Home | Search | FAQ
Displaying 1-8 of 8 messages in this thread. |
| Posted By | Discussion Topic: Mark McGwire thinking of retiring | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TeenWeek what's a status? | posted on 07-06-2001 @ 9:05 AM |    | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00  | Thursday, July 5 McGwire contemplates calling it a career Associated Press ST. LOUIS -- Mark McGwire, stuck in the worst slump of his career, is wondering if the end of his brilliant career is near. A frustrated Mark McGwire doesn't know if he can regain his Ruthian touch. McGwire, in an 0-for-29 rut, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in an article Friday that he doesn't expect to be back at full-strength from a knee injury for at least a year. When asked if that could lead to his retirement and the end of the season, Big Mac said: "Good question. You talk to people about it and they say, 'You're not done. You're not done.' ... I think I'm still realistic. You have to look yourself in the mirror. There will be a day when you have to say, 'I don't have it anymore."' The 37-year-old first baseman said he was "embarrassed" about the slump that has dropped his average to .183. But he also said he hoped the second half of the season wouldn't be the end of his career. Two other baseball greats -- Baltimore's Cal Ripken and San Diego's Tony Gwynn -- have already announced that they will retire at the end of the year. McGwire signed a two-year contract extension earlier this season that will pay him $30 million in 2002-03. But he told the paper Thursday, "I don't want to cheat the team." "A lot of people don't give a damn," he added. "A lot of players don't have pride. A lot of players just play for the money and they don't care and they just go home. But I go home, and I can't sleep. I get paid a lot of money to do what I do and I'm not doing it." McGwire captivated baseball in 1998 when he broke Roger Maris' single-season homer record by hitting 70. He followed that by hitting 65 the next season, raising speculation that he could threaten Hank Aaron's career record of 755. But tendinitis in his right knee limited him to 32 homers in 89 games last season and McGwire has just seven so far this year, giving him 561. McGwire had surgery on the knee Oct. 21 and rehabilitated it during the offseason. He was limited during spring training and spent six weeks on the disabled list early in the season. "I'm at a crossroads right now," he told the paper. "I'm not 24 years old, and I don't heal as quickly. My legs are strong, but they're not the strength that I know. "I'm not going to be at full strength for a year. I really took for granted how much I use my legs. And I'm paying for it right now. I'm hitting lazy fly balls that I should be driving over the fence." | ||||
| Cluster F | posted on 07-06-2001 @ 11:22 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | If he does retire, it will be a shame, especially only a few years after he hit 70 homers. But, I think the end may be near for him to hang up his kleats. IF he's thinking about retirement just because of his slump, than that is not good at all. Yea i be taking that zoloff, but thaz jus keepin me from killin y'all. I have come here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm all out of bubblegum. :) | ||||
| Canweseeyourstuff | posted on 07-06-2001 @ 11:37 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | he's been battling injuries for a few yours now maybe all that andro shit he put in his body took a toll. it's a shame if he does retire no one hits them like he does. | ||||
| WookiePoolParty | posted on 07-06-2001 @ 11:44 AM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Mar. 01 | He used to say that the andro helped him recover quicker and heal up better. Maybe quitting the andro has hurt him? "I always fall asleep to the sound of my own screams... and then I always get woken up in the morning by the sound of my own screams. Do you think I'm unhappy?" | ||||
| mikeWOW | posted on 07-06-2001 @ 3:34 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Sep. 00 | i really wanted him 2 beat hank's record!! :( "i hate people that dont get it!" | ||||
| Tequila Fez claims this land in the name of Portugal! Why worry about the train if it never makes it around the tracks?? IrishAlkey wuz here!!! | posted on 07-06-2001 @ 8:14 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Jan. 01 | According to this he isnt CLEVELAND (AP) - Mark McGwire may be nearing the warning track of his career, but the St. Louis Cardinals slugger isn't going, going, gone just yet. McGwire said that while he's disappointed he's slumping, he is not contemplating retirement at the end of this season as was reported in a front page story in Friday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I'm struggling," McGwire said before the Cardinals opened a three-game series with the Cleveland Indians. "The question was asked, 'Do I think about it (retirement)?' Well, when you're 37 years old and you've played as long as I have, you always think