The Athletics hired Mark McGwire as a special assistant in their player development department on Friday (link via The Associated Press). He returns to the organization that inducted him into their team Hall of Fame in 2019.
McGwire, now 62, played the first 12 years of his career with the A’s. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 1987 and made nine of his 12 All-Star appearances with the club. He twice led the majors in home runs while wearing an A’s uniform and was an instrumental part of the teams that won three consecutive pennants and one World Series between 1988-90. He remains the franchise’s home run leader with 363, while his 941 runs batted in ranks fourth in club history.
Those on-field accomplishments and his overall legacy are complicated by his use of performance-enhancing drugs. He admitted in 2010 that he had used steroids for the majority of his career, including during his record home run chases as a member of the Cardinals in the late 1990s. The PED ties kept him out of the National Baseball Hall of Fame despite a statistical résumé that would have made him a first-ballot inductee had he achieved it without using steroids.
That said, McGwire obviously has an extensive knowledge of hitting that he can bring to his new role. He had a nine-year run on MLB staffs between 2010-18. McGwire was the hitting coach for the Cardinals when they won the 2011 World Series. He also worked as the Dodgers’ hitting coach and a bench coach in San Diego through the 2018 season. He stepped down during the 2018-19 offseason to spend more time with family. A special assistant role will allow him to be around the A’s organization without requiring the commitment of a full-time coaching position.
Okay, now what you’re gonna want to do to improve your game, is inject this stuff into your glutes or rub this stuff under your tongue and then swing for the fences. Don’t worry if your dimensions become that of a cartoon bobble head. That just means the stuff is working. Repeat every few…cycles… unless they’re about to randomly test you.
Training Complete.
His power was something to behold though. I remember when he hit a HR off Randy Johnson that ball traveled 538 feet and hit the back wall of the top deck of the Kingdome and was still on an upward trajectory. It was the longest homer ever hit there. If the Kingdome would’ve been an open air stadium, who knows how far it might’ve traveled.
Wonder what the exit velocity on that and some of Bonds laser shots were…
Didn’t Bonds hit a few HRs half way on the air to Alcatraz and skipped the rest of the way? He was using PEDs and there is no denying that. He was a twig in Pittsburgh and upon going to SF, he looked like a gorilla after leaving Pittsburgh. This change happened overnight. You can’t tell me it was just maturity and genetics. He used hormone enhanced drug to beef up that much in a years time.
This, and the hr bonds hit @ yankee stadium.
You gonna be OK you seem to be upset because he got the job
If you really think I am upset by this, lol.
It’s an easy lay up of a joke. That’s all.
You need to look in the mirror. Why would you care at all about his comment? Seems very childish of you.
Here come the ‘roids jokes.
I didn’t say anything about hemmiroids!
No roid jokes from me, even Yasiel Puig can bet on that
Some say bet? Here comes Ohtanis interpreter!
Is he Luke or Leia?
or Laura
He’s worth a shot I guess…
These are not the roids you are looking for
Canseco lives in Vegas I wonder if he’d want to be in advisor role too
Big Mac! So no chance Jose Canseco gets hired too?
“Yankee legend” Jose Canseco. Put some respect on his name as well as future Monument Park inductee Eric Hinske.
Rickey say hi from the great beyond
THEY CALL ME JOSEEEEEEE and I’m Mark.
Silk robes and kimonos.
For those of you who haven’t seen, do yourselves a favor and watch Oakland Nights on Netflix.
See Freaky Tales too! The legend of Sleepy Floyd, drops 40 on the Lakers and slayer by night!
A José Canseco bat? Tell me you didn’t pay money for this.
-Movie line in 1990.
I prefer its use in the second and third “Mighty Ducks” movies.
Not my favorite move by the Sacramento A’s.
I don’t think they ask your position and how you felt. Maybe you moved and had not given them your new address
They are not the Sacramento A’s. They are the Athletics.
a mustard glass!
How about the Milipitas A’s?
As a former resident, too many i’s.
Milpitas Patriots were a thing tho…
They’re the Sacramento A’s.
You can call them the Sacramento A’s if you want but the official name is the Athletics. You probably call the Angels the Anaheim Angels when that’s not their name.
