McGwire The Liar, Part II

Well, two months have passed since Mark McGwire's tearful "confession" to having used steroids, and as he has for the previous two decades, McGwire only further covered himself in ignominy. His initial statement as well as subsequent interviews were a litany of fact-free blather, self-justification and self-pity, with McGwire speaking out of the several sides of his mouth, even as he was supposedly in the throes of "Coming Clean".

Check out my earlier blog on the subject at this link.

Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we? When the Steroid scandal broke in 1998, McGwire was an "early denier", declaring that he "had not taken any illegal substances". When pressed, he eventually copped to taking androstenedione, a substance banned everywhere but in the MLB. Again, this was an admission that had to be squeezed out of him. When called before Congress in 2005, he essentially "plead the Fifth", insisting that he was "not here to talk about the past", a declaration that must have greatly confused the Congressional committee, seeing as how that was the whole point of the hearings.

Earlier in the day that McGwire testified, Jose Canseco had accused McGwire of using steroids. Now, reconcile for yourself if you can the following statements by McGwire:

- When asked if he had taken steroids or other PEDs, McGwire declared: "I'm not here to talk about the past".

- "My lawyers have advised me that I cannot answer these questions without jeopardizing my friends, my family and myself."

- When asked to comment on Canseco's accusation: "It should be enough that you consider the source of the statements".

- In later comments, McGwire again took a shot at Canseco, referring to "convicted criminals who would do or say anything to solve their own problems."

You would be forgiven for assuming from McGwire's remarks that Canseco was an international drug lord, or something similar. His actual "crime" was for being involved in a brawl outside a nightclub in Miami, then violating parole by taking steroids. One other interesting fact: Canseco had asked for immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony, but that request was refused. He testified anyway. Strange to think that through his actions Canseco - who clearly suffered the risk of criminal prosecution if he testified - was a moral giant next to the likes of McGwire.

Fast forward to November of 2009, and McGwire has changed his tune just a little, but not his lying ways. Granted, he isn't going around questioning Canseco's veracity based on his "criminal" record. Now he's questioning his veracity because he's "selling a book". He then goes on to validate all of Canseco's accusations, admitting that his career was nearly over in 1993 due to leg injuries when he started using steroids. Within months, his injuries had healed, and his home run production ballooned in the same proportions as his eventually Popeye-sized forearms. McGwire's conclusion? Coincidence. To quote him, when he was asked if Steroids helped him hit more home runs, he stated that while he was on the Juice "I had good years, and I had bad years".

It's also amusing to think that with the statement about "good years and bad years" that McGwire has unconsciously contradicted his adamant and abundant claims that his steroid abuse had been very limited in time and scope.

With his latest (and third) attempt to resuscitate his career, he's now the Triple Crown winner in a very inauspicious competition. His statements still don't have even a passing resemblance to the truth, and they sure as hell don't constitute any good faith outreach to his fans, team-mates or the Public at large. Just as McGwire once oozed a steroidal affluent and whatever the hell your body discharges after you shoot up Human Growth Hormone, he now oozes a faked sincerity and an ability to equivocate that is not only breathtaking, but sinister.

OffHisMeds has come to the conclusion that talking to the likes of McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and their ilk about Truth is like talking to a brick wall. They are so morally obtuse, so completely self-centered, that notions like The Golden Rule, Judeo-Christian Ethics, and for all we know the Infield Fly Rule are things that just don't factor into their moral universe. In a million years, I don't believe it would occur to McGwire or most of his counterparts how important it is to "come clean", to tell the Public in detail what they did. To paraphrase former Senator Howard Baker in referring to Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal "what did you take, and when did you take it"?

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an answer to those questions.

Finally, to the extent that we can draw conclusions about such things, it's funny how that hitting coach job so implausibly coincided with McGwire's new-found conscience. Oh to be a fly on the wall to hear the conversation he had with St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa and General Manager John Mozeliak when negotiating his return to the Cardinals, but we can be pretty sure it went something like this:

La Russa: "Look Mark, we can take you back, but you've got to admit to using Steroids".

McGwire: "OK, just so long as I don't have to go into any of the details".

Indeed.