Some of the best quotes about Mark McGwire’s confession that he took performance-enhancing drugs for much of his career:

“The so-called steroid era — a reference that is resented by the many players who played in that era and never touched the substances — is clearly a thing of the past, and Mark’s admission today is another step in the right direction.” – Commissioner Bud Selig.

“He has my forgiveness. If that’s all that stands in the way between him being inducted into Cooperstown, we should all forgive him.” – Former home run king Hank Aaron, to USA Today.

“I thought [McGwire] was a borderline Hall of Famer with his numbers. For the fact that he has a low batting average [.263], just a lot of bad seasons and the fact that a lot of those home runs were hit over a short period of time — which everyone suspected was due to steroids. But I’m not a guy that’s against the steroids. I’ve not held steroids against McGwire in voting. I think it’ll be interesting to see what his total does next year by admitting to it, just with his presence in baseball being the Cardinals’ hitting coach. If he had done this from the get-go, he would have had a much stronger chance.” – Bob Nightengale of USA Today, on McGwire’s Hall of Fame chances, to MLB.com.

“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. It’s the first time they’ve ever heard me, you know, talk about this. I hid it from everybody.” – McGwire, to the AP.

“Mark, steroids or not, was one of the greatest nicest guys you could possibly meet. People make a mistake and say, ‘Well, he used steroids. He’s a bad guy. He’s evil. He’s not worthy.’ I extremely regret telling the truth. I extremely regret writing that book. This thing has taken on a life of its own, and it’s far from over, guys.” – Former teammate Jose Canseco, to SiriusXM radio.

“I think that’s a lot of horse muffins [that steroids didn't help McGwire hit]. If it didn’t help him any, what the hell was he taking them for? Of course it helped him.” – Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, 91, to ESPN.com.

“Can I get that home run he hit off me back? My numbers could have been better. That could have been an extra win for me. It’s unfortunate for guys who didn’t use steroids. Maybe they didn’t play as long as guys who did, don’t have the same numbers or didn’t make as much money. That’s not fair.” – Rangers pitcher Darren Oliver, to MLB.com.

“Maybe baseball will now realize this was an extremely serious problem and that they are still not in front of it. They are still playing catch-up.” – Former FBI agent Greg Stejskal, who uncovered the details of McGwire’s doping regimen from informants almost two decades ago, to ESPN.com.

More coverage: Mark McGwire timeline. Also, should he be in the Hall of Fame?

What they’re saying about Mark McGwire’s steroids confession originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 02:07:22.

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