After years of keeping mum on the steroid allegations against him, Mark McGwire suddenly made a public apology. He issued a statement Monday about his steroid use for almost a decade. That was the time when he broke the home run record in baseball. But the most interesting part right now is the way McGwire handles the issue. Most baseball writers believe that the admission of the baseball legend was carefully planned and done with the help of a public relation professional. Many people wonder how he manages to appear in several media outfit in just one day discussing his steroid story. McGwire’s interview and appearances include USAToday, ESPN, MLB Network and other media.

Mcgwire’s PR man is no other than Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary of President George W. Bush from January 2001 to July 2003. Fleischer set up a consulting firm Ari Fleischer Sports Communications in 2008 which handles crisis management for most sports organization. The firm is a joint venture with IMG Sports & Entertainment. IMG is another sports agency which handles big names in the industry including Tiger Woods.

Some of the clients of Fleischer include the Major League Baseball and National Football League. In 2008, he was hired by the Green Bay Packers to handle their problems with star player quarterback Brett Favre. The management of the Bowl Championship Series also contracted the firm to improve their image. Aside from handling sports related cases, Fleischer was recently hired by the office of the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The objective is to improve the country’s positive media coverage in the United States.

McGwire’s live and tearful interview with the veteran sports journalist Bob Costas on the MLB Network raised eyebrows of some fans and critics. They still question the sincerity of McGwire.  He doesn’t believe that steroids help him perform better in baseball but critics think otherwise. When asked by Costas on his steroid use, Mcgwire insisted that he used the drugs to speed up his recovery from injuries and it did not improve his performance. Ann Killion of SI.com wrote in his article, “Oh please, it’s 2010. We’re not morons.” She also added that even if McGwire doesn’t believe steroids helped him hit a baseball further, he still had an unfair advantage. “Using steroids to recover in a game where everyone is fighting for a job is cheating,” she said.

Dave Perkins of The Star commented that the scripted apology of McGwire will not improve his Hall of Fame chances. “The bottom line here is that McGwire was a marginal hall of fame candidate in these eyes and remains so. His steroid use, which was obvious and taken for granted here, didn’t enter into this equation chiefly because there’s no way to know who was and who wasn’t using PEDs back then, or exactly how level and legal the playing field was. Or wasn’t,” he said. Perkins said that the guidelines for the Hall of Fame candidate are clear that the player should possess “integrity, sportsmanship and character.”

Major League Baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, welcomes the decision of Mark Mcgwire. “I am pleased Mark McGwire has confronted his use of performance-enhancing substances as a player. Being truthful is always the correct course of action,” he said. “This statement of contrition I believe will make Mark’s re-entry to the game much smoother and easier,” the commissioner added.

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