Mark McGwire is a former Major League Baseball player. He played with the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals.
For his career, McGwire averaged a home run once every 10.61 at-bats, the best at-bats per home run ratio in baseball history (Babe Ruth is second at 11.76). McGwire also holds the distinction of being the fastest player to hit 500 home runs, in only 5,487 at-bats.
However, McGwire was a central figure in baseball's steroids scandal. That is why he has not been elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Now a bench coach with the Padres, McGwire told The Athletic’s Jayson Stark in an interview that he would have hit all-time record 70 homers in 1998 without using PEDs. And he added, “Unfortunately, I did [take PEDs]. And I’ve regretted that. I’ve talked about that. I regretted it. I didn’t need to. That’s the thing. Didn’t need to."
The pursuit of Roger Maris’s record of 61 homers in 1998 attracted many sports fans around the world. McGwire and Sammy Sosa passed that mark, with Sosa hitting 66 and McGwire smashing the record with his 70. McGwire later admitted to using PEDs, but Sammy Sosa didn't. He said in an interview, "First of all, I’m clean. They don’t have a case on me. I never failed a drug test. Never in my life."
Mark McGwire at the Dodger Stadium in 2000.
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