Mark McGwire finally came clean, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's single-season home run record in 1998.

Mark McGwire finally admitted Monday what he couldn't tell a Congressional committee nearly five years ago: His home-run hitting exploits, including his stirring 1998 run to the single-season record, were fueled in part by steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.

In a tearful 20-minute phone conversation with USA TODAY, McGwire said a desire to stay healthy and "get my body to feel normal" compelled him to use steroids in 1989 and 1990, and from 1993 to 1999.

McGwire said he often received steroids and human growth hormone from his younger brother Jay, a bodybuilder with whom McGwire says he has not been in contact with for eight years.

"I wish I had never taken steroids. It was foolish. I can't say enough how sorry I am," McGwire said, breaking down three times during his conversation with USA TODAY. "This is one of the toughest days of my life, so if I get emotional, bear with me. I have had to tell my son, my parents, my friends that I used steroids. It's been very hard. It's been very difficult."

McGwire's admission, made public with a statement sent to the Associated Press, comes five weeks before he will assume his duties as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Before coming clean publicly, he informed his family and made apologetic phone calls to Commissioner Bud Selig, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and Don Hooton, a Texas man who took up the anti-steroids fight after his son committed suicide after taking steroids.

He also contacted Pat Maris, widow of Roger Maris, whose 61 home runs hit in 1961 was the single-season record until McGwire hit his 62nd homer on Sept. 8, 1998.

That summer, the first murmurs of drug use sprouted when an Associated Press reporter spotted a bottle of androstenedione in McGwire's locker. Andro, as it's commonly known, is a steroid precursor that was legal at the time, but was banned by the International Olympic Committee.

McGwire had admitted taking it then. On Monday, he told USA TODAY it wasn't just andro: He resumed taking steroids in the second half of the '98 season to keep his body from wearing down.

McGwire often pointed at the Maris family in the box seats after hitting home runs that year, finally finishing with 70 home runs.

"She didn't want to believe it," McGwire said of his conversation Pat Maris. "I told her that I had to be honest. I told her I was so sorry for her, her family and Roger."

McGwire hit 583 home runs in his career, which ended after the 2001 season. But considerable doubt was cast on his accomplishments on March 17, 2005, when he famously told a congressional committee investigating steroids in baseball that "I'm not here to talk about the past."

Since then, he has been almost entirely out of the public eye, while his image took a public beating. He has appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot four times but has fallen far short of the required 75% required for induction.

But Monday's admission may bring relief to the game, if not redemption.

"I think that it's wonderful that he did this," said Hank Aaron, whose 755 home runs were the most in baseball history until Barry Bonds — indicted by a grand jury for allegedly lying about steroid use — broke the record in 2007. "It takes a big man to admit this and I want to commend him for that.

"He has asked for forgiveness. He has my forgiveness. If that's all that stands in the way between him being inducted into Cooperstown we should all forgive him. I'm extremely happy he came out with this. Now baseball goes on to another chapter."

Said Selig: "This statement of contrition, I believe, will make Mark's re-entry into the game much smoother and easier."

McGwire hit a rookie-record 49 home runs for the Oakland Athletics in 1987, but his career was wracked by injuries beginning in 1992. He played in just 74 games in 1993-94, but by 1996, was mostly healthy and hit 52 home runs in 130 games.

"I never suspected McGwire using steroids, and with the benefit of hindsight, I probably should have," says Sandy Alderson, general manager of the Oakland A's during that period. "That wasn't the case.'

"I'm glad he addressed this issue, and have begun to restore his reputation which suffered immeasurably over the last few years. He didn't lie to Congress, and given subsequent events, that distinguishes him from others from that panel.

"I'm glad he's confronted the past, now I look forward to him back in the game."