Posted by Tim Grabeal The voicemails and text messages piled up for Shelley Duncan, as they always do for youngsters who arrive on the scene so loudly. What set Duncan apart from his predecessors is we've learned something not only about him but about the man who has become baseball's biggest recluse. Apparently, Mark McGwire still follows baseball. "He's sent me some text messages," Duncan said Thursday. "He's private. He's living life. He's a normal Joe. He screws around with everyone. He's just raising his kids, having fun and living life. I very much respect that." Duncan, 27, has known McGwire for about 20 years. When McGwire won the American League Rookie of the Year award with the Athletics in 1987, Dave Duncan, Shelley's father and Tony La Russa's right-hand man, coached Oakland's pitchers. Shelley and his brother Chris, now with his dad and La Russa in St. Louis, regard McGwire as a father figure. Said Shelley: "Me and my brother, we wouldn't be where we are today without him." Shelley Duncan visited McGwire in Southern California last offseason to discuss the mental aspects of hitting. When you steer Duncan toward the issue of McGwire's ... you know, "past," to borrow from the 583-homer man's 2005 congressional testimony, Duncan doesn't come off as an eyes-wide-shut apologist. Rather, he puts McGwire's case in a historical perspective. "He's about as good a human being as there is in this world," Duncan said. "All of this stuff that is dragging along with him, I feel so bad for him, because he's trying to stay away from it as much as possible. He's just trying to live his life with his wife and kids. He's never stirred the pot. He's never done anything. People just keep pulling him in it. "... It's a shame that he got caught up with the whole era. People decided to use him as the picture for the era, which is completely unfair, in my eyes." It's agreed here that we shouldn't finger any one person, be it McGwire, Barry Bonds or someone else, for the sins of a baseball society. We all did our parts to create a 2007 in which McGwire is essentially in hiding. Now, that being said, McGwire did benefit plenty back in 1998, so it's not horribly unjust that he pay such a heavy price now. In addition to McGwire, meanwhile, Duncan credited Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre hitting coach Butch Wynegar and Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long (who worked with Duncan last year at Triple-A Columbus) for his impressive introduction to the big leagues.
on 8/5/2007, 11:48:59
Mark McGwire has big fan in Yankees' Duncan
Ken Davidoff
August 5, 2007
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