So…Now What???

Big Mac apologized.

ESPN reported:

[Mark] McGwire’s decision to admit using steroids was prompted by his decision to become hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, his final big league team.  [Tony] La Russa, McGwire’s manager in Oakland and St. Louis, has been among McGwire’s biggest supporters and thinks returning to the field can restore the former slugger’s reputation.

“I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come,” McGwire said.  “It’s time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected.”

He’s admitted his usage of steroids.  Good for him.  Now maybe we can all forgive him.  Maybe even people like Marty Noble, who found it in the goodness of his cold cold heart to forgive a cocaine user like Dave Parker, could forgive Big Mac now and vote him into the Hall of Fame.

This almost forgotten part of McGwire’s testimony always intrigued me…and turns out he was right:

Asking me or any other player to answer questions about who took steroids in front of television cameras will not solve the problem.  If a player answers no, he simply will not be believed.  If he answers yes, he risks public scorn and endless government investigations.

** Note to Jim Bailey:  Notice how I linked to the original transcript on CNN, giving credit where credit is due.

As far as the other writers who have kept McGwire off the ballot because he never admitted using steroids, didn’t want to even talk about it, and (shocked, I tell you, shocked) cheated…now what?  Will McGwire, as he predicted he would be when he testified before congress, still be vilified?  Will the public still heap scorn upon him?  Will the government investigate?  Should it?  Will we all, including the writers who continue to vote for entry into the Hall of Fame, just assume that anyone who played and excelled during the “Steroid Era” is a cheater?

I think this admission of guilt muddies the water even more.

So…now what?