By Phil Sheridan
The Philadelphia Inquirer
TAMPA, Fla. (MCT) - In a nationally televised news conference attended by many of his New York Yankees teammates, Alex Rodriguez admitted injecting a performance-enhancing drug for nearly three years as a member of the Texas Rangers from 2001 to '03.
"I screwed up big time," Rodriguez said at the end of the nearly 40-minute news conference. "The only thing I ask from this group and the American people is to judge me from this day forward. That's all I can ask for."
Rodriguez said a cousin, whom he declined to identify, brought an "over-the-counter" substance called "Boli" from the Dominican Republic in 2001. It is possible that "Boli" is slang for Perobolan, which is the substance that Sports Illustrated reported triggered Rodriguez's positive drug test in 2003. Perobolan is not legal in the United States even with a prescription.
"It was his understanding that it would give me a dramatic energy boost and otherwise harmless," Rodriguez said. "My cousin and I, one more ignorant than the other, decided it was a good idea to start taking it."
Rodriguez said his cousin injected him with the substance approximately twice a month for six months.
"Neither of us knew how to use it properly," Rodriguez said. "We consulted no one and had no good reason to base that decision. It was pretty evident that we didn't know what we were doing."
Rodriguez admitted using steroids from 2001 to 2003 after Sports Illustrated reported that he was one of 104 players to test positive during what was supposed to be anonymous survey testing in 2003.
Asked how a professional athlete in the first year of a 10-year, $252 million contract with the Rangers would risk using a substance he knew nothing about, Rodriguez, who was 25 at the time, said only that he was "young and stupid." He also said he was not sure whether the substance was a steroid or whether it even helped him.
"I'm not sure what the benefit was," said Rodriguez, a three-time AL MVP. "When you take any substance, it's half mental and half physical. If you take this glass of water and you say, I'm going to be a better baseball player, if you believe it, you probably will be. I certainly felt more energy, but it's hard to say."
If he "didn't think they were steroids," as he said, then why were he and his cousin so secretive about it?
"That's a good question," Rodriguez said after a pause. "I knew we weren't taking Tic Tacs. I knew it potentially could be something that perhaps was wrong. I really didn't get into the investigation. I wouldn't imagine doing something like that today, obviously. It's a different world, a different culture."
Rodriguez said he stopped taking "Boli" in 2003 after a neck injury that "scared me half to death" and because MLB began its drug-testing program with penalties in 2004.
"At that time," he said, "it became evident to me how serious this all was."
He said he had never taken human growth hormone but acknowledged using Ripped Fuel, a product containing the now-banned substance ephedra, "in the Seattle days." Rodriguez played for the Mariners from 1994 through 2000.
Asked about critical comments made by Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer, his former Seattle teammate, in an interview with The Inquirer, Rodriguez said: "I'm sorry Jamie feels that way. He's definitely entitled to his opinion. . . . I'm going to focus on what I can do and move forward."
He reacted in similar fashion to questions about remarks made by MLB commissioner Bud Selig and Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt.
When the subject of his possible pursuit of the all-time home run record and his legacy came up, Rodriguez sounded especially contrite. His public admissions, first in an interview on ESPN and Tuesday, are clearly part of a strategy to salvage his reputation and his potential admission to the Hall of Fame.
"My best year of my career, arguably, was when I was 19, 20 years old in Seattle," Rodriguez said. "My other best year was in '07, just two years ago. So I hope that after my career is over, the evidence falls in my favor. But if it doesn't, I also understand that."
Rodriguez's 10-year contract with the Yankees, signed before the 2008 season, includes incentives worth millions of dollars if he catches and passes Barry Bonds for the all-time home run record. He has 553 home runs; Bonds' record is 762. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said there was little the team could do to change the contract.
"It is what it is," Cashman said. "We have to approach Alex as an asset who is going to be on this team a long time. If this is Humpty Dumpty, we've got to put him together again and put him back up on the wall."
Last week, Rodriguez was approached by the Taylor Hooton Foundation, which is named for a 17-year-old high school baseball player who committed suicide while withdrawing from steroids. Don Hooton, who has made steroid education his life's work since the loss of his son, said Rodriguez could help reach millions of young people.
"He's the perfect person to talk about this," Hooton said. "We've never reached out to any of the other players implicated in this."
Rodriguez said he would work with Hooton to try to educate young people about the dangers of steroid abuse. He apologized to baseball fans everywhere, as well as the Yankees organization and his teammates.
"For a week here, I kept looking for people to blame," Rodriguez said. "And I ended up looking at myself at the end of the day."
