McGwire Wrong About Steroids

In the summer of 1998, it became obvious that Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa was going to break Roger Maris’ single season home run record. I remember a conversation I had with a friend that summer. I said it was a shame a steroid user was going to break that record. Almost twelve years later, Mark McGwire confirmed “what people have suspected.”[i] He used steroids during most of his career.

McGwire was hired as the hitting coach for the St Louis Cardinals. He had to address the steroid issue before spring training. McGwire released a statement to the media in which he admitted to using steroids during the off season in 1989 and 1990, in 1993, and throughout the rest of the decade, including 1998, the year he broke the single season home run record.

In his statement, and later in an interview with Bob Costas on the MLB Network, McGwire stated he used steroids to overcome a series of injuries that limited his playing time. He thought steroids would allow his body to heal faster. Once healthy, and able to play for a full season, McGwire continued using steroids because he believed steroids helped his body recover after games, and allowed his body to withstand the rigors of a 162 game season.

I have always argued steroids help baseball players recover energy faster. McGwire is the first baseball player to actually admit to using steroids as a method of sustaining physical performance during a baseball season. “I took very, very low dosages because I wanted my body to feel normal,” McGwire said. “The wear and tear of 162 ballgames… and what I had to go through to get through all these injuries…”[ii]

But McGwire did not make the connection between steroids and performance. In his mind, steroids helped him recover from injuries and from the grind of the long baseball season. He believes that he would have hit 70 home runs in a season or almost 600 home runs in his career without steroids. McGwire is wrong.

First, steroids are performance enhancing drugs. That is why steroids are banned from every sport. Taking McGwire’s statement at face value, steroids allowed him to take the field because steroids helped heal his body. “During the mid-90s, I [McGwire] 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.”[iii]

In the interview with Bob Costas, McGwire admitted he contemplated retiring from baseball in 1996. Without steroids, McGwire’s career would have been shortened due to injury. In that sense, McGwire is wrong about steroids.

Second, McGwire used steroids to get through the 162 game season. Steroids helped his body recover after each game, and he was able to perform at peak physical condition by the end of the season. That created an unfair advantage.

Mike Piazza was a gifted offensive player. He produced great offensive numbers during the early part of the season with the New York Mets, but as Piazza got older, his numbers routinely dropped off in August and September. Piazza was a catcher. He used to get hit with foul balls, errant baseball bats, blocked pitches in the dirt, and was run over by opposing players. The wear and tear of the 162 game season physically drained Piazza. Piazza was a baseball player that did not take steroids. His late season performances are a testimony to that statement. McGwire had an offensive advantage Piazza did not have.

Third, steroids increase strength. McGwire argues his ability to hit home runs was due to hand-eye coordination, but McGwire does not talk about another important factor in hitting – bat speed.

McGwire’s muscle mass increased when he used steroids. He became stronger, therefore he was able to generate greater bat speed after he got stronger. After using steroids, McGwire was able to make contact, through greater bat speed, earlier in the hitting zone, and had better success driving the baseball. Pitches that used to jam him, or he used to hit off the end of the bat suddenly became tape measured home runs – which brings me to…

Fourth, McGwire was a pure home run hitter. He hit over .300 once – over a full season. In 1998, he hit .299. He was a fly ball hitter. Early in his career, McGwire admittedly “hit wall scrapping home runs.”[iv] He attributed his unfathomable home run production in the late 90’s to better technique. But he got stronger through steroids, even if it was low dosages, and he was able to hit the baseball harder. Fly balls that normally would have been caught at the warning track became home runs.

McGwire never got more than 161 hits in a season. Early in his career, the percentage of home runs in relation to hits was in the 30% range. But the percentage increased to over 40% when he was using steroids. McGwire was getting about 145 hits per season during the late stages of his career, but over 40% of those hits were home runs.

McGwire refuses to acknowledge the connection between steroids and performance because then he would have to admit his career statistics are illegitimate. McGwire believes he could have hit 70 home runs in a baseball season without steroids, but steroids helped him stay healthy, improved his stamina, increased his bat speed, and gave him the strength to hit tape measured home runs.

But I do not blame McGwire for tainting some of Major League Baseball’s most treasured home run records. He played during a time when Commissioner Bud Selig, the Major League Player’s Association, the media and fans casually ignored steroid use. They were all caught up in an orgy of tape measured home runs, and refused to acknowledge the infestation of steroids.

I can forgive McGwire for using steroids, but I cannot and will not accept his rationalization that steroids did not impact his performance during his career.


[i] Mark McGwire statement to the media, January 11, 2010.
[ii] “Transcript: McGwire Interview,” MercuryNews.com, January 11, 2010.
[iii] Mark McGwire statement to the media, January 11, 2010.
[iv] “Transcript: McGwire Interview,” MercuryNews.com, January 11, 2010.