Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003. That is very disappointing for sure, but I for one need more information. 5% of players were using performance enhancing drugs at that time. Why is he the only one being called out? Did he continue this after 2003? I mean has he been using steroids all along?
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Alex play baseball in person, but he is an amazing player. He has stood out from his peers at every level he’s ever played at. Physically he’s gotten bigger, but his numbers have been pretty consistent all along. Matter of fact after his rough 2006, he dropped some weight and bulk before his MVP 2007 season. Is it possible to get leaner and trimmer on the roids?
I have followed his plight for years now, and I will be very bummed if I find out he has been using all along. However if it comes out that this was a short term thing, I could very easily get past it. Alex has always been a guy who’s searching for something. I’m not sure if it’s acceptance, adoration or just a place that he belongs. I think he’d try a lot of things to find that something.
So let’s hope he just made a bad choice in 03-04. You know what sucks? Josh Hamilton can make several bad choices, but since it didn’t effect the integrity of the game, he was able to come back and be viewed as a hero. For some reason Alex has never been viewed as human, even though he proven to us many times that he is just that.
There is something that really upsets me about all this though. Why now? Americans need to question the media more and this is definitely one of those times. Why is this story coming out now? Why is Alex the only one being thrown to the wolves? Also did the union break the agreement to keep these records anonymous, or did somebody get too much access during the feds investigation?
I guess what bites the most is just when we are all getting excited about baseball, this is what we’ll have to hear about for a long time. The steroids era happened. Will we ever be able to move on from it? Will I be able to cheer for Mr. Rodriguez when he hits his 800th homerun? (as long as it’s not against the Rays of course)
Rays fans should be happy since their spring training should be pretty quiet and might actually focus on baseball. The whole media circus will be in Tampa. Speaking of Yankees fans…there is one that I’m pretty sure has never touched the roids. Jane Heller is a fellow blogger who’s book Confessions of a She-Fan has just hit the shelves. The girls at We’ve got Heart have an excellent interview with her as part of their Women in Baseball series. If you have extra time the whole series is definitely worth a look.
I am glad you are taking such a decent approach to the issue. I go further in that I do not think there is any reason to be disappointed in players who used steroids or to consider what they did cheating. That is largely a creation of the frenzied reporting of the matter and not a reasoned analysis of it.
When I was a young man, we knew that just about all ballplayers used amphetamines which, like steroids were illegal, banned, physically harmful and performance enhancers. But rarely are the athletes of that era, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Koufax, Gibson, Kaline, Yaz, et al criticized or their records questioned.
Refuse to be herded into sanctimony.
You know, 2003 who really knew and I would have just HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! too, but what really makes this guy the laughing stock and ruins any creditability is his denial in 2007. He Said
“I’ve never felt overmatched on the baseball field,” Rodriguez told CBS’ Katie Couric in December 2007, shortly after the Mitchell Report’s release. “I’ve always been in a very strong, dominant position. And I felt that if I did my work as I’ve done since I was a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level.”
Asked in that “60 Minutes” interview if he witnessed steroid use or had suspicions, Rodriguez responded, “You hear a lot of things. I mean, I came up in 1993. And you heard whispers from the ’80s and ’90s. But I never saw anything. I never had raw evidence. And, quite frankly, I was probably a little bit too naïve when I first came up to understand the magnitude of all this.”
In February 2008, Rodriguez raised eyebrows when he said that he was tested “nine or 10 times” in ‘07. That throwaway remark sent up red flags, and Rodriguez released a statement later that evening, clarifying that he had exaggerated the number of tests to prove a point and wasn’t being specific.
(Makes you wonder if Pena should have won MVP 2007 instead)
You dramatically oversimplify the entire issue of transparency and how players should respond when the questions of steroid use are raised. Typical of witch hunts is that when it becomes clear that the supposed crimes themselves are nonsense the maddened public then turns to worn out cliches about honesty and credibility to attack the people caught in the net woven by vicious, indecent and self serving panderers.
Since there should never have been a fuss about the issue in the first place, any response the players made, while some may be more noble than the others (as is the case with McGwire, who did exactly the right and honorable thing), nobody deserves condemnation either for lying, finger wagging or any other attempt to evade or misdirect attention.
