Mark McGwire admits steroids use

Mark and Stephanie McGwire

NEW YORK — Mark McGwire finally came clean Monday, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998.

McGwire said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday that he used steroids on and off for nearly a decade.

"I wish I had never touched steroids," McGwire said in a statement. "It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."

McGwire also used human growth hormone, a person close to McGwire said, speaking on condition of anonymity because McGwire didn't include that detail in his statement.

McGwire's decision to admit using steroids was prompted by his decision to become hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, his final big league team. Tony La Russa, McGwire's manager in Oakland and St. Louis, has been among McGwire's biggest supporters and thinks returning to the field can restore the former slugger's reputation.

"I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come," McGwire said. "It's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected."

The statement was fine; but then things got weird. In an interview with Bob Costas, McGwire was extremely inconsistent and in between sobs bizarrely defensive as noted here by Jayson Stark:

He does not remember the name of what he took -- even though he took it "on a consistent basis" for at least five years?
He could insist repeatedly that his home run record was "authentic" -- and yet he felt a need to call Roger Maris' wife, Patricia, on Monday, and he could admit that if the Maris kids felt their dad should be considered the true record-holder, "they have every right to" feel that way?
He could say, on one hand, he does not ever remember a single player talking to him about steroids ever, not even once -- yet say on the other hand that "if they ever did, and I don't remember, I walked the other way"?
He could tell Costas, over and over, that what he accomplished, even after taking steroids for years, was just a normal combination of mental strength and God-given talent -- and yet he could say later that, if any of his Cardinals hitters ever ask him about PEDs, he would reply that they're just "an illusion"?

So at the end of the day, yes he admitted something that had all the suspense of Adam Lambert saying he was gay, but was never completely truthful. He did not take steroids to get healthy. Much like Indiana Jones, he did it for the fortune and glory, kid. But he never says that, which is a damn shame.