Staff reportFormer Cubs first baseman Mark Grace said he never took steroids because he was afraid they would ruin his sex life.
Grace appeared on the Dan Patrick radio show Thursday (to be air late night on WSCR-AM 670), calling Mark McGwire's excuse that he used steroids to recover from injury "baloney" and saying he doubted his former teammate Sammy Sosa would come clean. He also explained why he was never tempted to juice.
"I am a single guy now and I was a single guy then and I like my sex life," Grace said. "I want to be able to perform. It's kinda funny but it's not. That stuff will tear you up as far as your manhood's concerned."
Never one to downplay his reputation as a bachelor who enjoyed the night life during his 13 years with the Cubs, Grace embraced his role as a singles and doubles hitter who hit 173 career home runs during the steroid era.
Photo: Mark Grace and Sammy Sosa enjoy a moment together in 1998. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Tribune)
"I did a lot of things that weren't real good for my body but steroids was not one of them," he said.
Grace called McGwire's claim that he took steroid only to heal from injuries "beyond belief baloney."
"I would love to hear, 'You know what I took steroids because I wanted to hit the ball farther, I wanted to throw the ball harder or I wanted to run faster,'" he said. "Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, why did they take steroids? To run faster, not to heal from injuries. They did it to run faster, OK? And I would love to start hearing, 'You know what, I did steroids because I wanted to improve my performance on the baseball field. I wanted to be bigger so I could hit the ball farther, I wanted to be able to run faster or I wanted to be able to throw the ball harder.' Then I'll start respecting some of these guys who come out and give the reasons for their steroid use. But, you know, "I had an injuruy...' Every ballplayer, every football player, every basketball player has some kind of a little nagging injury during the season. That's a baloney cop-out."
As for Sosa, Grace said he doesn't think his former teammate will come clean because he's never been caught using performance-enhancing drugs. (The New York Times reported in June that Sosa failed a 2003 drug test.)
"The only thing he got caught doing was corking his bat. Certainly there's red flags as far as Sammy's concerned."
Patrick asked if Sosa's excuse in that he used the bat by accident was valid.
"You know what bat you're taking up to the plate," Grace said. "Pitchers know what bat they're taking up to the plate. So that's a little more baloney."
Listen to the entire interview: 670thescore.com
Grace called McGwire's claim that he took steroid only to heal from injuries "beyond belief baloney."
"I would love to hear, 'You know what I took steroids because I wanted to hit the ball farther, I wanted to throw the ball harder or I wanted to run faster,'" he said. "Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, why did they take steroids? To run faster, not to heal from injuries. They did it to run faster, OK? And I would love to start hearing, 'You know what, I did steroids because I wanted to improve my performance on the baseball field. I wanted to be bigger so I could hit the ball farther, I wanted to be able to run faster or I wanted to be able to throw the ball harder.' Then I'll start respecting some of these guys who come out and give the reasons for their steroid use. But, you know, "I had an injuruy...' Every ballplayer, every football player, every basketball player has some kind of a little nagging injury during the season. That's a baloney cop-out."
As for Sosa, Grace said he doesn't think his former teammate will come clean because he's never been caught using performance-enhancing drugs. (The New York Times reported in June that Sosa failed a 2003 drug test.)
"The only thing he got caught doing was corking his bat. Certainly there's red flags as far as Sammy's concerned."
Patrick asked if Sosa's excuse in that he used the bat by accident was valid.
"You know what bat you're taking up to the plate," Grace said. "Pitchers know what bat they're taking up to the plate. So that's a little more baloney."
Listen to the entire interview: 670thescore.com
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I wish Mark Grace took steroids so that he could've gotten to 3000 hits.
I wonder if Grace would man up and give back his World Series ring if it's discovered that Luis Gonzalez and other D-Backs teammates were on steroids that year.
Shamrock,
Are you kidding "greatest hitting 1B in history." That's the hardest I've laughed in a long time. He wouldn't be close the best hitting 1B in Chicago history. Go have a look at Frank Thomas numbers. Who, by the way, was the only player to cooperate with the steroid investigation a few years ago.
It's a misconception that steroids ruin your sex life. Steroids are synthetic versions of the naturally occurring sex hormone testosterone. They actually improve your sex life. Look at all the male porn stars using juice, or Jose Canseco when he was playing ball. It's only when you go off the juice that your body's homeostasis is out of whack because it stopped producing testosterone when it was be administered through a syringe. That's why guys who use it for 20 years become impotent and resort to fertility drugs like Canseco and the one Ramirez got caught using. If anything, steroids make you a stud, but they throw your body's dynamic equalibrium out of sorts, hence players during their careers fornicate like a thorougbred but are as limp as a schoolgirl when their careers are over. You see, the body produces more estrogen to compensate for the increased levels of testosterone, so when guys go off the juice, they are not only impotent, they grow breasts and experience male pattern baldness. It's BS steroids ruin your sex life. Most of these Frank Thomas or Grace guys who come out of the woodwork to lambaste outed roiders were juicing too. Don't kid yourself, they don't pay you that much money not to take steroids.
It's baloney not to believe with how grace "kept up" his body and partied till 3 a.m. that when he didn't role into wrigley for morning bp he wasn't popping greenies like chic lits...I get tired of guys coming out now whining..roids were in full force when Grace entered baseball in the late 80's and never said anything..leave it to Gracey to pimp himself out for an interview.
Palmiero was Grace on steroids.
Why speak up now! They knew back then it was going on why didn't they do something about it back then? Is there a code of silence among ball players? If so, why talk now. If they respected the game so much they should have done something about it during the juice ERA. If you didn't stand up to them users back then then shut up now! A cheater is a cheater and if you know they are and don't say anything your just as bad.
Man can you imagine if Grace took steroids? He would of probably been on of the best hitting 1B in history. All he was missing was power numbers.
Although Grace probably didn't need steroids. If the guy just went into a weight room a couple of times during his career and actually worked out he probably could of averaged 35-40 homers a year. Problem was he really didn't take care of himself at all. Besides drinking and partying he also smoked cigarettes during his career and never worked out during the season or off-season.
Lucky he got away with that, if I was the owner paying someone millions each year I would of made him lift weights.
good old Gracie. i wish the Cubs would hire him to be their slumpbusting coach.
It's refreshing to hear this from a pro athlete! When these guys come out and say things like "I only did steriods to recover from injury", do they think we're all morons?? I completely agree with Grace, and it's awesome to hear a clean athlete get mad about it.
One fact that many people never seem to remember is that Mark Grace had the most hits out of anyone in the 90's. Pretty good hitter i'd say. Glad he got to win the world series, even if it wasnt with the Cubs
I THINK IT IS TIME FOR MARK,BARRY,AND SAMMY TO MAN UP AS MR GRACE SAYS AND SAY I TOOK THEM TO MAKE ME BETTER. THEN THEY SHOULD HELP BASEBALL OUT BY ASKING THAT ALL THEIR RECORDS BE ERASED,SINCE THEY ARE TAINTED RECORDS.
PEOPLE WOULD REALLY RESPECT THEM AGAIN AND THIS EFFORT SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO'S NAMES ARE HIDDEN IN THE CLOSED TEST REPORT COMING FORWARD. THAT WOULD TAKE THE CLOUD OF SUSPICION OFF THE CLEAN PLAYERS OF THE ERA.
THE HOF VETERANS COMMITTEE COULD LOOK AT PLACING ANY OF THESE PEOPLE LATER WITH THE ABOVE MENTIONED MANNING UP BEING CONSIDERED.
SOUND LIKE A PLAN? TOO GOOD TO HAPPEN? SURE!
yawn