Actually, if you insist on misnaming them, you should at least call them the West Sacramento A’s, as that’s where they play–not Sacramento.
YOLO County baby.
How about the Milpitas Owls?
I hiked from the train station in San Jose to Berkeley on the EastBay path and I remember this owls sitting in a tree staring right at me.
How about the Hayward Hoos?
It was a Great Horned Owl, a big old owl, he was staring right at me.
It was right at the trailhead in Milpitas. Ill never forget that moment when I spotted that owl, we locked into a singular mind, my perception seemed to gain this otherworldy expansion, it was very extraordinary. A few moments later, I was 100 yards north and back to my own senses but never forget that sense, most amazing. I dont smoke weed or do drugs either, it wasnt the California Kush. It was a real meeting of the minds in a way, a good one Id say.
Do you remember what time of year? Mating season followed by when they claim nests is when they are pretty active. If you find an area with a good population they get pretty noisy around evening.
As a fan of home runs, I approve of this
😁
Imagine Kurtz on the roids. And Langy, Sody, and Rooker, too.
I was watching Kurtz just yesterday, a replay of his 6 for 6, four homer day, hit three to the opposite field.
He is a big kid, reminds you of McGwire some albeit a lefty, McGwire was lanky big too in ’86.
“Do you want to know the terrifying truth…or do you wanna see me sock a few dingers?”
Focusyn!
youtu.be/MsH-NB2pREo?si=KO5lsqA1Mi3MVNZP
only better Vegas sideshow would be canseco.. have him reenact the ball of his head homer every seventh inning home game
Cept wrong team. Maybe something w sleepy Tony
You guys think he’s there to talk about the past?
Just wait until they get to Vegas, baby!! “Special Assistant” will take on a whole new meaning,
Bash the brother, eh
Special assistant in Vegas = prostitutes?
yeah thats no good. And they really need to pop the top on that dome because I think people want to sit outside.
Good move by the A’s! They’re headed to the playoffs this year.
They need pitching, but that offense is legit.
Rotation looks okay, not great, 1-4. SP5 is a question mark, maybe Jack Perkins will get a shot and do well. Bullpen has Sterner, Harris, Kelly, Alvardo, and Basso (limited IP at MLB) returning, each had nice ERA+ in 2025 though their FIPs were all higher than their ERAs , Barlow looks like a good FA signing, Leiter Jr not so much but maybe he will have a bounce back year. Fangraphs has the A’s with a 23.5% of making the playoffs, woo hoo!
Jack Perkins…Tonight…on Biography, where I’ll be telling you the story of one Mark McGwire, a baseball legend.
Hall of Green more like
That pic makes him look like Mayor of Green Munchkin land
I think he looks like the grand Marshall of a st Patrick’s day parade in NYC
He’s embracing the Athletics colors once more lol
Ngl I used to pick Oakland when I played Sports Talk Baseball for Sega in the day. That lineup/rotation was elite. My Yankees were trash in that game 🙁
Had them in Tony Larussa baseball too. Back when he was awake Tony
I remember both but I played MLBPA on my Sega Genesis and my neighbor had the Ken Griffey game on his Super NES. God, those were the days, I feel old now lol
In my humble opinion the OG RBI Baseball for Nintendo was the GOAT of MLB games
What I would say to players: Know your role. Everyone swinging for the fences destroys the team aspect. So does pitchers always going for the strikeout.
Fascist according to Crash
His stats should have an asteroid attached.
I think NASA is busy with the Artemis missions right now
Step one: roids
step two: sign a huge contract
step three: get suspended
step four: play clean
step five: don’t care i’m rich.
Dave Kingman on drugs
Lots of wannabe comedians in the comments section.
You ain’t lying gbs. Same lame jokes over and over.
At least it’s not trash can or deferral jokes. Those are the most lame and repetitive ones we get.
I may be in the minority, but I loved Dave Kingman as a player when I was growing up.
“Okay boys, this is where you inject your steroids. Keep it between the toes, so nobody sees the injection sites. Hopefully nobody will notice your hair falling out or your sudden back acne,” says the new special assistant. “Lesson two, make sure the clubhouse manager gets your uniform shirts two sizes to small so everyone will notice your huge biceps,” the special assistant continues.
