Where society had already given a guilty verdict on McGwire's alleged PED use, his single-day plan of revelations yesterday -- masterminded by former White House press secretary and current St. Louis Cardinals executive Ari Fleischer -- seemed an attempt at starting the news cycle and fueling it for a maximum of a few days. Seemingly, the plan was to admit fully and leave pundits with a day or two of conversation. Though the next few days will reveal the successes of the plan, a certain cloud of further uncertainty seems looming following yesterday's collection of ambiguity and off-putting statements.
Breakdown of the Bob Costas interview on MLB Network (Via: Ryan Hudson @ SB Nation)
ON WHEN EXACTLY HE USED STEROIDS:
"I believe it was the winter of 1989 into 1990. I was given a couple of week's worth, tried it, never thought anything of it. I just moved on from it. But as far as using it on a consistent basis, it was the winter of 1993 into 1994."
ON WHETHER HE THINKS HE WOULD STILL HAVE PERFORMED AS WELL WITHOUT STEROIDS:
"I truly believe so. I believe I was given this gift. The only reason I took steroids was for my health purposes. I did not take steroids to get any gain for any strength purposes... I've always had bat speed. I just learned how to shorten my bat speed. I learned how to be a better hitter. There's not a pill or an injection that is going to give me -- or any athlete -- the hand-eye coordination to hit a baseball. A pill or an injection will not hit a baseball."
ON EXACTLY WHAT PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS HE TOOK:
"The names I don't remember. But I did injectables. I preferred the orals. The steroids I did were on a very low dosage. I didn't want to take a lot of it. I took very, very low dosages, just because I wanted my body to feel normal. The wear and tear of 162 ballgames and the status of where I was at, and the pressures that I had to perform, and what I had to go through to try and get through all these injuries, it's a very, very regrettable thing."
ON REGRETTING HIS STEROID USE:
"I wish it never came into my life. But we're sitting here talking about it. I'm so sorry that I have to. I apologize to everybody at Major League Baseball, my family, the Marises, Bud Selig... Today was the hardest day of my life."
ON CALLING ROGER MARIS' WIDOW THIS MORNING:
"Well, I think she was shocked that I called her. I felt good...I felt that it was...that I needed to do that. They've been great supporters of mine. She was disappointed. She has every right to be. And I couldn't tell her how so sorry I was."
Other Pertinent Quotes:
"I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."
"This has nothing to do with the Hall of Fame. This has to do with me coming clean, getting it off my chest, and five years that I've held this in."
And, the killers:
"There's no way a pill or an injection will give you hand-eye coordination or the ability or the great mind that I've had as a baseball player. I was always the last one to leave. I was always hitting by myself. I took care of myself."
"I truly believe I was given the gifts from the Man Upstairs of being a home run hitter, ever since . . . birth. My first hit as a Little Leaguer was a home run. I mean, they still talk about the home runs I hit in high school, in Legion ball. I left the nation in home runs in college, and then all the way up to my rookie year, 49 home runs.
"I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids. I had good years when I didn't take any, and I had bad years when I didn't take any. I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn't have done it and for that I'm truly sorry."
The Mis-Steps:
Likely, the goals of the admission were to plainly admit and leave as few questions for discussion as possible. The obvious questions left, with even a simple "I took PED" admission, would be: 1) Will this change McGwire's Hall of Fame chances? 2) Does this add to the steroid era / asterisk conversation? 3) Can fans accept this apology?
Fans, and Hall of Fame voters, have equated PED use with increased strength, stamina, and health which, quite obviously, results in a benefited performance. Truly, there is no existing debate about whether or not PEDs aid performance, while fans also accept that MLB players, even those who have used PEDs, have immense talent. Yet, McGwire's refusal to admit that his performance was benefited by PEDs has already created another tension; another question left to be debated: is McGwire right in his statements that he was talented, gifted by "the Man Upstairs,"and PEDs didn't impact that?
Where there's an obvious reluctance for any athlete to admit that his or her achievements were impacted by anything other than talent and work, McGwire is past that stage in his career and the contextual difference portrays this attitude as childish and embarrassing.
Further, McGwire spoke of his apology to the Maris family, yet, if McGwire didn't believe that PEDs impacted his performance when breaking Maris' record, then why apologize?
Also, this very notion of McGwire "telling" his family is utterly inconceivable. Is McGwire really telling us that his wife never asked about the use? That his son never made a comment? Unless McGwire consulted with a legal team, early on, and his family were instructed to not discuss the PED use in case of future investigation, nobody believes this to be true.
Ultimately, where the PR strategy was meant to leave pundits only discussing larger thematic concerns or what the future holds for McGwire, the conversation today, and likely to follow, remains focused on the substance of his apology/revelation.
What I would have had him say:
Q: Did you PED use impact your performance?
A: PEDs made me stronger and healthier. I had talent and without that talent I wouldn't have accomplished what I did before my PED use and, likely, what I did during my PED use. While I was talented enough to hit home runs, PEDs obviously made my body better conditioned to do so.
Side Note:
MLB Network was a, perhaps, surprisingly astute journalistic entity yesterday in their interview and coverage of Mark McGwire. Where some may say MLB has much to gain from McGwire's admission, others, including myself, see the entire "Steroid-Era" conversation as a skeleton that MLB is desperately trying to separate themselves from. MLB Network behaved like a news agency yesterday. Props.
Essential follow-up(s):
Richard Sandomir's breakdown of the PR strategy: "The How-To of an Admission in the Steroid Era" from the NY Times
Dan Levy's "Mark McGwire Did Steroids, Now Let the Cheaters in the Hall of Fame" from The Sporting Blog
Richard Sandomir's breakdown of the PR strategy: "The How-To of an Admission in the Steroid Era" from the NY Times
Dan Levy's "Mark McGwire Did Steroids, Now Let the Cheaters in the Hall of Fame" from The Sporting Blog
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