The Mets Police

January 11, 2010

McGwire and Costas

I can’t believe a thing Mark McGwire says. I started out feeling bad for the guy, always hard to see a grown man cry, but as it went on I got angrier and angrier.

Good job, as always, by Costas. Bob at times seemed like he was thinking “are you really going to sit here and say this stuff?”

First, let me say for not the first time that there are a lot of people who are either hypocrites or fools. Fox, Joe Buck, Sports Illustrated, and most everyone else who covered babseball in ’98 made this guy out to be a hero. Maybe they didn’t know, but wow you had to be an idiot if you didn’t think he was on something.

I love when Costas quotes that 1985-94 there were 21 40+ home run seasons in baseball, from 95-2003 there were 104. Costas brought this stuff up at the time, he brought it up in his book, and he’s one of the few that didn’t have his head in the sand at the time.

For people to not vote for a guy with 583 home runs into the Hall, it’s phony. You knew. Where were the columns at the time? Everyone wanted to write books with titles like “Summer of ’98” and “The Perfect Season: Why 1998 Was Baseball’s Greatest Year” Don’t get righteous now that there’s no more money to be made off that season.

Some other day we can get into what we want our heroes to look like – whether we like two smiling guys playing in midwest towns, or a surly man who didn’t want to play the media’s game.

Some stuff I jotted down while watching:

McGwire is sticking to the language about his God given gift of home runs, and “for injuries” (aka the Pettitte defense).

At one point McGwire went on and on about how people are still talking about his little league home runs. I don’t know how Costas didn’t just get up and leave.

Costas asked McGwire if he thinks he’d hit 70 homers without steroids: “I truly believe so”

“It was the era that we played in.” The Bud Selig era. I will not be surprised when the day comes and someone has some evidence that proves beyond a doubt that Selig knew.

“I didn’t want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger” – hilarious.

Costas asked him if the timing has anything to do with the statute of limitations now having expired. McGwire says no. Come on dude. Please.

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January 11, 2010

Guest Post: Mark McGwire

Stu sent this over, and it’s so strong I thought it deserved a post. I’m watching the Costas/McGwire interview now, and will post something shortly. Here’s Stu:

I read McGwireâ€™s complete statement on your web site and wanted to pass along my perspective as someone who grew up in the 60â€™s and 70â€™s before cheating became commonplace and, to some degree, acceptable in sports. Looking at his statement there are a few questions I would love someone to ask him.

Feel free to use some of these if you want (no credit to me needed). I just want to see all of these guys called out on the carpet. As far as Iâ€™m concerned anyone who used PEDâ€™s cheated the game and cheated the fans. It still amazes me that players who chose not to use steroids during that era have never spoken out about the jobs and the income that they lost when they chose to do the right thing. Guys like McGwire, Pettite, ARod, etc. made a fortune of money after cheating. Money that they would have never made had they not cheated. Where is the punishment?

Stu from NJ

â€œAfter all this time, I want to come clean. I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my Congressional testimony, but now I feel an obligation to discuss this and to answer questions about it.â€

You werenâ€™t in â€œa positionâ€ to testify truthfully to the United States Congress? Perhaps now that itâ€™s clear that you probably would never be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame that you realize that â€œcoming cleanâ€ is your only opportunity to rehabilitate yourself with enough time remaining on your eligibility that you may someday make it?

â€œI used them on occasion throughout the nineties, including during the 1998 season.â€

So will you be asking Mr. Selig to strike your name, or at least mark it with an asterisk, in the record books?

â€œLooking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era.â€

Oh. OK. So it is the fault of the â€œsteroid eraâ€ and not you and your personal choices. Are you saying that everyone who played in that era used steroids? Hello, my I please speak with Mr. Ripken, Mr. Cal Ripken? (Are you saying that he is a fraud too?)

Iâ€™m sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids.

