.Slap Hitter: McGwire Here to Talk about the Past

Mark McGwire let the other shoe that had been dangling precariously by a pinky toe drop today, when he confessed that he had been a steroid user.. There will be enough commentators to parse his press release today, rather let’s remember his A’s days.

McGwire was no shoe-in as a rookie. The A’s were breaking in two freshmen on the corners of the diamond, and the big guy was on third base, Rob Nelson playing across the infield at first was just as likely a prospect. Mac was in fact, exclusively a third basemen until his second year, after which they took his glove and burned it so that no manager would ever be tempted to make that mistake again. McGwire was a substantial part of the A’s Second Dynasty. His debut in 1987 coincided with the dominance that the Athletics enjoyed for the next decade. McGwire started off gangbusters and kind of devolved into Dave Kingman. But he wasn’t Rob Nelson who finished his career with the Minot Rattlers. As a pitcher. In the Prairie League.

McGwire seemed content to let others grab the camera and microphone, never really at ease

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