4.9 Mark McGwire: From the Bottom to the Top

“I really don’t think you can get to the top unless you actually scratch the bottom floor.” - Mark McGwire

Sometimes, you have to touch the bottom to know what you are made of.

In the summer of 1998, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa had the baseball and sports world held captive as they had a 2-man race to not only be that year’s homerun champion, but to break the homerun record that was set over 30 years earlier in 1961 by Roger Maris.

McGwire broke the record first and won the title by hitting 70 home runs that year, but issues around steroid abuse put a dark cloud over his record and career, and despite a Hall of Fame career, he might not ever make it into the Hall of Fame.

In an interview, McGwire said, “I really don’t think you can get to the top unless you actually scratch the bottom floor.” He said that despite being the 10th pick in his draft, he had a tough start in professional baseball and didn’t know if he was going to make it as a pro. He had several injuries in the middle of his career that sent him back to the bottom of the pit.

When we find ourselves at the bottom, we have two choices: We can either stop or keep going. When we decide to keep going, then we have to decide how. McGwire kept going, but he did it with the help of steroids, and that will forever stain his career; a decision he has expressed regret or making.

Keep going, but do it the right way.

Question of the Day: When you find yourself at the bottom, how do you pull yourself out without cheating yourself and the people around you?