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Mark McGwire

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Template:Mlbretired Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963 in Pomona, California) is a former professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the Oakland Athletics before finishing his final years with the St. Louis Cardinals.

McGwire was a prolific power hitter throughout his career. In 1987, he broke the single-season home run record for rookies, with 49. In 1998, McGwire broke the single-season home run record by hitting 70, but his mark stood for just two seasons until Barry Bonds eclipsed the record with 73 in 2001. For his career, McGwire averaged a home run once every 10.61 at bats, the lowest at bats per home run ratio in baseball history (Babe Ruth is second at 11.76). McGwire's nicknames included "Big Mac", "Big Red", and "Colossus". Early in his career, he was tagged with the derisive nickname "Marco Solo" after hitting several home runs with the bases empty, but this sobriquet faded quickly.

Since 1998, questions have surrounded Mark McGuire about his use of steroids, and other performance enhancement drugs. According to an Associated Press article written by Steve Wilstein, McGwire admitted to taking androstenedione, an over-the-counter muscle enhancement product. In 2005, McGwire was subpoenaed to testify at a congressional hearing on steroids in which he refused to deny to admit or deny ever using steroids.

Oakland Athletics career

McGwire began his major league career with the Oakland A's in 1986 and played there until 1997, prior to being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. With teammate Jose Canseco, he was one half of "The Bash Brothers." Their offensive output helped to propel Oakland to three consecutive World Series from 1988-1990. McGwire and the A's won the 1989 World Series.

Perhaps Mark McGwire's most famous home run with the A's was his game-winning solo shot in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 3 of the 1988 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and former A's closer Jay Howell. McGwire's game-winner brought the A's their only victory in the 1988 World Series, which they lost in five games.

In his first full Major League season in 1987, he hit 49 home runs, a single-season record for a rookie; he was named the American League Rookie of the Year. McGwire hit 32, 33, and 39 homers the next three seasons, the first Major Leaguer to hit 30+ home runs in each of his first 4 full seasons. But his batting average, .289 as a rookie, plummeted to .260, .231, and .235. Then in 1991, he bottomed out with a .201 average and 22 homers. Manager Tony LaRussa sat him out the last game of the season so his average could not dip below .200. Despite the very low batting averages during this time of his career, his high bases on balls totals allowed him to maintain acceptable on-base percentages.

McGwire stated in a interview with Sports Illustrated that 1991 was the "worst year" of his life, with his on-field performance and marriage difficulties, and that he "didn't lift a weight" that entire season. With all that behind him, McGwire re-dedicated himself to working out harder than ever. He changed his clean-cut look and grew a mullet, a mustache, and goatee to look more fearsome. The "new look" McGwire hit 42 homers and batted .268 in 1992 and put on a home run hitting show at the Home Run Derby during the 1992 All-Star break. His performance also propelled the A's to the American League West Division title in 1992, their fourth in five seasons. The A's lost in the playoffs to the eventual World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays.

Foot injuries limited McGwire to a total of 74 games in 1993 and 1994, and he only hit 9 home runs in each of the two seasons. He played just 104 games in 1995, but his proportional totals were much improved: 39 homers in 317 at-bats. The next season McGwire belted a major league leading 52 homers in 423 at-bats.

McGwire worked hard on his defense at first base and resisted being seen as a one-dimensional player. He was regarded as a good fielder in his early years, even winning a Gold Glove in 1990. In his later years his mobility was reduced, making playing the position more difficult.

McGwire's total of 363 home runs with the Athletics is that franchise's record. He was selected or voted to nine American League All-Star Teams while playing for the A's, including six consecutive appearances from 1987 through 1992.

St. Louis Cardinals and the HR record chase

In 1997, he hit a major league-leading 58 home runs for the season, but did not lead either league in homers, as he was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals in midseason. It was widely believed that McGwire, in the last year of his contract, would play for the Cardinals only for the remainder of the season, then seek a longterm deal, possibly in Southern California, where he lives. However, McGwire signed a contract to stay in St. Louis instead. (It is also believed that McGwire encouraged Jim Edmonds, another Southern California resident who was traded to St. Louis, to sign his current contract with the Cardinals.)

As the 1998 season progressed, it became clear that both Mark McGwire and Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa were on track to break Roger Maris' single-season home run record. The race to break the record first became a media spectacle as the lead swung back and forth. On August 19, Sosa hit his 48th home run to move ahead of McGwire. However, later that day McGwire hit his 48th and 49th home runs to regain the lead.

On September 8, 1998, McGwire hit a pitch by the Chicago Cubs' Steve Trachsel over the left field wall for his record-breaking 62nd home run, setting off huge celebrations at Busch Stadium. The fact that the game was against the Cubs meant that Sosa was able to personally congratulate McGwire on his achievement. Members of Roger Maris' family were also present at the game. Memorably, the ball was freely given to him in a ceremony on the field by the stadium worker who found it.