about it. "Who doesn't think about it? ... It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out I'm at the end of my career. It's going to happen one of these days." McGwire snapped a career-long 0-for-29 slump with a single in his first at-bat Friday night. He had struck out 14 times and was hitless in his last eight games before ripping a sharp single to center off Charles Nagy. McGwire said he's developed bad habits while trying to come back from off-season knee surgery. McGwire, who came in batting .183 this season with just seven homers, was benched for Thursday's game in Milwaukee. In an interview beforehand, he told Cardinals beat writer Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch that he was "embarrassed" by his production and hoped to turn things around in the second half. "I sure hope it's not the last half of my career," McGwire told Hummel. Friday's Post ran a front page headline that said: "Frustrated McGwire Wonders if End is Near." McGwire said he wasn't expecting a simple interview to turn into big news. "Every word and every thing I do in the city of St. Louis is unfortunately huge news and somebody decided to take it and make it headlines," McGwire said. "Unfortunately, it was taken very much out of context. "... There is a headline person who saw the word 'retirement' and decided to use that as a headline. Maybe there was nothing going on in St. Louis yesterday." McGwire said he first realized the story had taken on a life of its own when he got a call from his girlfriend early Friday morning. "She said, 'You're the talk of the town,"' McGwire said. "And I said, 'For what?' She read me the headlines, and it really blows me away how the article was turned around." Brad Hainje, the Cardinals' assistant media relations director, said that by 10 a.m. his hotel voice mail was filled with dozens of questions about McGwire's future. "I knew I better get to the park a couple hours early," said Hainje, who shared a cab to Jacobs Field with McGwire. As McGwire was getting treatment on his knee before Friday's game, some of his teammates were having fun with news of his "retirement". "Hey, Mark," yelled center fielder Jim Edmonds. "All the guys are pitching in want to know if you want a Harley or golf clubs." McGwire said that in studying tape from the past two years there is a "huge difference" in the way he hits. He said he's not pushing off his back leg properly and unable to drive the ball like he's used to. "I've developed some bad habits that I am praying and hoping I can get out of," he said. "During the course of my career, I never realized how important my legs are for hitting. I'm paying for it right now. "I'm not who I am right now because of my surgery and my coming back from my knee problems. I didn't expect that this would happen, but it's another chapter I have to deal with in my career and we'll see where it goes." St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said he understands McGwire's frustration at not being able to produce his usual numbers or hit the ball 500 feet. But La Russa also thinks McGwire can get himself straightened out. "He is still the best bet we have for a lot of at-bats," La Russa said. "He would hurt us more by leaving than playing. I think he's still got a lot left." McGwire captured the nation's imagination in 1998 while hitting 70 homers to break Roger Maris' 37-year-old record. He hit 65 homers the following year, but only 32 a year ago when he played in just 89 games because of injuries. But McGwire said he's more concerned about his next at-bat than talking about any of his accomplishments. "Right now, that stuff is meaningless to me," said McGwire, who has 561 career homers. "What means something to me, is what I'm doing today. I'm sorry. Some people like to live in the past. I've never been like that." And when he does decide to retire? "When and if that day happens," he said. "I don't care to ever have a press conference. There's no reason to sit there and talk about why you're retiring. "When you retire. You just retire and go on with the second half of your life. I'll tell you what, the second half of my life is going to be much less stressful."  AOL/AIM - oanda1027fm | ||||
| PINKLETTUCE | posted on 07-08-2001 @ 5:30 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Apr. 01 | i hope he gets it together. he wants to retire because he's not playing well. i'd like to see him break the record. his cards would sky rocket. IF ASSHOLES COULD FLY THIS PLACE WOULD BE AN AIRPORT. THANX TO JOLENE FOR THE SIG PIC AND THANX TO BaLLooN Not FOR ALL YOUR HELP. | ||||
| Austin The Dark Enforcer/Angry Stoned Pimp G.O.O.F.B.A.H.G.S. New World Order Secret Police Chief Proud Inventor of the "Cream Cheese, Peanut Butter and Jelly" sandwich | posted on 07-08-2001 @ 6:32 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Feb. 01 | It would really suck seeing as Ripken is retireing after the end of this year and Gywin may retire at the end of the year.  Big thanks to Unicron for the Sig. | ||||
Displaying 1-8 of 8 messages in this thread. |