I too was captivated by the home run chase of '98 and was equally disappointed to later find out the probably reasoning behind it. I have to agree with Buster Olney, a great baseball writer for ESPN, in that he isn't going to hold steroid allegations against players from this era unless there is definitive proof, otherwise, he'd have to exclude everyone. Here's another reason why I would give McGuire a pass, even though I personally do believe he did use steroids, he was a great player even as the skinny rookie, bashing 49 homers in '87. Same as Barry Bonds, it's not like the guy went from a slap hitter to a slugger purely as a result of steroids.

As a coach, these athletes set a horrible precedent. Steroids have never conclusively been proven to guarantee home run success, though. Hitting a baseball is more about hand eye coordination than brute strength. It almost certainly can help, but it's not going to make a guy a great hitter. If anything, it would be easier for steroids to transform someone into a power pitcher than hitter, yet this angle seems to be overlooked at times. How many of those 70 home runs came of pitchers who were juicing as well?

It is a tough call, but I'll give Big Mac the benefit of the doubt, not because of his great '98 season, but because of his prior success, when he was still able to rotate his shoulder 360 degrees.