Feb 22 2010
Missouri Lawmaker Wants Mark McGwire Highway Removed
Most baseball players involved in steroids were able to comeback in the game without too much pressure and the public opted to welcome them back into the game. However, it is a different story for Mark McGwire. After admitting his steroid use last month, McGwire is still under scrutiny and criticism on his doping still continues. Hiring a former presidential adviser as a PR man seems not a solution to Mark McGwire’s dilemma. In his effort to gain his name back and probably forgiveness from baseball fans and critics, McGwire graced in many media interviews saying he was sorry for the decisions he made during the time where he broke home run records.
It seems that this effort of McGwire is not enough for him to be back in baseball. He was even criticized by his former steroid supplier for not telling the whole truth about his steroid use. The latest is the initiative of Missouri Senator Ryan McKenna of Crystal City. The lawmaker wants the name of Mark McGwire be removed from the Interstate 70 highway. But what is the main reason why Senator McKenna is pushing for the renaming of the highway? During his first term as a state representative, McKenna’s first legislation is to name the 5 miles of roadway in honor for the St. Louis Cardinal slugger who achieved 70 homers in 1998.
It was in 2007 when McKenna started to push for the removal of Mark Mcgwire’s name in the highway but he was not successful. That time McGwire’s alleged steroid use was all rumors and the baseball legend was ignoring the issue. The highway in St. Louis, which runs from the northern limit of the city, would be given back to its original namesake, Mark Twain. Before it was named to Mark McGwire, the portion of the interstate highway was named Mark Twain Highway. McKenna told the KMOX news that honor should not be given to people who stained the game of baseball. “We shouldn’t honor somebody who left a black mark on the game of baseball. Especially in a baseball town,” said the Senator.
The admission of McGwire came after he was hired as a hitting coach of the St Louis Cardinal. For Senator McKenna, the admission of the slugger has only firmed his decision to removed McGwire’s name in the highway. “When he came out (that he’d been juicing), it kind of solidified that I needed to rectify what I thought was a mistake in a bill that I had helped sponsor,” McKenna said.
The proposal which is part of a larger bill already received the approval of the Transportation Committee. The bill will also redesignate a portion of Lindbergh Boulevard in St. Louis County as “Dave Sinclair Highway” in honor of a prominent auto dealer Dave Sinclair, who died in September. It is expected that other lawmakers will give full support to this proposal.
Mark McGwire may just ignore this initiative but he must be ready for something worst if some people would push for the removal of his home run records from the books of baseball.

































































