Bob Collins
Scratch one more one-time hero.
Former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire acknowledged today that he used steroids. He’s evaded the question, including when it was posed to him a few years ago at a congressional hearing. So today’s revelation is no great surprise.
“I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era,” he said in a statement.
It was in 1998 when McGwire and Sammy Sosa, also linked to steroid use, both chased one of the most revered records in sports: Babe Ruth’s (and Roger Maris’) single-season home run record. At the time, the two were credited with “saving” baseball.
McGwire’s 70 home runs that year was a record broken later by Barry Bonds, who has also been suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs.
