't think he ever directly admitted it.

Yumcha

McGwire was singled out...?

Um, heck no. Palmeiro? Flaxseed? Sosowned? Giambi? A-Cheat? Manny?

Gfaze

Yeah but it seems that McGwire's been picked on more than anybody else.

waTSX

I think you're right, he never directly admitted it, but his failure to answer at the Senate sub-commitee hearing was pretty damning.

Yumcha

Fixed. And rightfully so.



That being said, McGwire deserves to burn in the baseball wasteland with the rest of them...

GIBSON6594

Along with the pitchers that were roiding too? What advantage did he have if he was hitting against pitchers who were roiding just as much as he was?

Over other hitters? No, because we know that there were A LOT of players doing it, giving them the same advantage he had.

The playing field was level. The game itself was escalated. I don't see the harm in that.

waTSX

Singled out in the sense that only big name players seem to be bearing the brunt of the criticism. A lot of guys have flown under the radar. Regardless, the man did what he did. I just happen to think he deserves a second chance.

Yumcha

You know...each time someone uses this argument, I can only respond that so, if everyone cheats, it's okay for you to cheat too. Sad, sad world...

Like I said a few posts ago, this issue has been beaten to death in here...There are those who are meh with it and there are those who condemn it. We'll never agree.

Yumcha

And oh, who can forget Clemroids...this guy has been as ridiculed more than McGwire.

If you wish to play with fire to reach the top...get ready to be burned if it fails.



Why are the "no-name" MLB pros getting a supposed EASY walk? In my books, I don't think so...but, they also weren't the best of the cheating bunch and so, you always go after #1...

GIBSON6594

Yea, that's fine. I can't argue that two wrongs make a right.

I do oppose your "level playing field" and "advantage over other players" arguments though. There was much more juicing going on than we know about.

waTSX

This article gives a little insight into La Russa's hiring of McGwire:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...MN9H1AD6C1.DTL