Steroids Primary Reason Becomes New Debate Among McGwire Family

For the past 5 years, there has been a great debate over whether Mark McGwire used steroids during his homerun record breaking season in 1998. Finally, only months after receiving the position of hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, McGwire finally put to rest the rumors and admitted to using anabolic steroids during a public apology on January 10, 2010. However, the relatively innocent picture painted by McGwire is a direct contrast to the image created in his brother’s upcoming book.

February, 2010 – For 12 years, Mark McGwire has had the prestige of having held the record for the most home runs in a single season. However, on January 10, McGwire made a public apology and admitted to his use of performance enhancing Steroids during the 1998 season, and periodically throughout the 1990’s. During his speech, McGwire commented that his use of anabolic steroids was primarily for their ability to enhance recovery time, and denied using them to increase his strength.

Since then, Mark’s younger brother Jay has come forward, refuting Mark’s claims that the steroid use had nothing to do with enhancing the power of his swing. In his upcoming book, “Mark and Me: Mark McGwire and the Truth Behind Baseball's Worst-Kept Secret,” Jay recounts the history between the two brothers that ultimately led Mark to use steroids, as well as a detailed account of what really happened afterwards.

In addition to the events, Jay provides a list of the anabolic steroids that Mark used, including Dianabol, HGH, and Deca-Durabolin. While a few of the drugs on the list are considered legal steroids under domestic use when prescribed by a physician, the MLB has banned their use for all professional league members. Jay, who was a former steroid user and body builder, became clean after realizing his dependency for the drugs.

In late 2009, Mark McGwire accepted a position as the St. Louis Cardinals’ hitting coach, and has proclaimed that the new job was a primary factor in coming clean about his drug use. Representatives of the Cardinals have publicly stated that though they do not condone Mark’s actions in the past, they do feel that he has worked hard to atone for his transgressions and will make a strong contribution to the team, and baseball as a whole, in the years to come.

Even though the true reasons behind why Mark used steroids is under debate, Mark is proving himself to be a dedicated hitting coach, and seems to be holding to the spirit of not looking backwards, but rather progressing forward and making baseball a better game for all. Meanwhile, many younger players are currently undergoing scrutiny for the use of HGH and legal steroids during the off season, with no real resolution in sight.

About the Author: For the past 6 years, John Thomas has enjoyed writing about many of the world’s biggest sports events, and being a sports fanatic, he closely follows any potential use of anabolic steroids in the industry. While he has seen a few cases caused by a misunderstanding with legal steroids or as a result of mishandling samples, the staggering number of illegal cases continues to shock him.

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