Mark McGwire

“Performance-enhancing drugs are an illusion. I wish I had never gotten involved with steroids. It was wrong. It was stupid.”

“I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids.”

“Once and for all, I did not use steroids or any other illegal substance.”

“I wish that every player could feel what I've felt in visiting ballparks. The receptions I've received, it's blown me away. It's absolutely remarkable.”

“There's not a pill or an injection that's going to give me, going to give any player the hand-eye coordination to hit a baseball.”

“I'm not here to discuss the past... I'm here to be positive.”

“I have had to tell my son, my parents, my friends that I used steroids. It's been very hard. It's been very difficult.”

“The only team that could have competed with us was the Cubans. It's too bad they're boycotting. The teams we're playing just can't compete with our power.”

“I sort of missed one big thing, to touch first base. I hope I didn't act foolish, but this is history.”

“The steroids I did were on a very, very low dosage. I didn't want to take a lot of that. I didn't want to look like Arnold Schwartzenegger or Lou Ferrigno.”

“I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn't have done it, and for that, I'm truly sorry.”

“Wouldn't it be great if we just ended up tied? I think it would be beautiful.”

“You don't know that you'll ever have to talk about the skeleton in your closet.”

“Baseball was a chapter in my life, and now I'm excited to start another chapter as a hitting coach.”

“I don't know if I want to break my own record. I think I would rather leave it as it is.”

“I've been thinking about the record since I reached the fifty plateau. But you think about it and then you let it go because you can't waste many brain cells on hours thinking about it.”

“I think it puts baseball back on the map as a sport. It's America's pastime and just look at everyone coming out to the ballpark. It has been an exciting year.”

“I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989 -1990 off season, and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again.”

“I tell you what, I was so shocked because I didn't think the ball had enough to get out. It's an absolutely incredible feeling. I can honestly say I did it.”

“In '83, we went over to Amsterdam. I just remember people saying, 'Baseball's just starting over here. They're learning how to play the game of baseball.'”