Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire is a former Major League first baseman who split his 16-season career between the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics. In 1998, McGwire broke Roger Maris's single season home run record by clubbing 70 round-trippers.

McGwire's home run stats are impressive. He hit over 40 home runs per season 3 times when he was with the Oakland A's and twice again when he played for St. Louis. The home run battle between McGwire and Sammy Sosa is memorable.

Four years after McGwire retired from MLB, he was called to testify at a U.S. Congressional Hearing about steroid use in Major League Baseball. Although steroid use was legal at the time, McGwire was drilled about his 1998 season. McGwire refused to answer questions about that time.

Sammy Sosa was also present at the hearings. Sosa let his lawyer do the talking, claiming that he was not fluent in English enough to properly understand and answer the questions.

McGwire accepted a position with the St. Louis Cardinals as hitting coach and decided that he wanted to set everything straight. In January, 2010, he admitted to steroid use back in 1998.

The fallout from the admission has been incredible. His admission into the MLB Hall of Fame is seriously in doubt. And as a welcome home gift to McGwire, on May 15, 2010 the Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill to have McGwire's name removed from a stretch of Interstate 70 and replaced with Mark Twain Highway.

A native of the Los Angeles-area, McGwire entered the Major Leagues with a bang, hitting 49 home runs and 118 RBIs for the Oakland Athletics in 1987, his first full season in the majors. His 49 home runs is a Major League record for a rookie, and that year McGwire was awarded Rookie of the Year honors. The next three seasons, McGwire sent over 30 balls over the wall each year, and, in his second full season, 1989, helped lead the A's to their first World Series triumph in a quarter of a century.

The A's swept the San Francisco Giants in 4 games in the Battle of the Bays World Series. In the 9 post season games that McGwire played, he had 12 hits, 1 run, and 4 RBI's.

McGwire played for the A's for 10 years, from 1987-1997. His worst year was 1991 when he had 97 hits, 22 home runs, 75 RBI's and 2 stolen bases. In 1996, his best year with the A's was he had 132 hits, with 52 home runs, and 113 RBI's.

In 1997, McGwire split the season between the Athletics and the Cardinals, hitting a combined 58 home runs, just three shy of tying Roger Maris's record. In his first full year with St. Louis, McGwire, Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa, and Seattle Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr. all vied for the home run record. On September 8, 1998, McGwire hit home run #62, breaking Maris's record. McGwire finished the season with 70 home runs and Sosa ended up with 66. In 2001, Barry Bonds broke McGwire's record by with 73 home runs.

McGwire was with the Cardinals from 1997-2001. McGwire's numbers started to slip in 2000, and he retired in 2001.

In 1998, when McGuire broke Roger Maris' home run record, the use of steroid or performance enhancing drugs was legal in Major League Baseball. It wasn't until June, 2002 that a Senate Commerce Committee told Major League Baseball that a tougher drug use policy had to be implemented. In August, 2002 to avoid a strike, MLB agreed to conducting "Survey Testing" which would be anonymous and would provide information regarding the use of steroids. It wasn't until March, 2003, that drug testing went into effect and was mandatory for all players.http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/drug_policy.jsp?content=timeline

On March 17, 2005, McGuire was called to testify at a congressional hearing after he was named in a book by former teammate, Jose Conseco as being one of the players to whom Conseco administered steroid injections. When he was asked about his steroid usage in 1998, McGuire's only answer was "I'm not here to talk about the past."

In January, 2010 McGwire admitted to using steroids in 1998 and apologized, and called Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig, and McGwire's new boss, St. Louis Cardinals Manager, Tony La Russa, as well as Pat Maris, the widow of Roger Maris. McGwire accepted the position of hitting coach with St. Louis and felt he needed to clear the air.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4816607

Although the announcement didn't really shock anyone, new controversies regarding his worhiness of being in the MLB Hall of Fame. Although he is eligible for being named to the Hall, he hasn't been able to garner the number of votes needed for admission.

• October 1, 1963: Born

• 1986: Debuts with Oakland Athletics

• 1987: American League Rookie of the Year

• 1989: World Series Champion

• 1990: American League Gold Glove at 1B

• 1997: Traded to St. Louis Cardinals

• 1998: Broke Roger Maris's single season home run record

• 1998: Hits 70 Homeruns in a Season

• 1999 ESPY: Male Athlete of the Year

• 1999 ESPY: Outstanding Baseball Player

• 1999: Named to All-Century Team (1B)

• 1999: ESPY: Showstopper of the Year

• 2001: Retires from MLB

• 2005:Declined to answer questions from regarding his steroid use in 1998

• 2010:Admits to using steroids