After admitting to steroid use, is Mark McGwire HOF bound?

Finally, the worst kept secret in baseball is a secret no more. Mark McGwire has publicly admitted to using steroids intermittently in the 90’s, including the epic showdown against fellow slugger Sammy Sosa that caught the imaginations of millions, and revitalized the passion for baseball during that unforgettable 1998 season.

After countless allegations since his “vote of silence” pertaining to steroid usage in a series of Congressional hearings 5 years ago, Big Mac’s public image had taken a beating, as evidenced not only by his own isolation from the public eye, but by his repeated shunning by Cooperstown voters. As he prepares to initiate a new phase in his baseball career as hitting coach of his former team, the Saint Louis Cardinals, alongside his mentor, friend and staunch supporter, Tony La Russa, hopefully this (overly delayed) apology will bring some closure to the shroud of controversy and public outcry that has surrounded his persona for the better part of this recently concluded decade.

And, perhaps, this act of contrition may help pave the way to refurbishing his image and, just maybe, even allow for his eventual induction into the Hall of Fame. After all, America has time and again shown its propensity to forgive formerly beloved athletes and entertainers that, humans as they are, have committed mistakes and provided mea culpas (sometimes honest; sometimes induced by PR machinations). And, if McGwire’s steroid consumption chronology is to be believed, some of his best seasons prior to the beginning of the Steroid Era—circa 1993-94, came in years when he was clean: his 1987 record-breaking rookie season (49 dingers) and his 42 HRs back in 1992.

Moreover, considering that if one were to apply a “steroid premium” deduction to his numbers (say, a hefty 20%), he would have still attained the 50 homer plateau—twice! The fact is, Major League Baseball obligingly turned a blind eye to steroid consumption after the loss of public goodwill that succeeded the regrettable 1994 strike, resulting in an era where these substances were not officially banned, allowing for inflated offensive numbers where cheating became part of the clubhouse culture and, as such, implicitly condoned.

That does not excuse McGwire’s (and many others’) dubious behavior, but it’s only against this background that he and his fellow offenders must be judged. And in the end, history is likely to recognize that his on-field accomplishments, however illicitly aided they might have been, were otherworldly enough to warrant recognition alongside the pantheon of all-time greats that reside in Cooperstown.