Happy Birthday to Mark McGwire. In a 16-year career that saw him play for the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, McGwire was one of the most prolific Home Run hitters ever. While McGwire was involved with Steroids during his career, which has tarnished his legacy, I’m here to explain the Career of Mark McGwire with Steroids and without Steroids.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1986-2001):

.263 BA 1,626 HITS 583 HR 1,414 RBI .394 OBP 1,167 RUNS

  • 12x All-Star
  •  3x Silver Slugger
  •  1x Gold Glove 
  •  Rookie of the Year (1987)
  •  World Series Champion (1989)

After McGwire’s first full year in the big leagues in 1987, it was obvious that he would be one of the greatest power home-run hitters of his generation and all-time. He broke the all-time Rookie Home Run record with 49 at the time, as well as driving in 118 RBIs. I will remind everyone that at the time, McGwire was a skinny player not doing PEDs, and with all the foul territory in the Oakland Coliseum, it was considered the worst ballpark for home run hitters. During his years in Oakland, when he was healthy, he could Home Runs. He still holds the career record for Home Run per At-Bat ratio at 10.6. 

With Steroids:

As good as McGwire was, no player can avoid Injuries. From 1992-95, McGwire missed 278 games, not due to the lockout but to nagging injuries. Despite his production in 95-96, McGwire said he was frustrated with the nagging injuries and even considered retirement. In an interview with Bob Costas on MLB Network in 2010, he also admitted that he started taking Steroids frequently to keep himself healthy and on the field. As a result, from 1997-99, he was able to stay on the field, and despite being in his mid-30s, he broke the Single-Season Homerun record at the time.

Stats from 1997-99: 

1997: .274 BA 148 HITS 58 HR 123 RBI .393 OBP 86 RUNS (156 Games)

1998: .299 BA 152 HITS 70 HR 147 RBI .470 OBP 130 RUNS (155 Games)

1999: .278 BA 145 HITS 65 HR 147 RBI .424 OBP 118 RUNS (153 Games)

Without Steroids:

People will always remember McGwire as one of the Steroid users, but it’s not like he was Jose Canseco who made the majors all on Steroids. Before the steroids, in his early years in Oakland, he was always a natural-born power hitter who could hit home runs anywhere. While he struck out a lot, he also drew a lot of Walks. In the field as a First Baseman, he was a lifetime .993 Fielder, taking home a Gold Glove in 1990. McGwire was also one of those players who had trouble avoiding injuries. As I said, he missed 278 games due to Injuries from 92-95. When he was healthy, his ability to hit home runs never wavered. I have no problem believing that if McGwire could stay healthy and not use Steroids during his career, he would’ve gotten to 500 Home Runs and been one of the greatest power hitters ever.

With that being said, McGwire has yet to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as of now. On the BBWAA ballot, he never received the 75% needed for induction during his ten-year eligibility. While I don’t dispute how good McGwire was without Steroids, I don’t think he had enough Steroid-free years to get inducted into the Hall of Fame. His 1998 season also deserves an asterisk. Now everyone knows MLB, including Bud Selig, knew during that time how infested the game was with steroids. In 1998, everyone, including MLB, embraced and sold McGwire’s feat as the greatest story of all time, but then years later, they treated him like he was Al Capone. Thats ridiculous! I’ll end it with this: you can villainize McGwire and all the other Steroid guys, but MLB, including Bud Selig, were just as guilty as they were.

References:

  1. Mark McGwire via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_McGwire#
  2. Mark McGwire Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcgwima01.shtml