Mark Mcgwire

What do you make of Barry Bonds praising Mark McGwire for admitting his steroid use? Don't expect Bonds to follow suit Peter Schmuck, Baltimore Sun It makes me all warm and fuzzy to hear Barry Bonds is "proud" of Mark McGwire for admitting his use of steroids and returning to Major League Baseball as the Cardinals' hitting coach, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for Bonds to do the same thing. No. 1: He wouldn't. Bonds is a proud, stubborn and defiant man who isn't going to do anything that smacks of surrender to the will of the masses.

Rafael Palmeiro strolled into the big sports memorabilia show at the Hilton Hotel in Pikesville Sunday wearing an orange sweater, jeans and a hip goatee that made him look like the bass player in a jazz band. He was nearly three hours late. His flight from Texas had been delayed. Mechanical problems, Palmeiro explained as a crowd quickly formed to have the former Orioles great sign baseballs and bats and whatever else was thrust in front of him. "First time back in Baltimore?"

DON'T KNOW much about baseball, but I know this: Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, like Roger Maris and Hank Aaron, will never hold the stature in world public opinion that Babe Ruth held.To friends and foes of this country, the Babe was the USA.The best evidence of that came on the bloody islands and atolls of the South Pacific during World War II. Enemies of America cursed the Babe in what might be called a battlefield rite."By 1943, most Japanese fighting men in Asia and the Pacific were trapped and doomed and knew it," wrote John W. Dower in his 1986 history, "War Without Mercy."

HRs mean something Dan Connolly Baltimore Sun Only seven players have hit 600 or more homers, with Jim Thome a healthy season away from becoming No. 8. Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle and, yes, Mark McGwire never got there. Sure, four 600-plus homer hitters are steroid-era guys. But the club shuts its door after Thome or at least until Albert Pujols is ready or Manny Ramirez finds the fountain of youth (or similar elixirs)

JUPITER, Fla. - Mark McGwire used to cast a giant shadow in the St. Louis Cardinals' organization. The hulking physical presence and prodigious home run swing made the near-certain future Hall of Famer an intimidating force on offense, and his regular-guy approach to the game made him one of the most popular players in the clubhouse. So how is it that the Cardinals - just months after Big Mac's sudden retirement - appear to be better off without him? The Cardinals club that will open the 2002 exhibition season later this week has a deeper pitching staff and a more balanced lineup than the team that took the eventual world champion Arizona Diamondbacks to the limit in the first round of the playoffs last year.

From the start, the National League Central seemed doomed to middle-market obscurity. Baseball's rush to regional realignment isolated several of the league's low-revenue clubs in the same division, and it only got worse when the 1997 expansion pushed the economically challenged Milwaukee Brewers into the picture. If not for the exploits of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa the past two years, the division would have had trouble finding itself on a map. Not anymore. The arrival of superstar Ken Griffey in Cincinnati has added a dimension to the home run chase, and major off-season additions to several clubs have changed the chemistry of the division.

LOS ANGELES -- It is the same in every city. The focus always seems to be on slugger Mark McGwire, who has grown so much bigger than life that his shadow covers everyone else in the St. Louis Cardinals' lineup.Outfielder Brian Jordan watches in awe like everybody else and doesn't seem to mind that McGwiremania is costing him valuable air time in this, the year he aspires to become a superstar.Does anyone even realize that the pride of Milford Mill High entered yesterday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks ranked fourth in the National League with a .343 batting average -- just 14 points off the league lead?

Hitting Stan Javier, Giants: 2 HRs. Mark McGwire, Cardinals: 2 HRs. Gary Gaetti, Cubs: HR, 2 doubles. Pitching Mark Clark, Cubs: 8 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, hit 2 doubles. Pub Date: 9/27/98

Good morning -- Hall of Fame voters-- If you don't vote for Mark McGwire, would that qualify as 'roid rage?

Hitting Mark McGwire, Cardinals: 2 RBIs, regained league lead at 34. Derek Bell, Astros: 3-for-4, 2 RBIs. Moises Alou, Astros: HR, 2 RBIs. Pitching Pete Harnisch, Reds: 9 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits. Jose Lima, Astros: 6 2/3 innings, 1 run, 8 hits. Pub Date: 4/30/98

What's wrong with the Cardinals? Probably nothing, as they still are one of the strongest teams in the National League. But the lineup Matt Holliday supercharged in the second half of 2009 isn't performing at anything close to that level, bringing hitting coach Mark McGwire up for review. The Cardinals were expected to run away with the National League Central but find themselves fighting off the Reds and playing at a relatively mortal pace. There have been no major injuries, yet the Cardinals entered the weekend 9-9 in May, having dropped three of four to the Phillies and six of nine in one stretch against the Astros, Pirates and Reds.

The father of a California teenager who committed suicide in 2004 after using steroids said Thursday that Major League Baseball should not have endorsed Mark McGwire's return to the game so soon after his steroids confession in January and that he is awaiting an apology from him. Frank Marrero said during an anti-steroids conference at the Crowne Plaza in Timonium that baseball was "too forgiving" of McGwire, who was hired before the season as...

What do you make of Barry Bonds praising Mark McGwire for admitting his steroid use? Don't expect Bonds to follow suit Peter Schmuck, Baltimore Sun It makes me all warm and fuzzy to hear Barry Bonds is "proud" of Mark McGwire for admitting his use of steroids and returning to Major League Baseball as the Cardinals' hitting coach, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for Bonds to do the same thing. No. 1: He wouldn't. Bonds is a proud, stubborn and defiant man who isn't going to do anything that smacks of surrender to the will of the masses.

M ike Flanagan, a Cy Young Award winner from back in the day, when the Orioles were winners, pitched in Major League Baseball's two eras - before juicing and after juicing. His long and strong career in Baltimore was coming to a close as Mark McGwire's was picking up speed in Oakland, and just as professional baseball players started seeing and hearing more about performance-enhancing drugs. Mr. Flanagan has a distinct memory of facing Mr. McGwire in California in 1991, and the retired pitcher's story provides an insider's view of the steroid scandal and why it matters.

Voters aren't that stupid Kevin Cowherd Baltimore Sun No. Big Mac - now there's an ironic nickname - was only getting about 24 percent of the votes needed to make the Hall before he admitted to juicing. On the contrary, given his often vague and incredible answers to Bob Costas on Monday night, he might have damaged his Hall of Fame chances even more. He didn't really think steroids helped him hit more and longer home runs? He didn't remember the names of any steroids he took, when most pro athletes won't even swallow a Tic Tac unless they know what effect it'll have on their bodies?