With the recent hiring of Mark McGwire to be the St. Louis Cardinals hitting instructor, the time couldnt be any better for McGwire to address the rumors that have swirled around him since he left the game of baseball.  It's been 8 years since McGwire wore the birds of the bat and since then, he's kept his distance from the Cardinals and there fans, choosing to stay secluded in California and moving on with his life after baseball.  In 2005, McGwire had the chance to dispel or confirm the steriod rumors and chose to stonewall a congressional panel on Capitol Hill, which basically embarrassed himself and his legacy.  Fast forward to 2009, and now McGwire has been coaxed back into the game by his long time manager and friend, Tony LaRussa, who has always regretted not letting McGwire have his final at bat in a Cardinal uniform.   LaRussa would love nothing more for McGwire's image to be rebuilt, even in the slightest little bit.  For all intense purposes, Mark McGwire is a good guy who made a bad choice during his baseball career and then a couple of bad decisions after he left the game.  Does he deserve a chance to tell his side?  Sure.

How can he do that?  Plain and simple.  Once the World Series ends, McGwire needs to call a press conference, invite the major networks and tell them what he knows or did.  He doesnt need to divulge everything, just admit to making past mistakes and apologize for what he did.  Remember though, McGwire didnt test positive for anything.  He stopped playing long before testing and the Mitchell Report became part of baseball.  He was convicted in the court of public opinion after his humilating non-testimony at the 2005 congressional hearing.  By coming clean regardless, history has shown that the public will accept what he has to say and everybody will move on, just like they have with the Alex Rodriguez's and Andy Pettite's of the world.  They both denied, denied and denied before coming clean, the fans "forgave" and moved on and now they are both playing in the World Series, with the questions about steriod or PED's few and far between. 

Do I think McGwire can rebuild his image?  Absolutely, but not back to what it once was back during that magical time of 1998.  He will forever be linked to the steriod era of the 90's, when baseball all but turned a blind eye to what was going on because of the money that was being made.  I do think that admitting he made a mistake will garner some sympathy from the baseball world, especially Cardinal fans who always seem to blindly love there team more then they should some times.  I dont think it helps his chances to get into the Hall of Fame though, as I dont see voters suddenly having a change of heart after somebody waits 8 years to come clean about cheating in professional sports. 

For Mark McGwire to have any type of success as a coach, he needs to offer up something right now, deem the subject off limits and let his coaching do the talking.  Now that he is back in baseball, the steriod issues and questions are going to surface again and McGwire needs to make the first move and come clean once and for all.  If he doesnt, this issue will continue to resurface throughout McGwire's tenure as coach and it would do nothing but cause an unwanted distraction for the St. Louis Cardinals team and organization.