OK, he wasn’t actively hiding.  He was just off the baseball grid.

Now he returns to St Louis to be the Cards hitting coach under new manager, Tony LaRussa.  And LaRussa has said that the organization won’t be doing anything to shield McGwire from the media.  Good.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m glad Mac’s back.  I’ve always been a big fan of his.  The steroids?  If you want to be a sports fan I think you just have to resign yourself to that reality.  It’s like a Snickers bar.  They’re unhealthy, but I love ‘em.

Anyway, being a fan of McGwire, I hope that right now he’s surveying the MLB landscape long and hard.  He should start with the last time we saw him, talking to Congress about the future and not the past, and continue all the way to A-Rod’s present status as World Series-bound hero.

It’s real simple.  Time to step up and get this over with.  Do an interview and do it soon.  Be candid.  Own it.  And, by the way, it’s too late for some kind of “I only did it twice” equivocation.  Take it on the chin, and you’re done.  The story will swirl around for a week or so and that’s it.  It will fade quickly.

Luckily, he’s just the hitting coach.  Once this matter is dispensed with, McGwire will be seen in dugout cameos, and not heard.  Seriously, when did we last hear from Don Mattingly (former hitting coach for the Yankees and currently for the Dodgers)?

The thing is, McGwire is one of those guys who just seems to be made for baseball.  Word has it that a number of top-notch hitters swear by his instruction.  And he’s still beloved in St Louis.  The Cards will be better for having Mac back, and hopefully he’ll be better for returning to the game he once ruled.  By next July he’ll be seen sitting in the St Louis dugout, seldom heard from, and kicking himself for that misguided Congressional Hearing strategy.