Steroid cheat wants to remain Cardinals hitting coach

Five regular-season months into his first coaching job at any level, Mark McGwire described Wednesday how he’s had a steep learning curve, how there have been plenty of frustrations, and how the coaching bug has bit him, bad. “I know one thing after this, I would really love to be a hitting coach for many, many years,” the former home run king said. “We’ll talk about it when the season is over with and evaluate it then. But I have really enjoyed it. It’s been a great learning experience for me. I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights. I’ve had a lot of great nights.” McGwire is on a one-year contract with the Cardinals, and any decisions about the club’s coaches will come this offseason, probably after manager Tony La Russa has deliberated on his own return. At the time of his hiring, La Russa and the club acknowledged that it was a mutual experiment — that McGwire wanted to start a second baseball career as a coach and La Russa wanted to give him that opportunity. — St. Louis Post-Dispatch