The famed home-run hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals is playing the role of hero again, but this time he’s not doing it on the baseball diamond. The Mark McGwire Foundation for Children this week sent out the first four checks of $175,000 each to two charities in Missouri and two more in Southern California as part of McGwire’s pledge to donate $1 million a year for three years to help abused children.
“God gave me the ability to make people happy and help them out,” McGwire said. “This is the start of something I plan to be involved with for a long time to come.” McGwire gained fame earlier this year when he hit his 70th home run of the year, breaking the Major League Baseball home-run record set by Roger Maris in 1961.