Question about importance of outgoing links

Is it good SEO to use outgoing links to your blog post when practical? If so, why?

Let's say I'm blogging about Cardinals batting coach Mark McGwire, for example. I could include a link to his wiki page or stats page from a major website like ESPN.

It's good yes. There have been plenty of posts on this already so be sure to read them.

I think even Matt Cutts has admitted this is a factor

try not to link to anywhere dodgy though