McGwire's brother at odds on reasons for steroid use

Mark McGwire said last month he took steroids only to heal, and not to get stronger. But that doesn't match younger brother Jay McGwire's recollection.

"Mark knew that he was going to get the strength and endurance and size. I know that the main motive to justify taking steroids was healing," Jay McGwire said Wednesday. "I know that for a fact. But in the long run he knew the strength and the size and endurance will increase. I don't know why he's coming across that it was all healing."

Estranged from his brother for eight years because of a family dispute, Jay McGwire has gone public in "Mark and Me: Mark McGwire and the Truth Behind Baseball's Worst-Kept Secret," which is scheduled for publication Monday by Triumph Books.

"He knows his game went to the next level because his body went to the next level," Jay said. "He knows. The body, the before-and-after pictures, are amazing."

When he finally admitted last month that he used steroids, after he was hired as hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, Mark McGwire said it was only to help him get through injuries.

"I knew if he stayed healthy, Mark would hit a lot of home runs, but I didn't know he'd hit 70," Jay said.

Jay McGwire says in the book he persuaded his brother to start using steroids regularly in 1994 and set him up with a supplier.