Mark McGwire’s admission of steroid use was met with great skepticism, and understandably so. While most found McGwire’s admission evasive at best, fans still gave him a standing ovation before his February 17th press conference, his first public appearance since his interview with Costas.
Most people however seem put off by McGwire’s insistence that the steroids didn’t provide him any advantage beyond “health purposes.”
According to a 2005 New York Daily News report, Curtis Wenzlaff provided McGwire with steroids in the 1990’s.
The recipe called for 1/2 cc of testosterone cypionate every three days; one cc of testosterone enanthate per week; equipoise and winstrol v, 1/4 cc every three days, injected into the buttocks, one in one cheek, one in the other.
Speaking to ESPN’s TJ Quinn this year, Wenzlaff found it laughable that an array such as the one he provided McGwire was only for “health purposes.”
“I chuckled because if excelling and kicking ass on the field is the end result, then I guess that’s a healthy, good feeling. But for health, there are other things that you can take for health that are anabolic, but it wouldn’t be that type of combination.”
Wenzlaff added:
“If Paris Hilton was to take that array, she could run over Dick Butkus.”
The following are quotes from players, journalists and the commissioner after McGwire’s admission.
Bud Selig
“I am pleased that Mark McGwire has confronted his use of performance-enhancing substances as a player. Being truthful is always the correct course of action, which is why I had commissioned Senator George Mitchell to conduct his investigation. This statement of contrition, I believe, will make Mark’s reentry into the game much smoother and easier.”
Ken Rosenthal
“Yet, he still was not credible. Not even close.
To hear McGwire tell it, his evolution into the most prolific slugger in history was a perfect storm of natural forces. God-given ability. Hard work. The shortening of his swing. A greater understanding of hitting as he grew older.
Costas repeatedly gave McGwire the opportunity to concede that steroids helped him hit home runs faster and farther than any player in history. But McGwire never wavered, insisting “absolutely” that he could have been the same hitter without the drugs.”
Jose Canseco
“There are some things here that are so ridiculous, and so disrespectful for the public and the media to believe. I just can’t believe it. I’m in total shock. These guys remind me of politicians that go up and just lie to the public and expect to get elected.”
Carlton Fisk
“[McGwire] says, ‘Well, it doesn’t help eye-and-hand coordination.’ Well, of course it does… It allows you more acuity physically and mentally and optically. You are going to be stronger and you are going to be better.”
Ferguson Jenkins
“You have yet to apologize to all the pitchers you faced while juiced… You altered pitchers’ lives. You may have shortened pitchers careers because of the advantage you forced over them while juiced. Have you thought about what happened when they couldn’t get you out and lost the confidence of their managers and general managers? You even managed to alter the place some athletes have achieved in record books by making your steroid-fueled run to the season home run record.”
Hank Aaron
“I would have loved to have seen him do it a long time ago, but since he did it, I think that he himself will tell you right now he’s able to sleep at night and he’s able to look at his teammates… He’s done everything that he can do.”
Jack Clark
“It’s a shame that he thinks we’re all stupid, that he only did [steroids] because of injuries. That’s such a cop-out, such a lie. These guys did [steroids] to take the money to pump up their egos and then take their consequences down the road.”
Albert Pujols
“I think he cleared up everything, he closed the doors… If you want to reopen those doors I know the right guy. Go talk to Mark about it… There’s 300,000 people that just died in Haiti and you guys just want to concentrate on Mark McGwire. Come on, give me a break.”
