McGwire's steroid use saved baseball

By: Loghan Call

Posted: 2/1/10

Without Mark McGwire, baseball would be today's PGA Tour, only without Tiger Woods: boring, poor and the brunt of late night talk show monologues.

Yes, McGwire abused steroids. He cheated the system; no question about it. By doing so, he did more for the sport of baseball than anyone imagined. Could this have happened without steroids?

Let's face it: baseball took a huge hit after the strike in 1994. Fans were let down, attendance dropped. The aura of baseball was gone.

For the next four seasons attendance was dismal and revenue was down. It's also fair to say that this was about the time we started to see multi-million dollar contracts and players being traded faster than Palomar College police officers can write parking tickets. We needed a savior and got a drug; a drug that fans, players and owners have been addicted to for a long (and profitable) time.

The home run chase of 1998, with the likes of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, brought baseball back from the dead.

Attendance was the highest in history. Fans and sponsors alike started putting more of their money back into America's pastime. The media hype reached across the world as these two athletes chased down a record held for 37 years.

While "juiced," they also became heroes and idols around the world. Fueled by improvements in media, more people than ever before were watching baseball, and the chase gave the sport millions of new fans.

Think about the young people, inspired to start playing baseball while getting exercise and staying out of trouble. Look at all of the individuals who were swept up in the nearly yearlong entertainment spectacle. It gave us something and someone to root for, and events that capture our interest and lift up our everyday lives are few and far between.

Even when the doubters were questioning whether or not these two players were cheating their way into the history books, the two remained silent. If McGwire admitted to cheating a year, or five years after breaking the record, he would have crushed kids all over the world.

Thank you, Mark, for waiting so long to come clean. Now those kids are grown up and can handle the truth. Children now were either not born or too young to be let down.

This might seem like a insensitive way to look at a serious issue, but I'm taking a negative and showing a positive.

Was Pete Rose banned from the Hall of Fame? Yes. Will Mark McGwire be banned from the Hall of Fame? Yes.

Baseball is part of our society, and within that society we have rules and regulations. If a reporter receives incriminating evidence through illegal means, the evidence is tossed from the courtroom.

Rose and McGwire gave baseball a helping hand, but thanks to existing rules and regulations both names will be tossed from any Hall of Fame considerations.

McGwire took steroids and relieved Major League Baseball of a major headache. Will Commissioner Bug Selig ever acknowledge him for his efforts in bringing baseball back from the dead? No.

But I will, and here's my final thought. We live in a world where money rules and the human race craves events that capture our attention and allow us to escape the pressures of everyday life. Mark McGwire and steroids gave baseball and fans what it needed, and admit it or not, what it wanted.
So from someone who wore #25 in Little League … thanks for juicing, Big Mac.