Today's admission from Mark McGwire raises plenty of sidebar questions and topics that we hope Bob Costas will address with the shamed slugger in tonight's MLB Network interview.
Here are a few them:
Why did he wait so long to confess? After retiring in 2001, McGwire turned into baseball's version of J.D. Salinger and disappeared completely from the spotlight. Did he only admit to using steroids so that he could take a hitting coach job with St. Louis?
How did he get the drugs? Who provided him with PEDs on the A's and Cardinals? Were his book-selling brother and Jose Canseco both right about injecting Big Mac themselves?
Why did he start using? Was he looking for a competitive advantage or just a way to overcome all those injuries that plagued him during his career?
Does this improve his Hall of Fame chances? McGwire was snubbed again during last week's Cooperstown voting, his third year on the ballot. Does he think that voters start to change their mind after his admission and apology?
Will this inspire other suspected users to also come forth? If this ultimately ranks a public-relations win for McGwire, does he think guys like Barry Bonds(notes), Roger Clemens(notes) or Sammy Sosa(notes) also fess up? Should they?
What does the Maris family think about this? Despite having a front row seat during the 1998 chase, Roger Maris' family eventually stopped acknowledging the home run totals of McGwire, Sosa and Bonds while returning their patriarch atop the home run record books. What's their response to this big McGwire news? Has he called them to apologize like he did with Bud Selig and Tony La Russa?
What did Tony La Russa know? The Cardinals skipper has already appeared on ESPN and MLB Network to flat out deny that he knew about McGwire's steroid use. Is he telling the truth?
What does he do from here? Sure, he's apologized, but does McGwire plan on speaking out against steroids to make sure that young ballplayers don't follow in his footsteps? Will he continue being candid about his use or will he end all queries with this statement and Costas interview?
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