Mark McGwire's brother reportedly links Big Mac to steroid use
Don't look now, but another name from Mark McGwire's past is dragging the former slugger back into the spotlight by tying him to steroid use.
According to a report on Deadspin, Jay McGwire, Mark's estranged younger brother, has started shopping a tell-all book proposal to New York publishing houses. Currently titled The McGwire Family Secret, the book reportedly details how bodybuilder Jay introduced Mark to steroids in 1994, a time when injuries were threatening to derail Big Mac's big league career. McGwire's career experienced a revival in '95 and he hit 345 home runs over the next seven seasons, including a then record-breaking 70 in the summer of '98.
Jay says that Mark started using small doses of Deca-Durabolin to help with recovery and that he switched to the now-infamous andro in '98 because it was legal and he didn't need to add any more muscle mass.
He also claims that he's only airing out the dirty laundry because the rarely-out-in-public McGwire is busy passing J.D. Salinger as America's top recluse and that helping him clear the air will help the country "forgive" his brother.
Jay's reasoning for "coming clean" (via Deadspin):
"Mark is a man I think most would like to forgive because his reason wasn't nefarious — it was for survival. My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love. I want Mark to live in truth to see the light, to come to repentance so he can live in freedom — which is the only way to live. "
No one has yet bought Jay's proposal and it's worth noting that his act of wanting forgiveness for Mark is laced with hypocrisy — the two brothers haven't talked in years.
But since we probably have a better chance of finding Osama bin Laden than getting Mark McGwire to go on record, the guess here is that either Jay's book will either quickly find the round file or it'll go the Jose Canseco route.
In other words, it'll be published, it'll create a small amount of buzz, it'll cause many of us to question Jay's motives and credibility and then it'll just fade away.
VIP/VET everywhere[/COLOR]