[Gremlinn]

A-Rod admits, regrets use of PEDs

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."

Rodriguez's admission comes 48 hours after Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for banned substances in 2003, the year when Major League Baseball conducted survey tests to see if mandatory, random drug-testing was needed in the sport.

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.

"Overall, I felt a tremendous pressure to play, and play really well" in Texas, the New York Yankees third baseman said. "I had just signed this enormous contract I felt like I needed something, a push, without over-investigating what I was taking, to get me to the next level.

"I am sorry for my Texas years. I apologize to the fans of Texas."

Rodriguez, who joined the Yankees for the 2004 season after a trade from Texas, said "all my years in New York have been clean." He also said it felt good to be honest about what he's done in the past.

"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."

He said the culture earlier this decade of taking performance-enhancing substances was "prevalent." "There were a lot of people doing a lot of different things," Rodriguez said, noting that he wasn't specifically pointing out the Rangers.

Rodriguez said he was told by Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the MLB Players' Association, that he might, or might not, have tested positive in the 2003 survey. A source told ESPN on Saturday that Rodriguez knew he had failed the test.

"I had never heard anything since," he said. "Whatever I was experimenting with in Texas might have been OK."

Rodriguez also said of his 2007 interview with Katie Couric on "60 Minutes," when he denied ever using steroids, that "at the time, I wasn't being truthful with myself. How could I be truthful with Katie Couric or CBS?"

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3894847

[Gremlinn]

Wow. An athlete, caught, after lying about it in the past. And what does he do? He owns up to it.

I have a new found respect for him. I've never been a fan. But this is so refreshing to hear. and to hear him say he did it for a few years, rather than the "oh, once or twice" lie.

[plalleste]

I agree that this is a refreshing admission, but it doesn't at all diminish what he did.

Or any of the other reasons to not like him...

[SoorgoBardy]

I still can't stand him but he did the right thing by admitting his past use.

[SingleMan]

I totally disagree.

I think the only reason he owned up to it was because the pressure was starting to come down on him, and it was becoming obvious that he did juice up. Despite his denials.

I think he regrets his actions because he got caught. Not because he had some ethical epiphany.

I also like this:

Rodriguez also said of his 2007 interview with Katie Couric on "60 Minutes," when he denied ever using steroids, that "at the time, I wasn't being truthful with myself. How could I be truthful with Katie Couric or CBS?" What kind of crap is that? What does, "I wasn't being truthful to myself" mean? Was he in denial? Did he forget he shot up? He was lying for the same reason all cheaters lie. He didn't want to get caught.

[Gremlinn]

I agree that this is a refreshing admission, but it doesn't at all diminish what he did.

Or any of the other reasons to not like him...

Oh, it's not like I am rushing out to buy a bobblehead, Salmon. I'm just surprised that he got this honest. All the SI story had was a 2003 test, and yet he admitted to three years of using. After what we've seen and heard over the past couple of years with McGuire, Bonds, Clemens, Pettitt, Giambi, et al , I'm just genuinely and pleasantly surprised to hear a professional athlete own his mistake like this.

[plalleste]

Oh, it's not like I am rushing out to buy a bobblehead, Salmon. I'm just surprised that he got this honest. All the SI story had was a 2003 test, and yet he admitted to three years of using. After what we've seen and heard over the past couple of years with McGuire, Bonds, Clemens, Pettitt, Giambi, et al , I'm just genuinely and pleasantly surprised to hear a professional athlete own his mistake like this.

100% agree with you there.

[SingleMan]

Oh, it's not like I am rushing out to buy a bobblehead, Salmon.

It's a good thing you didn't forget that second comma.

[Dertrioz]

What kind of crap is that? What does, "I wasn't being truthful to myself" mean? Was he in denial? Did he forget he shot up? He was lying for the same reason all cheaters lie. He didn't want to get caught. I am 100 % in agreement with this point. I need to find a spot for the barf when I hear the 'denial' excuse in many cases in life. As is most often the case, you are honest with yourself and then you CHOOSE to either make an excuse or bury it. It is a deliberate choice.

[plalleste]

It's a good thing you didn't forget that second comma.

You mean you're not gonna start carrying Salmon bobblehead dolls in the TAT store?

[Gremlinn]

It's a good thing you didn't forget that second comma.

Hey, there's a idea. Bobbleheads of TATeurs. We could give them away as SP prizes.

[Shiplyopidomi]

Jose Canseco was right once again as he said that A-Rod was "juiced". When Jose first came out years ago after admitting that he "juiced", he said Mark McGwire and other players were doing the same. The media thought he was in it 'cuz of the money but now it turns out that Jose was correct. At least A-Rod admitted that he took them 'cuz he probably wanted to show Seattle that they should have kept him.

[Gremlinn]

I totally disagree.

I think the only reason he owned up to it was because the pressure was starting to come down on him, and it was becoming obvious that he did juice up. Despite his denials.

I think he regrets his actions because he got caught. Not because he had some ethical epiphany.

I also like this:



What kind of crap is that? What does, "I wasn't being truthful to myself" mean? Was he in denial? Did he forget he shot up? He was lying for the same reason all cheaters lie. He didn't want to get caught.

I think we're using different standards for judging him.

You're using the "a man should be honorable in his deeds and actions" standard. Me, I lowered the bar to around cesspool level with MLB some years back, so he really didn't have to reach that high to impress me.

[immoceefe]

Saw the title and initially thought Andy Roddick? Really?

I guess that's what happens when you are totally ignorant to a sport such as baseball.. even living in US.

[SoorgoBardy]

When is MLB going to talk about those green pills or have they been banned now?

Me, I lowered the bar to around cesspool level with MLB some years back, so he really didn't have to reach that high to impress me. That's a wrap.

[SingleMan]

I lowered the bar to around cesspool level with MLB some years back, so he really didn't have to reach that high to impress me.

That's a wrap.

[Uvgsgssu]

Screw him!

[NumStulpata]

So. I was watching a little CNN. They had people calling in and showed some text messages they'd received.

The general consensus among viewers was that more baseball players should use steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs because it will make the game more exciting and help players perform better.

Never mind that steroids increase your risk of violence or aggressive behavior. I guess we don't have enough wife-beatings.

Does Chris Brown play baseball? He should fit right in.

Stupid is as stupid does.

[SingleMan]

MLB has become a joke. Give me a real sport! Like ice-dancing.

[hHwJ229h]

So. I was watching a little CNN. They had people calling in and showed some text messages they'd received.

The general consensus among viewers was that more baseball players should use steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs because it will make the game more exciting and help players perform better.

Never mind that steroids increase your risk of violence or aggressive behavior. I guess we don't have enough wife-beatings.

Does Chris Brown play baseball? He should fit right in.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Must be the same people who said that about on-court coaching.