ESPN Article on Mark McGwire
Interesting article from ESPN. The author, Wright Thompson is trying to track down Mark McGwire, and he does, but however does not get to chat with him. The article focuses on people who knew or know McGwire intimately & each one tells their story, impressions of him and even more starkly, the hope he will be a lot more public than what he is today.
Mr. Thompson travels a path of McGwire's life and the people who he ran into and got to know, whether they be former neighbors, friends and teammates. He traces McGwire's influence from California to St. Louis and back to California where he lives today.
From what I read, McGwire seems to be running away from his past and only squarely focused on today; however, one day he'll have to face what he allegedly did as a player. I figured McGwire was a shy, almost meek person, but how he's handled his career after baseball has been quite sad & maddening, especially consider how much of an emotional investment fans, former teammates and friend put into his chase for history in '98. Considering what he did for the game and profited from it, he should have the guts to come out and face the music.
It's almost Shakespearean. For a man of McGwire's immense physical gifts, strength and presence, it's tragic that he's become a hermit, not wanting to fess up to his past and not look in his rearview mirror.
What I loathe about McGwire for is not keeping his word. Perhaps, I am being Pollyannaish and seeing thing idealistically, but integrity is important, and he is lacking in it. During the Congressional hearings on steroids in baseball in 2005, right after his infamous moment, he's promised to help in whatever way he could to combat steroids in sports. I was there in person, and I vividly remember him crying after he heard the testimony who Mr. Hooten, who lost his son, Taylor, to suicide, in which was allegedly due to his drug use.
For a man who had a Hall of Fame career, riches and adulation of the public, right now it seems that he took more from the game than he ever gave back. Yes, baseball turned a blind eye and let drug abuse go unchecked and become somewhat rampant, but McGwire no doubt cheated, and that in turn sends a mixed message to kids out there, and those who admire athletes and think of men like McGwire as role models.
Although the media has unfairly, or fairly ripped McGwire into pieces after the steroid hearings, it is quite deserved because he comes off looking like a fraud.
Do I believe he should in the Hall of Fame? Yes. However, I think less of him as a person, almost cowardly.
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