CNATI: Cincinnati OH Sports Journalism

The invisible man has reappeared. He's back in baseball, back where he always belonged, back where he had made a name for himself -- a name tarnished now, though.

His return was preordained -- really. Few men with high profiles walk away from the game and leave it in their rearview mirror. And Mark McGwire was hardly different. He was a star, after all; stars can't live without the attention and the adulation that stardom brings.

And not many athletes were as famous as Mark McGwire. Not many men are as infamous as Mark McGwire either.   

What fame he had has long since eroded, washed away in a flood of allegations about his use of steroids.

His assault on Roger Maris' record for homers during the summer of 1998 riveted the sports world. He and Sammy Sosa, a partner in the chase, were nightly fixtures on sports shows.

The two sluggers were the talk of the game, the toast of baseball. More than a few people have claimed McGwire and Sosa fueled the game's revival that summer of 1998.

Much has changed since '98. The allegations about what led to that power surge proved true. McGwire had artificial help. He abused steroids, although his recent confession didn't do anything but state the obvious. 

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