Mark McGwire begins life as the St. Louis Cardinals' hitting coach

Bat in hand, he no longer had things to admit.

He had swings to coach.

"It’s a relief those two days that I’ve gone through are over with,” said McGwire, who acknowledged publicly Monday that he used performance-enhancing drugs throughout the 1990s. "When Bob Costas asked me (Monday night) if the truth will set you free, it was really, well, I didn’t know how to answer that because I’ve never been in that position before. I’m just happy I got it off my chest and now I can concentrate on teaching.”

At a cozy indoor baseball training facility in an industrial area of Huntington Beach, the St. Louis Cardinals’ new hitting coach welcomed two of his charges for a morning workout. Skip Schumaker and Brendan Ryan meet McGwire two or three times a week to hit. They last worked out together Sunday, and the only mention of what McGwire did in the two days since was when Ryan arrived, shortly after 10 a.m. local time.

"What have you been up to?” the shortstop asked.

"Oh,” McGwire smiled, "not much.”

Hired in late October to join manager Tony La Russa’s staff as the hitting coach, McGwire demonstrated during the workout the hands-on zeal that convinced La Russa he could coach at the major league level, having never coached at any level before. Shortly after accepting the job, McGwire pulled a bat out of his collection and began hitting again. On Wednesday, he used a Rawlings bat, circa 2001, branded with his name. He pulled on batting gloves from a box stamped "2001,” and he wore Nike shoes with "MAC 25” stitched on the back. He eagerly took his cuts, showing instead of just telling Schumaker and Ryan what he means when taking a direct, "straight line” path to the ball.

He decided a while back a similar approach was needed with his past.

McGwire, talking with the Post-Dispatch after the workout, acknowledged that he realized early on that accepting the job as hitting coach was going to mean addressing the suspicions of his steroid use. He said by doing so this week he eliminated anything that could cloud his ability to coach, or connect with players.

He also said when he was offered the job he didn’t see it as a way to alter the public’s perception of his career.

But his wife, Stephanie, did.

"I don’t know why I never thought of it: The last image people have of me was standing up with my right hand in front of Congress,” McGwire said. "And she goes, ‘Now that you’re going to be a hitting coach, people are going to see you in uniform again.’ It’s unfortunate that I’m not going to be able to play. But also now my two young boys are going to see their dad in a uniform.”

The process of moving on started Wednesday, back in the cages. The gauntlet of interviews was over. McGwire said he’s "OK” to talk about his steroid use, as a cautionary tale.

But he’s more eager and freer to talk hitting.

"He’s so passionate about it,” Schumaker said as McGwire worked with Ryan on the position of his hands. "Until you come here and watch, nobody really knows how passionate. That’s what everyone is about to understand.”

McClatchy-Tribune News Service