McGwire finished the 1998 season with 70 home runs, a record that was broken three seasons later by Barry Bonds. (Sosa finished the 1998 season with 66 home runs.) Since Babe Ruth had hit 60 home runs in 154 games during 1927, and Roger Maris hit 61 in 163 games in 1961 (and in fact did not break the record until after the 154 game mark), some had quibbled whether the single-season record was actually broken. With McGwire breaking the record in his team's 145th game, he laid to rest the importance of the extended season.

Although McGwire had the prestige of the home run record, Sammy Sosa (who had fewer HR but more RBI) would win the 1998 NL MVP award, as his contributions helped propel the Cubs to the playoffs (the Cardinals in 1998 finished third in the NL Central).

In 1999, McGwire hit 65 home runs and drove in a league-leading 147 runs while only having 145 hits, the highest RBI-per-hit tally in baseball history. Sammy Sosa again was right on his tail, hitting 63 home runs. In 2000 and 2001, McGwire had reduced numbers, playing in a reduced amount of games (32-HR in 89 games, and 29-HR in 97 games, respectively).[1]

McGwire ended his career with 583 home runs, which was then fifth-most in history. He led Major League Baseball in home runs five times. He hit 50 or more home runs four seasons in a row (1996-1999), leading Major League Baseball in homers all four seasons, and also shared the MLB lead in home runs in 1987, his rookie year, when he set the Major League record for home runs by a rookie with 49. McGwire had the fewest career triples-- 6-- for any player with 5,000 or more at-bats.

Honors

In 1999, the The Sporting News released a list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. The list had been compiled during the 1998 season and included statistics through the 1997 season. McGwire was ranked at Number 91. That year, he was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, The Sporting News published an update of their list and McGwire had been moved up to Number 84.

However, in the 2007 balloting for the Baseball Hall of Fame, McGwire failed to attain election, receiving 128 of the 545 cast, 23.5% of the vote. It is widely conceded that this was related to the steroid scandal and McGwire's less than forthcoming testimony (see below). [2].

Steroids controversy

Although McGwire has never admitted to or been proven guilty of any steroids use whatsoever, many of his accomplishments, particularly his historic home run surge late in his career, have come into question due to his connection to the steroid scandal in Major League Baseball.

In 1998, after an article written by Associated Press writer Steve Wilstein, McGwire admitted to taking androstenedione, an over-the-counter muscle enhancement product. While legal for use in MLB, it had been banned by the NFL and IOC.

In 2005, former "Bash Brothers" McGwire and Jose Canseco were subpoenaed to testify at a congressional hearing on steroids, along with five other baseball players and four baseball executives. Canseco had released Juiced, a book in which he spoke positively about steroids, and made various claims-- among them, that McGwire had been using performance enhancing drugs since the 1980s. During his testimony on March 17, 2005, McGwire declined to answer questions under oath when he appeared before the House Government Reform Committee.

In a tearful opening statement McGwire said,

Asking me or any other player to answer questions about who took steroids in front of television cameras will not solve the problem. If a player answers 'No,' he simply will not be believed; if he answers 'Yes,' he risks public scorn and endless government investigations." During the hearing, McGwire repeatedly responded to questions regarding his own steroid use with the line, "I'm not here to talk about the past... My lawyers have advised me that I cannot answer these questions without jeopardizing my friends, my family, and myself.

[3] When asked if he was asserting his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, McGwire once again responded:

I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to be positive about this subject.

While no legal action has been taken against McGwire, in baseball or out of it, his testimony cost him public affection and support. In 1999, McGwire was voted to the All-Century Team, and upon his retirement in 2001, he was uniformly characterized as "a future Hall of Famer." However, when his Cooperstown eligibility began in 2006-07, McGwire received less than a quarter of the vote from the very same baseball writers who had treated him as an icon. Several of these sportswriters indicated that they were casting a protest non-vote in McGwire's first year of eligibility, or that they wanted more time to consider the developing steroid story in baseball. It is unclear where McGwire's true level of ballot support will end up levelling off.

Personal life

McGwire married Stephanie Slemer, a former pharmaceutical sales representative from the St. Louis area, in Las Vegas on April 20, 2002. They reside in a gated community in Irvine, California. He also created the Mark McGwire Foundation for Children to support agencies that work with children who have been sexually and physically abused.

McGwire currently avoids the media. [4] He spends much of his free time playing golf. He is an exceptional golfer and it has been rumored that he will try to qualify for the Senior PGA Tour when he turns 50 in 2013.

His brother Dan McGwire was a quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL in the early 1990s.

Mark attended Damien High School in La Verne, California where he started playing baseball, golf, and basketball. He now resides in Huntington Beach.

Career totals

In 16 seasons, Mark McGwire accumulated these career stats:[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Baseball-referenc.om McGwire stats
  2. ^ No Call Hall
  3. ^ Source: http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/03/17/steroids.baseball/
  4. ^ Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=mcgwire&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1
  5. ^ Mark McGwire career stats from Baseball-reference.com
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