Funny how everyone in MLB and even the self-vaunted BBBWA were throwing flowers and giving awards to these guys when they were driving in HR’s and racking up K’s and bringing in millions for the game. No way MLB and BBWA didn’t know. Just like the greenie era, where many stars may never have performed near peak without them, swept under the table until they weren’t. Then those same enablers shunned their former golden geese. Hypocrites. I don’t blame the players and we all know there are guys still on pedestals and with plaques that did as bad or worse but snuck in due to popularity.
Exactly! Some players no doubt felt that they had to take PEDs to keep up with their peers. And we’ll never know exactly who did what or how much it helped them.
Angel4ever- Ferguson Jenkins comes to mind. Convicted drug dealer, but still in the HOF.
If they want to have their kids train to hit HRs the right way, hire Maddux and Glavine. They did it on the up and up
Maddux and Glavine have 6 combined in their careers.
Someone never saw the “Chicks dig the long ball” commercials
Just bring in Jose Canseco as well and reunite the Bash Bros. Have special events commemorating them, and As fans will love the nostalgia trip.
Some of the most exciting baseball I ever watched was from the mid 90’s to the early 2000’s.
PED’s took the borderline good player to a great level and took the stars/superstars to HOF levels. It took the guys like Bonds who were all time greats to a level we will never see again.
Teams were just loaded. Unique ways too.
I just loved the beady eyes, huge necks and giant heads. They looked like cartoon character bulls. Watching Giambi and Clemens or the Bash Bros go out there and almost literally steam from their ears was nuts.
Team pharmacist?
The comments here are just…below juvenile. Baseball didn’t have rules and testing in places until well into the 21st century. So take your”cheating” comments to Pollyannaville.
Estimates were, before testing 90% of the league were taking PEDs. When that number came out the joke was, “the other 10% are between dealers.” Sports in general have always had PEDs. Baseball was more abject because they refused testing for years. Cocaine ruled the sport for decades and nobody cared. But when sacred cow HR records are broken – suddenly there’s an uproar.
zacharydmanprin: Just because it was legal doesn’t make it right. How many kids looked up to that guy and his WWE physique and thought with a little hard work, they could look like that? I do agree that owners and the commissioner all deserve blame, but they didn’t make guys hit the needle; they just profited from it. The record book and the HOF got turned on it’s ear because of that era. As a guy in my 50’s, I can assure you it damaged my fandom long term. I lost about 15% of my love for the game/records living through Sammy and Big Mac being fawned over.
That’s just asinine. Go read ‘Ball Four’. Written about baseball more than 50 years ago. Greenies have been in the clubhouse since the 1940s. The U.S. government supplied them to the armed forces in WW2 (especially pilots). MLB players that served brought them back with them. Mickey Mantle used PEDs and got “vitamin shots”. Hank Aaron drank the “red sludge”. Bob Gibson used stuff that they were giving race horses.
What’s next; are you going to say that you can’t enjoy music or movies any more because the artists were real, real high on drugs?
I played football in college and there were guys doing steroids in high school. By college it was a little more advanced but it was still there. You make a choice. I was never going to the next level so I didn’t bother. But for guys who did – they made a choice and I don’t think any different of them.
Leave it to Beaver was a TV show. It’s not reality.
I read ball four when I was in my teens. I’m well aware of roids and their prevalence as I’ve been around gyms and lifting plenty. You can be fine with seeing Brett Boone turn into a 40 homer guy or Jeff Bagwell put up Lou Gerhig stat lines. I didn’t like it because it skewed all the stats historically. I loved the numbers of baseball as much as the game.
The whole era was an insult to our intelligence as we were supposed to look at these guys hulk out and act like it wasn’t drugs. Every spring training in the 90’s 10 more dudes would show up jacked and we all just act like it’s normal.
Didn’t he play on the East Germany women’s team?
Big Stack returns to the scene of the crime.
Baseball was better when everyone was juicing.
Hey Mark, I’m trying to add some power this offseason, what should I work on. “I plead the fifth amendment so I don’t incriminate myself.”
Why is this guy still working? He is 62 and made almost $75 million playing baseball according to Baseball Reference. Even counting an agent’s cut and taxes I would think you could live pretty well on that.
Roids are expensive?