During a public appearance in St. Louis, Albert Pujols not only had to answer questions about his pending contract negotiations with the Cardinals, but also about Mark McGuire’s recent admission to steroid use during his playing career.  He was even asked the question as to whether McGuire finally came clean about his steroid use so that he may have a better chance at getting voted into the Hall of Fame.  It is ridiculous that reporters would ask Pujols these questions and not McGuire himself.  He angrily denied that claim and pointed out the fact that if reporters really want to know the reasoning behind McGuire’s steroid confession, they should go and ask him.

It’s not like he stayed quiet on the topic throughout the entire season; he came out before teams even reported to Spring Training to finally clear the air so once the season starts, he can just focus on helping the Cardinals win baseball games.  I sincerely don’t see why this is still such big news.  First of all, judging by the way he acted in those Congressional hearings in 2005, pretty much everyone who knew anything about Mark McGuire figured he took steroids during his career.  Second of all, asking him questions day after day about steroids has nothing to do with his new job as the Cardinals hitting coach.

Steroids may have aided him while he was playing baseball, but his knowledge of hitting can’t be be enhanced by any PED.  He has only worked with players one-on-one, but several hitters, including Matt Holliday, have said nothing but great things.  I am very interested to see how McGuire works with players on a daily basis throughout the season.  It can sometimes be a crap shoot with former players becoming coaches after their careers are over.  However, I feel that McGuire will be an excellent hitting coach because he has been away from the game for a long enough time to keep playing and coaching separate.

I think Pujols summed it up best while he was getting bombarded with these meaningless questions: “Go talk to Mark, I think he cleared up everything, he closed the doors,” Pujols told reporters. “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” (Associated Press).

He’s absolutely right!!  Hundreds of thousands of people are dead in Haiti following that tragic earthquake, millions more are left homeless, yet people are still focused on the details of McGuire’s steroid use…a confession he made over a week ago!  People need to get their priorities straight; yes, sports is a huge part of our culture, but it’s still just a game.  Unfortunately, reporters will probably never be able to see the difference.