OPINION

By Stan McNeal

updated 7:17 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2010

ST. LOUIS - The Mark McGwire confession tour ended Sunday. How much his image has changed since admitting "the biggest mistake of my life" remains open to debate.

Do you believe he should be forgiven and allowed to move on with unending admiration for having the courage to admit he used steroids for 10 years? Do you believe he's a "creep" and should he be banned from baseball, as former Cardinals slugger Jack Clark does? Or do you believe McGwire took a step forward by admitting what everyone suspected, but should have been more open and truthful?

At this point, it doesn't matter. You can have your opinion. Whatever it may be, don't expect McGwire to provide more fodder to change it.

"Let's move on," McGwire said to close his first — and only? — press conference since his coming-out admission last Monday.

He opened the briefing by saying it was "awesome to be back" and the ballpark where he'll be working is "phenomenal."

Virtually the rest of the session was more of the same. McGwire did admit that a burden has been lifted. "It took some time to process it, like Monday night I couldn't answer when Bob (Costas) asked (in a TV interview). The past few days, to think about it and reflect, it's been lifted. I wish I could have done this five years ago. We wouldn't be having this press conference right now. But I feel better about it."

Reporters were told McGwire would hold his press conference in the same interview room where Cardinals players had been appearing for two days. But the Cardinals changed plans just minutes before McGwire appeared, telling the two dozen media types assembled to move into an adjoining hallway — a hallway that quickly became uncomfortably crowded.

Why the change? "Crowd and logistics," a Cardinals spokesman said before admitting that "in hindsight" the switch was a mistake.

(Translating logistics: By moving the press conference from a room to a hallway, McGwire was able to make a quick and easy exit. After a bit more than six minutes of addressing questions, that's what he did).

Before meeting the media, McGwire was trotted in front of Cardinals fans who had paid $40 to pack into a hotel meeting room to witness his first appearance since being named the Cardinals hitting coach in October. The long, thunderous standing ovation seemed a bit much even by standards of Cardinals fans famous for supporting their own.

"I can't describe it," McGwire said of the reaction. "My heart's beating fast, my stomach's turning. I didn't know what to expect. It was really cool. I've always said, best fans in baseball."

If the Cardinals have their way — and they likely will, judging by how they controlled the media Sunday — McGwire is finished talking about the past. "This is it," a Cardinals spokesman answered when asked if McGwire would be talking again before spring training. When the Cardinals reports to Jupiter, Fla., next month, don't look for steroids to be on the top of their trending topics.

So what do we know that we didn't know before his statement was released at 2 p.m. last Monday?

We know McGwire says he used steroids for a long time, from 1989-90 until 1999. We know he's sorry. We know he says he didn't use them openly.

We know he took them to help recover from injuries, not to help him get stronger and hit a baseball out of sight. Well, at least that's what he insisted last Monday. He seemed to distance himself from that widely criticized stance on Sunday.

Asked the 'why' question, McGwire simply said, "I made a mistake." Why did he continue? To paraphrase, he said we all have regrets.

McGwire addressed the media with a smile — more advice from his handlers? — and even made an awkward stab at humor by saying he returned only because the two-year project on a busy St. Louis freeway had been completed. He refused to get in a back-and-forth with Jose Canseco, he evaded an FBI accusation that he was a big-time user and he played down Clark's criticisms with the old line about having not read the story.

If anyone was expecting McGwire to be any more forthcoming, they were wrong. As soon as he completed his "Let's move on" line, he was moving toward the exit.

He was shuttled to the ballpark for the final stop of confession week: a photo-op in the batting cages. When he returns to Busch Stadium April 12 for the Cardinals' home opener, he will be in uniform for the first time in nine years. Think what you will about his return to baseball. At this point, McGwire doesn't care. He's moving on.