Some people may wonder how many home runs Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Roger Maris would have hit if they had take steroids. Perhaps they would have put up numbers so far out of reach that McGwire and Sosa in 1998 would have been insignificant.

Hereâ€™s a question for you (you can consult with Mr. Nice Guy, Andy Pettite â€“ another one who just wanted to get back on the field with his teammates)

After you starting taking steroids in 1993 you signed contracts worth $56.5 Million (according to Cotâ€™s Baseball Contracts). Now that you are admitting that you cheated, how much of the $56.5 Million will you be returning to the fans who paid higher ticket prices, etc. to support paying your contract.

Mark McGwire 1b
Oakland 1987-1997, St. Louis Cardinals 1997-2001

2 years/$30M (2002-03)

02:$14M, 03:$16M
attendance bonus of $2/fan for each fan beyond 2.8 million
about 25% of $30M deferred at “reasonable” interest rate
2002-03 extension negotiated without an agent
retired 11/01, leaving 2002-03 extension unsigned

3 years/$28.5M (1998-2000), plus 2001 mutual option

signed extension 9/16/07
$1M signing bonus
98:$8M, 99:$8.5M, 00:$9M, 01:$11M mutual option ($2M buyout)
attendance bonus of $1/fan for each fan beyond 2.8 million
bonus worth $586,493 in 2000

5 years/$28M (1993-97)

$7M signing bonus
93:$2.6M, 94:$1.6M, 95:$5.5M, 96:$5.6M, 97:$5.7M

January 11, 2010

Report: Mets not liking Delgado’s movement

Interesting tweet from Ed Price (Fanhouse) on twitter:

#Mets have seen Delgado twice in P.R. & will look once more. He is not moving well. #BlueJays saw him, might be more likely landing spot.

I kinda thought that one was going to happen.

I’m off to watch Costas/McGwire if the DVR cooperated, something on that in about an hour.

January 11, 2010

Mark McGwire Steroids Statement

You can get this 5,000 places but I’d feel weird if I didn’t have it here too. I am not the least bit surprised, and I’ve said many times – you knew, you knew, you knew. By you I mean YOU, the person who cheered in 1998 and now doesn’t want him in the Hall.

Mark McGwire:

Now that I have become the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, I have the chance to do something that I wish I was able to do five years ago.

I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come. Itâ€™s time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected. I used steroids during my playing career and I apologize. I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989/1990 off season and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again. I used them on occasion throughout the nineties, including during the 1998 season.

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.

During the mid-90s, I went on the DL seven times and missed 228 games over five years. I experienced a lot of injuries, including a rib cage strain, a torn left heel muscle, a stress fracture of the left heel, and a torn right heel muscle. It was definitely a miserable bunch of years and I told myself that steroids could help me recover faster. I thought they would help me heal and prevent injuries too.

Iâ€™m sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids. I had good years when I didnâ€™t take any and I had bad years when I didnâ€™t take any. I had good years when I took steroids and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldnâ€™t have done it and for that Iâ€™m truly sorry.

Baseball is really different now â€“ itâ€™s been cleaned up. The Commissioner and the Players Association implemented testing and they cracked down, and Iâ€™m glad they did.

Iâ€™m grateful to the Cardinals for bringing me back to baseball. I want to say thank you to Cardinals owner Mr. DeWitt, to my GM, John Mozeliak, and to my manager, Tony La Russa. I canâ€™t wait to put the uniform on again and to be back on the field in front of the great fans in Saint Louis.

Iâ€™ve always appreciated their support and I intend to earn it again, this time as hitting coach. Iâ€™m going to pour myself into this job and do everything I can to help the Cardinals hitters become the best players for years to come.

After all this time, I want to come clean. I was not in a position to do that five years ago in my Congressional testimony, but now I feel an obligation to discuss this and to answer questions about it.

Iâ€™ll do that, and then I just want to help my team.

January 11, 2010

New Giants orange jersey

One way to approach the colors orange and black, if you insist on using the color black.