“Big Mac” was happy to be back at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter Florida last week.

McGwire stood around the batting cages and developed the Cardinal sluggers for this upcoming season as the new hitting coach.  He knew that the past would be brought up once again, and he spoke to some of the reporters during the first day of camp.

“It’s something I regret,” he said, according to ESPN.com.  “I can’t say that I’m sorry enough to everybody in baseball and across America and whoever watches this great game.  Listen, it got the chance to go out there and get more at-bats.  It got me the chance to play.”

Tony La Russa, who was a big supporter of McGwire, hired him to pour his baseball knowledge into these players and make them become better. “He’s the best,” said McGwire to ESPN.com. “He’s like a second father to me.  He seen me grown as a hitter, and grown as a person.’’

The dog days of summer will hit the Cardinals team very hard because of all the reporters that will follow McGwire everyday to get the entire story. He’s trying to turn the page and put this ugly, taxing, life, which he is succumbing to live forever.

This season will be about the player’s honing their own skills and playing during the postseason.  McGwire wants to help make this team a contender, but will the player’s listen to him?  It will be interesting to see as Spring Training gets underway.

“It’s a new chapter in my life,” McGwire, said (www.ESPN.com). “I’m excited about it.  I can’t wait to get going.”