Posted on Thu Mar 29, 2007 at 02:57:36 PM EST in MLB
More on: Mark McGwire, MLB, Cardinals (all tags)

Back in 1998, Mark McGwire was on top of the world. His newly discovered rippling muscles were smashing balls out of every park in the nation and by the end of the season he had surpassed Roger Maris' single season record that had stood for nearly 40 years. It was obvious what was going on then but nobody wanted to taint the historic chase for glory.

Now, the Cardinals are left holding the pieces from a steroid scandal that has put McGwire's legacy in jeopardy. Actually, the Cardinals are left holding a bronze, three-quarters life-sized statue of Big Mac following through on one of those 500 footers. Currently the statue is being held from public view in a Missouri warehouse.

There is room for the statue outside Busch Stadium where other franchise greats now reside but Cardinals president Mark Lamping says that McGwire's statue can't join the others until he gets elected into the hall of fame.

It really isn't something we need to even worry about at this point because his number is not retired," Lamping said. "If you look at the past and use that as your guide, retiring a jersey would be the guide.

Well, if that's the criteria then you might as well start melting that bad boy down and make some company Christmas gifts with it because McGwire pretty much locked himself out of the Hall after he made a fool of himself in front of the House Government Reform Committee.

But, hey, "We're not here to talk about the past..."

Links:
[STLToday.com]: McGwire sculpture remains under wraps

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