Lay the Mac down...

I have been asked by many friends what my McGwire take is.
This is a very difficult situation for me to digest. I didn't want to offer an opinion while I was still in reactionary mode... But before I start to examine this case I would like to first state:

1. I have been a McGwire fan since the wood grain tops card came out. [He hit 49 homers as a rookie]
2. I have been a Cardinals fan since my Grandfather was a kid... [Thank GOD I didn't have a choice]

So with those bias being established, it's obviously easier for me to forgive a childhood hero who set records while playing for MY team of any mistakes. Who hasn't made mistakes, right.....
The game of baseball is all about the games with in the game and how to get an advantage over your opponent. It has a history of players going out side of the rules to optimize performance.

• Pine tared bats
• Corked bats
• Roughed up balls
• Greased balls
• Phantom feet during double plays
• Cutting bases short
• Spikes up sliding

All of the things mentioned above are just equipment cheats that players have been caught doing. There are many accounts of players taking stimulants [1986 Metropolitans], playing drunk [Babe Ruth] and Doc Ellis pitched a No-No while on LSD.....
I feel that what McGwire and his peers did was unfortunate because it taints an era.. It compromises the time shift comparison factor that has made baseball the greatest sport on this planet.
But this is nothing new Baseball has had the Dead ball era [avg 3.4] runs a game... You know the time when Cy Young was making a name for himself.... Now we just have the Juiced era. 
I guess it's pretty easy to judge what players did in this time period. But then again I never put on a pro uniform either.. 


With all that said I guess my response is "I'm over it"

Go Cards!!