Jump to content

McGwire's Baby Brother Throws Him Under the Bus!


Migrant Redbird

Recommended Posts

One point that I'd like to make. Either Canseco or Jeff McGwire are not telling the truth. Both claim to have introduced Mark to taking steroids, which is obviously impossible, and Jeff insists that Mark didn't use steroids until 1995, long after he and Canseco shared a clubhouse...Looking at Mark's AB/HR rate, which are the years where he's "obviously" benefiting from PEDs?

I deleted a bunch of your post purely for space savings.

I wouldn't be surprised if both Canseco and Jeff McGwire are lying. I also wouldn't be surprised if they're both telling the truth...as they see it.

And if I was going to pick time frame for Mark McGwire to "start" using steriods, late 1994 to early 1995 would be a good one...not to bulk up, but to recover from the foot injuries he suffered in 1993 and 1994.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I deleted a bunch of your post purely for space savings.

I appreciate that. I hate it when people quote an entire lengthy post, either mine or someone else's, especially if they only want to comment on one small portion.

I wouldn't be surprised if both Canseco and Jeff McGwire are lying. I also wouldn't be surprised if they're both telling the truth...as they see it.

It's certainly possible that McGwire was using steroids while in Oakland, but denied it to his family. However, it doesn't seem likely that Mark would be using them in Oakland and then ask his younger brother for guidance, so it's pretty obvious to me that both Canseco and Jeff McGwire were "enhancing" their books so that they'd have something salable. That doesn't mean that there wasn't some fundamental truth behind what they were saying (or that there was); just that it's very unlikely that it all went down the way they said.

And if I was going to pick time frame for Mark McGwire to "start" using steriods, late 1994 to early 1995 would be a good one...not to bulk up, but to recover from the foot injuries he suffered in 1993 and 1994.

If I were picking the most likely time frame, I'd pick around age 17-18, when most of us are a lot more foolish about things like drugs and alcohol and driving under the influence than we are when we get a little older. After all, for those who have used marijuana, how old were you when you first tried it?

The only one of my three children who has confessed to trying marijuana told me that she was 15 when her best friend convinced her to try it. If that stuff had been available in the rural Missouri school when I was growing up in the fifties and early sixties, I probably would have tried it myself. I certainly experimented with tobacco and underage drinking and driving, though not nearly to the extent as some of my peers.

Given the environment in Southern California, I think it's extremely likely that McGwire had lots of friends and acquaintances who were using steroids and who would have been most willing to introduce him to the experience. If I were estimating the odds that a promising high school athlete in Southern California in the last 40 years had at least experimented with steroids, I'd put the odds at least at 50 percent. Why should McGwire have been any different?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's certainly possible that McGwire was using steroids while in Oakland, but denied it to his family. However, it doesn't seem likely that Mark would be using them in Oakland and then ask his younger brother for guidance, so it's pretty obvious to me that both Canseco and Jeff McGwire were "enhancing" their books so that they'd have something salable. That doesn't mean that there wasn't some fundamental truth behind what they were saying (or that there was); just that it's very unlikely that it all went down the way they said...

...If I were picking the most likely time frame, I'd pick around age 17-18, when most of us are a lot more foolish...

I didn't clarify what I meant when I said 1994-1995 was a likely time to "start" using steroids. I have no idea what actually happened (of course) but absolutely agree with you that the 17-18 age would be a prime time to pick up a habit like that, or at least to "dabble". I just looked at the stats you provided and was reminded of the "lost" 1993 and 1994 seasons. That jumped out at me as a time, if not to "start", then perhaps to "resume" using PEDs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has McGwire ever denied using steroids - since the congressional hearing?

I don't believe that McGwire has publicly discussed the issue at all since the hearing, or even issued any statements directly or through his lawyers.

Each year, Tony La Russa has extended an invitation to McGwire to join other former players like Lou Brock and Bob Gibson as coaches during spring training and McGwire has never shown up, apparently because he doesn't want to deal with the media circus which would ensue. Can't say that I blame him too much for that.

What McGwire has done is to work with players over the winter, coaching them at his home or near his house. From what I've read, he's a very good batting coach whose advice has benefited players like Skip Schumaker and Chris Duncan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...