Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire came clean Monday, admitting to using steroids on and off for nearly a decade.
"I wish I had never touched steroids," McGwire said in a statement. "It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."
McGwire has become one of the least liked players in baseball after the Congressional hearing in 2005 when he refused to talk about the past. Now that he has come clean, he can reconcile with baseball fans nationwide.
"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."
McGwire, a .263 career hitter, with 583 career home runs, a .394 on-base percentage, and a .588 slugging percentage, said that he mainly used steroids to recover from injuries and to stay healthy.
This certainly won't be the end to the questions for McGwire, who still has information that fans and reporters are looking for. McGwire's biggest regret ought to be that he can't look back at his own career achievements to see his true ability, because it was tainted the second he injected himself before the 1990 season.
Baseball has been cleaned up after two revised drug policies have been implemented to crack down on drug use. His admission won't help his Hall of Fame odds, but now he can focus on being the Cardinals hitting coach and using the Cardinals offensive production as a tool to rebuilding his reputation.