“I’ve never felt overmatched on the baseball field,”
“I’ve always been in a very strong, dominant position. And I felt that if I did my work as I’ve done since I was a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level.”
“You hear a lot of things. I mean, I came up in 1993. And you heard whispers from the ’80s and ’90s. But I never saw anything. I never had raw evidence. And, quite frankly, I was probably a little bit too naïve when I first came up to understand the magnitude of all this.”
A-FRAUD is more fitting for bilking the public, the TEAMS THAT PAID FOR HONEST PERFORMANCES & abilities.
Taking of praise, money, trophies and records from honest players.
I will not get into this discussion again as I have been through it too often already. Suffice to say he bilked nobody and you are falling for the idiocy of the hysterical media. It should have been at most a matter of quiet negotiation between the players and owners.
Incidentally, I suppose you also think that Aaron, Mays, the Robinsons, Kaline, Clemente, Koufax, and all the rest were frauds and bilked the public and their teams.
At most, using steroids was a misdemeanor comparable to going 60 in a 55 mph zone.
Not perfect, but give this article a try:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8487
Of course, if you really want to delve into it in some depth, try this:
http://steroids-and-baseball.com/
Class Act
MLB – Sports Rumors
Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:54 am EST
A-Rod claims SI reporter stalked
Alex Rodriguez claimed in his ESPN interview that the Sports Illustrated journalist who first reported the Yankee star had tested positive for steroids in 2003 had stalked him and was cited by the Miami Beach police for trying to break into his home as his daughters slept.
But police departments from New York and Hoboken to Miami and Coral Gables say A-Rod never reported Selena Roberts’ alleged crimes to them, according to the New York Daily News.
“I haven’t been able to find anything to corroborate that she has tried to break into his home,” Detective Juan Sanchez of the Miami Beach police said. “I haven’t been able to find anything that corroborates the statement Alex Rodriguez made to ESPN.”
During the interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons on Monday, Rodriguez accused the SI columnist of stalking him and trying to break into his South Florida home.
Source: New York Daily News
Related: Álex Rodríguez
So you have no response except to refer to an entirely irrelevant story.
Let me refer you to another article that addresses what really should be the issue:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/a-slap-at-liberty/
Where is the real danger? What is the real crime? Who are the true low-lifes?
I love It! Bob I really think you’re great. I have read a lot of your blogs over the last 2 years and 90 pct agree with you. It’s great to banter and what a great time to be a rays Fan. If you or anybody else is at Fan Fest please come by and say hello. I will be Inducted into the Rays Pepsi Wall Of Fame at 12 noon
Thank you Charlie, and I return the compliment. This is the first year I have to miss the Fan Fest-other commitments made a while ago. Sorry to miss you, but congratulations.
First, we should all remember that negative stories always sell newspapers and create revenue better than positive ones. That’s why he’s being singled out…his Q-factor is so high, any schlub will know who he is.
Secondly, ARod broke the rules, yes, but he’s not the only one. He is, however, one of the highest-profile players to at least have the guts to face the music and admit what he did, that he lied and that he knows it was wrong.
Third, I think folks are jumping on the hysteria bandwagon because of his arrogant statements made to the media about his superior athletic abilities which, while incredible, do not qualify him for canonization. He hits a ball with a piece of wood and runs fast, for pete’s sake.
Let’s just all move on and cheer for the Rays to win the ALCS again, yay!
Pitchers and Catchers Report. THANK THE LORD. We all seem to have survived another long dark winter.
Happy Reporting Day. (yes it should be a national holiday)
Cathy, You are 100 pct correct and it would be oh hum and it’s not the denial It’s the way he denied it with his I’m better than all the rest…. “I’ve never felt overmatched on the baseball field,” Rodriguez told CBS’ Katie Couric in December 2007, shortly after the Mitchell Report’s release. “I’ve always been in a very strong, dominant position. And I felt that if I did my work as I’ve done since I was a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level.”
Asked in that “60 Minutes” interview if he witnessed steroid use or had suspicions, Rodriguez responded, “You hear a lot of things. I mean, I came up in 1993. And you heard whispers from the ’80s and ’90s. But I never saw anything. I never had raw evidence. And, quite frankly, I was probably a little bit too naïve when I first came up to understand the magnitude of all this.”