David Brown at Big League Stew provides a transcript of the McGwire/Costas interview with running commentary. This is the question I was looking for Bob to ask:
BC: This is from Jose Canseco’s book: “What we did, more times than I can count, was go into the bathroom stall together to shoot up steroids. That’s right after batting practice, or right before a game. We would load up our syringes and inject ourselves.”
MM: There’s absolutely no truth to that whatsoever.
BC: Why do you think Jose would say that?
MM: He had to sell a book.
BC: So that didn’t happen in the clubhouse?
MM: Absolutely not. I couldn’t be more adamant about that.
Sorry, Jose has been right about too many things in that book. I believe Jose more than Mark on this one.
The other thing that sticks out to me is this:
Bob Costas: When did you first try steroids?
Mark McGwire: I was introduced to steroids [in] the gyms you worked out back in the day. It was readily available. Guys at gyms talked about it. I believe it was the winter of ’89 into ’90. I was given a couple weeks’ worth. I tried it, never thought anything of it, just moved on from it. As far as using it on a consistent basis, the winter of ’93/’94.
Take a look at McGwire’s career and make your best guess as to when he started using PEDs. I’d peg it after the 1991 season. He had gone four years without the power he showed in his rookie year of 1987 (which was a big home run year, for some reason). Worse, he was going through his prime declining, and his 1991 season was poor for a power hitting first baseman. Then in 1992, he takes off, one year before the big offensive surge in baseball. Wikipedia credits a new, fearsome look. In my opinion, 1992 is the line in the sand.
1992 was also Mac’s walk year, so there was good motivation to put up a big year. The ’92 surge could be the regular walk-year over-performance, or it could be a steroid-induced over-performance. I’m not judging. But if you’re looking for extra motivation, there’s that. He re-signed with the A’s for 5 yrs/$28 mil that winter…
I don’t agree with your assessment, David. His home run totals were 49, 32, 33 and 39 in his first four seasons, which doesn’t seem like too unreasonable a progression. Then 1991 seems like the time McGwire’s injuries started. Yes, he played in 154 games, but he also racked up a .201 batting average. He played in fewer games in 2002, but bounced back in the power department (42 homers; not out of line with his earlier production) before injuries ravaged his 1993 and 1994 seasons. Seems to me that 1993/94 would be a very reasonable starting point for his steroid use, just based on the statistical record.
Very very interesting. At this point, I also agree that I trust Jose quite a lot when somebody contradicts him. He got cred.
So, Ryan Howard’s 58 HR’s in ’06 seems* to be the closest a non-juiced player has come to Maris’s single season HR record?
@Devon: “Seems*” is the proper way to put it. What’s sad about all of this is that none of us know for sure, and most likely will never know, who did and didn’t, does and doesn’t use PEDs. That’s just something we’re going to have to live with and figure out a way to deal with. I believe that the act of players putting forbidden substances into their bodies in order to improve their performance has been happening far longer than any of us care to admit and will continue to happen far longer than any of us believe. It happens in many different forms and with many different frequencies. In the end, I think it’s a fool’s errand to try to classify payers into users and non-users.