Mark McGwire thinks steroids guys are being treated unfairly

Sep 21, 2019; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics former first baseman Mark McGwire gives a speech after being inducted into the Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame before a game against the Texas Rangers at the Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Mark McGwire and many other MLB legends have been excluded from the Baseball Hall of Fame strictly because of their link to performance-enhancing drugs, and the former slugger feels the treatment is unwarranted.

During an interview on “Foul Territory” that aired Thursday, McGwire was asked by former Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski if McGwire believes he and other players from the steroid era are being “unfairly punished.” McGwire said that would be a fair way of putting it.

“I think I heard Barry (Bonds) say it the other day — there were no rules and regulations. Trust me, if there were any rules in place, that stuff would have never happened. There was no testing, there was no nothing,” McGwire said.

“That was the culture. That’s what was going on back in those days. … I didn’t need to do it and I apologize for it. But there was a lot of f—ing hard work that went behind all the s— people want to give me to do what I did.”

"I didn't need to do it and I apologize for it. But there was a lot of f**king hard work that went behind all the sh*t people want to give me."

Mark McGwire feels steroid era MLB players are being unfairly punished.

New Legends Territory ▶️ https://t.co/4lF1n0cfPM pic.twitter.com/APr7VzsLRN

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) August 9, 2023

There are many different ways to view the steroid era. What McGwire said is only partially true. MLB banned steroids in 1991, which was several years before McGwire, Bonds and Sammy Sosa took turns etching their names in the record books. The league did not begin widely testing for steroid use until 2003, however.

McGwire is also correct that steroid use was part of the “culture” of baseball in the 1990s. Though, the “everybody was doing it” excuse does not sit well with some people.

Many believe there should be a specific wing in the Hall of Fame for the steroid era. McGwire even thinks he could have accomplished the same feats if he did not use PEDs. The problem is lumping all the steroid era players together would be unfair to those who excelled during that time period without using steroids. There really is no simple solution, which is why the topic is always such a polarizing one.

H/T The Pantagraph