Alex Rodriguez admits to using steroids
In the wake of this weekend’s SI.com report that claimed he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez admitted to ESPN.com’s Peter Gammons that the report is in fact true.
His voice shaking at times, Alex Rodriguez met head-on allegations that he tested positive for steroids six years ago, telling ESPN on Monday that he did take performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers during a three-year period beginning in 2001.
“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day,” Rodriguez told ESPN’s Peter Gammons in an interview in Miami Beach, Fla. “Back then, [baseball] was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. I wanted to prove to everyone I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time.
“I did take a banned substance. For that, I’m very sorry and deeply regretful.”
Sources who know about the testing results told SI that Rodriguez tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan, an anabolic steroid. In his ESPN interview, Rodriguez said he did not know exactly which substance or substances he had taken. In 2003, there were no penalties for a positive result.
“I am sorry for my Texas years,” the New York Yankees third baseman said. “I apologize to the fans of Texas.”“The more honest we can all be, the quicker we can get baseball [back] to where it needs to be,” he said.
Rodriguez said he stopped taking substances after injuring himself at spring training in 2003 with the Rangers.
“It wasn’t a real dramatic day. I started experimenting with things that, today, are not legal,” he said, “that today are not accepted … ever since that incident happened, I realized that I don’t need any of it.”
Whether you like him or not, you have to admit Alex Rodriguez has more balls than Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and all of the other players that took performance-enhancing drugs and lied about it or danced around the topic. He got caught and fessed up and at the very least, we should be satisfied that he didn’t drag this situation out. Any player that knowingly took steroids and were caught should follow A-Rod’s lead because if there is one thing we’re know for in America, it’s forgiving and moving on.
That said, A-Rod better be telling the truth that his Yankee years have be clean. There’s nothing worse than admitting your mistake only to lie again. And one can’t help but wonder if he’s just using the “I was naive” excuse to dodge more bullets. He was 26 in 2001, it’s not like he was a 20-year-old kid who was pressured into taking steroids.
Posted in: MLB
Tags: A-Rod admits, A-Rod admits using steroids, A-Rod ESPN.com, A-Rod on steroids, A-Rod positive steroid test, A-Rod steroids, Alex Rodrgiuez, Alex Rodriguez admits steroid use, Alex Rodriguez admits to using steroids, Alex Rodriguez caught taking steroids, Alex Rodriguez steroid story, Alex Rodriguez steroids, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids, Alex Rodriguez used steroids, Barry Bonds steroids, Mark McGwire steroids, New York Yankees, Roger Clemens steroids, Texas Rangers
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You can guarantee the NY Daily News is going to investigate this a lot deeper. I expect in a week or so they will know where he got the drugs and how long he was taking them. You’re right…he better be telling the truth because the scrutiny will be intense. Pettitte had to change his story mid-stream when they found out he took it more than once and the fans seem to have forgiven him. A-Rod won’t be afforded that luxury. The fans don’t look at him as a true Yankee so if they find out he’s lying about how long he really took it and the circumstances, they’ll bury him.
Wow.
I sincerely hope that everything in the interview is true. I’m amazed that a player, albeit the best in baseball, actually straight up admitted to this.
When the best player in the league admits to taking steroids its a sad day for baseball. But when the league has been mired in this controversy for the past few years, A-Rod is a representative for these star players.
If he is coming clean and saying, “Look, I screwed up. Regardless, I’m still the best and I hope baseball continues to crack down on this,” then only can the league move on.
You know, Albert Pujols has seemed to escape all this and that’s great. Either way, Alex Rodriguez is the most recognizable player in baseball and his stepping up is admirable in the face of humiliation.
I am suprised quite frankly that this guy stepped up to the plate and admitted what he did, when he did it and where he did it.
I think he did the right and didnt waste time and for that I’m glad he did..
Now I want to hear from the other 103 guys
I’m so sick of Alex Rodriguez. I doubt that he is telling the truth even now. Why should we believe him now? And Yes, I want to know as a fan who the other 103 players are. I’ll bet we are going to be shocked. It is a sad day for the game. I for one am not optimistic. How will we ever know who is legitimate or if their records are “real?” Cheating just ruins everything, I wish to God they would realize that. They get to play the best game and yet they disrespect it. What Babe Ruth did and DiMaggio, Brett, Ryan and many others did is totally different than what the cheaters we sometimes unknowingly admire have done.
Joe’s Lock of the Week: Alex Rodriguez- http://jumpinginpools.blogspot.com/2009/02/joes-lock-of-week.htmla>
“Why should we believe him now?” Great point Ginn…why should we believe a guy who was bangin’ strippers behind his wife’s back, then a married skank in Madonna, which is an even worse offense. This piece of garbage didn’t come clean out of a sense of honesty, he came clean because he got caught (just like apologizing to his wife for the stripper incident), so let’s not make this guy into a hero for telling the truth once in his life…if it even is the truth. If he actually felt so terrible about it he would have told Katie Couric about it in the 2007 interview. Instead, he did a Raphael Palmiero.
The sad part about this is if MLB had a strong commissioner, this wouldn’t be an issue. Even sadder, A-Roid has so much talent, he didn’t even need the drugs.
Smartest thing A-Rod could have done, without question. I want to think that, by admitting that he was using for three seasons instead of just one, that he is being truthful, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Tom Hicks’ quote was my favorite part of the Yahoo news piece:
“I feel personally betrayed. I feel deceived by Alex…I certainly don’t believe that if he’s now admitting that he started using when he came to the Texas Rangers, why should I believe that it didn’t start before he came to the Texas Rangers?”
Ha ha ha hahahahahahaha! What a phony. I love how the owners, managers and GMs have yet to admit that they knew anything about any of this, and so far their truthfulness has not been questioned. What a joke.
T-Bone,
You are so right! We do need a better commissioner, I don’t think he really cares or knows what Baseball needs. I think that they are ALL IN IT TOGETHER. If you look at it, everyone makes money off of Baseball. The Owners, the Managers, players, Lawyers etc. They all make way too much. It’s a money making machine, essentially. The Television market has a lot to do with the rise in salaries for all of them. I personally am heart-broken thinking about this season knowing that there are 103 more cheaters and fans will have to suffer through more and more lies. I cannot believe that the Commissioner has not known about this and he has done nothing. The best justice for all of them is for the fans to not go to the games, if they lose money they’ll begin to change things.
I’m with T-Bone also. Look, this guy does an about-face when he gets caught. We all make mistakes,sure. This guy lied to us several times now … it’s no longer an “Opps, my bad” – it’s a trend.There are 103 more and probably more – but our boy A-Rod was going to be the next H R King of alltime – he is the target,especially when he went on tv two years ago and told us he never took anything … not even tempted ??? he had nothing to do with MaDonna either right ? Dude’s got Psyche issues.
As of today I still think Baseball is going to suffer a lot more. I hate to be negative, but it’s true. Where is it going to end. As much as I dislike Canseco, (by the way he would not have played at that level without steroids) I think that he was telling the truth. He said, “They would have to shut down Baseball,” if all the cheaters were exposed. My problem with him though is he is an admitted drug user. How can you trust that? But facts have shown that there are many using illegal or banned substances. I am so worried about MLB.
Here’s a question: Did Alex Rodriguez use a “Banned” substance or an “Illegal substance?” When and how will we know?
hey Alex how come you use steroids …… you should of thought of your career…..I’m your biggest fan ever ……how could you do that to your fans and to your coach……