In four years on the HOF ballot, McGwire has been named on 21.9 to 23.7 per cent of the ballots cast, with raw totals of 128, 128, 118 and 128 votes. Now, his campaign manager and advisor, his friend and new boss Tony La Russa, manager of the Cardinals, a lawyer by education, is trying to plea bargain with America. Good luck.

The first thing Mark did in the process of rehabilitation was accept a job as the Cardinals’ hitting instructor for 2010 that puts him back in the public eye. The next step was emotionally admitting to abusing steroids, lack of which was a frustrating impediment to many Hall-of-Fame voters who wanted an admission of guilt from Mark before they would consider him.

If he has anything in his favour, it is that he retired three years before testing positive for steroids became punishable as part of the MLB Basic Agreement.

You may recall his appearance on Capitol Hill, March 17, 2005, sitting in front of a Congressional committee on steroid use in baseball when he famously used the phrase: “I’m not here to talk about the past.” He was retired by then and withdrew from public life.

Now, in a surprise move, McGwire issued a statement through the Cardinals and in conversation with the Associated Press admitting that during his record-breaking 1998 season, with 70 home runs and hugs all around for the Maris family, that he was on steroids, that he used steroids off and on for a decade prior to that and that he tried human growth hormone (HGH) not to add strength but to aid in the healing process from a series of injuries that saw him disabled seven times for a total of 228 games.

“It’s very emotional, it’s telling family members, friends and coaches, you know, it’s former teammates to try to get a hold of, you know, that I’m coming clean and being honest,” he told the AP. “It’s the first time they’ve ever heard me talk about this. I hid it from everybody.”