Mark McGwire was always viewed by A’s fans as the Bash Brother that was on the straight and narrow. Jose Canseco was the one who the media mocked with his fast cars, the dating Madonna and the overall “bad boy” reputation of the boys in this famous poster which I can say once hung on the wall in my childhood home:
Mark McGwire: The Baddest of the Bash Brothers
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↵But times have changed. The shine of the late 80s and early 90s A’s has long since passed. And the roles have completely changed. Jose Canseco may still be a joke by participating in reality shows, trying his hand at MMA and having home runs bounce off his dome, but it turns out that the man who was always honest with all of us was Canseco. Mark can think that he can come clean and all will be forgiven, but everyone already knew. If he had wanted redemption, he should’ve come clean in front of Congress when his Bash Brother had called him out on it.
↵The 1989 championship was one of the greatest memories ever for A’s fans. The team won the World Series against the cross-town hated Giants (I’m not one of those half and half wearing fans). McGwire and Canseco were a big part of that team and all that success. It just feels hollow now as these heroes continue to show just how flawed they really are.
↵At least we’ll always have Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers and the rest of the dynastic early 70s A’s. For A’s fans these days, those mustached-heroes seem so very long ago, replaced by roided up cartoon characters with confessions that come way too late to save the soul. Or the fans.
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