Former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire confessed this week to using steroids for nearly a decade during his playing career. Saying he “always knew this day would come,” a choked-up McGwire told the Associated Press that he began using steroids in 1989, and “used them on occasion throughout the ’90s, including 1998,” when he hit a then-record 70 home runs in a season. McGwire evaded questions about steroid use in a 2005 Congressional hearing, saying he would not “talk about the past.’’ He said this week he wanted “to come clean” to put the issue to rest before he begins working as the Cardinals’ hitting coach this season.
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