Well, rather then take the long, lawsuit-infested road to eventual full discovery that he did in fact use steroids, Alex Rodriguez today just decided to openly admit he used PEDs for three years as a Texas Ranger. And thankfully he didn't say that he accidentally "ingested" something. No, Rodriguez was pretty honest today with Peter Gammons, going over exactly why he used steroids.
"When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure, felt all the weight of the world on top of me 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 that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time."
Rodriguez said that he didn't really know what banned substances he took since they weren't technically illegal back when he was using them. Personally, I doubt that's true. If you're a pro athlete, and you're using a performance enhancing drug, you're going to know what it is. Sources who know about the testing results told SI that Rodriguez tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan, an anabolic steroid.
A-Rod says he stopped using steroids in 2003 when he was injured during spring training and has been clean since then, meaning his entire time in New York is natural, not enhanced.
The question of course is why is Rodriguez admitting this? Well, I think there are multiple reasons. First, A-Rod has seen what's happened to Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, two all-time greats who have taken their fight that they didn't use steroids to the bitter end - even though they both clearly did steroids. Meanwhile, A-Rod saw how Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte were treated after they admitted using PEDs, which was well, not so bad.
It's also a tactical move. America is a forgiving nation if you come out and admit what you were doing was wrong. Whether it's true or not, A-Rod can also fall back on the "Look, I stopped using them" excuse too. So, in that regard, it's probably smart to just admit you used steroids when you're caught red-handed. Perhaps admission can win you back some fans. It'll certainly win more people back then if you deny, deny, deny.
What's also interesting about this admission is that it gives a chance to look at how steroid use impacted A-Rod's play. So let's go to the numbers:
Three things are remarkably clear according to this data. A-Rod played more games, hit more homeruns, and slugged at a higher percentage while he was juicing. Truthfully, I wonder why stopped. I mean, 13 extra home runs a year? Man, that's a lot.
Anyway, I think the important thing here is that while A-Rod says he made a mistake, we should also realize that he made a real effort to deny that he ever used steroids, which may be the worst thing of all. Remember this 60 Minutes episode in December of 2007?
Rodriguez said of this 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?"
But let's be honest here, would A-Rod have ever admitted he used steroids if it wasn't for the SI report? I sincerely doubt it. So while I appreciate the admission, I would advise you all to take it with a grain of salt. A-Rod's admission has less to do with cleaning up the game - as he mentioned in the interview - then it does with him attempting to save his own butt as best he can.
A-Rod admits, regrets using PEDs [ESPN]
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