McGwire and Sosa had redeemed baseball. When it was later proven that both had used PEDs (despite their years of denials), it was more deflating than unfathomable. Some fans felt betrayed, but most just felt stupid. McGwire was the most physically imposing hitter of all time, who’d somehow grown stronger as he got older. Sosa was a thirty-year-old adult with acne. It seemed so retrospectively obvious—and, in retrospect, it was.