___
© 2009, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Visit Philadelphia Online, the Inquirer's World Wide Web site, at http://www.philly.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
_____
PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): rodriguez
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Posted By James Brierton to Matador: News at 2/18/2009 04:46:00 PM
The Philadelphia Inquirer
TAMPA, Fla. (MCT) - In a nationally televised news conference attended by many of his New York Yankees teammates, Alex Rodriguez admitted injecting a performance-enhancing drug for nearly three years as a member of the Texas Rangers from 2001 to '03.
"I screwed up big time," Rodriguez said at the end of the nearly 40-minute news conference. "The only thing I ask from this group and the American people is to judge me from this day forward. That's all I can ask for."
Rodriguez said a cousin, whom he declined to identify, brought an "over-the-counter" substance called "Boli" from the Dominican Republic in 2001. It is possible that "Boli" is slang for Perobolan, which is the substance that Sports Illustrated reported triggered Rodriguez's positive drug test in 2003. Perobolan is not legal in the United States even with a prescription.
"It was his understanding that it would give me a dramatic energy boost and otherwise harmless," Rodriguez said. "My cousin and I, one more ignorant than the other, decided it was a good idea to start taking it."
Rodriguez said his cousin injected him with the substance approximately twice a month for six months.
"Neither of us knew how to use it properly," Rodriguez said. "We consulted no one and had no good reason to base that decision. It was pretty evident that we didn't know what we were doing."
Rodriguez admitted using steroids from 2001 to 2003 after Sports Illustrated reported that he was one of 104 players to test positive during what was supposed to be anonymous survey testing in 2003.
Asked how a professional athlete in the first year of a 10-year, $252 million contract with the Rangers would risk using a substance he knew nothing about, Rodriguez, who was 25 at the time, said only that he was "young and stupid." He also said he was not sure whether the substance was a steroid or whether it even helped him.
"I'm not sure what the benefit was," said Rodriguez, a three-time AL MVP. "When you take any substance, it's half mental and half physical. If you take this glass of water and you say, I'm going to be a better baseball player, if you believe it, you probably will be. I certainly felt more energy, but it's hard to say."
If he "didn't think they were steroids," as he said, then why were he and his cousin so secretive about it?
"That's a good question," Rodriguez said after a pause. "I knew we weren't taking Tic Tacs. I knew it potentially could be something that perhaps was wrong. I really didn't get into the investigation. I wouldn't imagine doing something like that today, obviously. It's a different world, a different culture."
Rodriguez said he stopped taking "Boli" in 2003 after a neck injury that "scared me half to death" and because MLB began its drug-testing program with penalties in 2004.
"At that time," he said, "it became evident to me how serious this all was."
He said he had never taken human growth hormone but acknowledged using Ripped Fuel, a product containing the now-banned substance ephedra, "in the Seattle days." Rodriguez played for the Mariners from 1994 through 2000.
Asked about critical comments made by Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer, his former Seattle teammate, in an interview with The Inquirer, Rodriguez said: "I'm sorry Jamie feels that way. He's definitely entitled to his opinion. . . . I'm going to focus on what I can do and move forward."
He reacted in similar fashion to questions about remarks made by MLB commissioner Bud Selig and Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt.
When the subject of his possible pursuit of the all-time home run record and his legacy came up, Rodriguez sounded especially contrite. His public admissions, first in an interview on ESPN and Tuesday, are clearly part of a strategy to salvage his reputation and his potential admission to the Hall of Fame.
"My best year of my career, arguably, was when I was 19, 20 years old in Seattle," Rodriguez said. "My other best year was in '07, just two years ago. So I hope that after my career is over, the evidence falls in my favor. But if it doesn't, I also understand that."
Rodriguez's 10-year contract with the Yankees, signed before the 2008 season, includes incentives worth millions of dollars if he catches and passes Barry Bonds for the all-time home run record. He has 553 home runs; Bonds' record is 762. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said there was little the team could do to change the contract.
"It is what it is," Cashman said. "We have to approach Alex as an asset who is going to be on this team a long time. If this is Humpty Dumpty, we've got to put him together again and put him back up on the wall."
Last week, Rodriguez was approached by the Taylor Hooton Foundation, which is named for a 17-year-old high school baseball player who committed suicide while withdrawing from steroids. Don Hooton, who has made steroid education his life's work since the loss of his son, said Rodriguez could help reach millions of young people.
"He's the perfect person to talk about this," Hooton said. "We've never reached out to any of the other players implicated in this."
Rodriguez said he would work with Hooton to try to educate young people about the dangers of steroid abuse. He apologized to baseball fans everywhere, as well as the Yankees organization and his teammates.
"For a week here, I kept looking for people to blame," Rodriguez said. "And I ended up looking at myself at the end of the day."
___
© 2009, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Visit Philadelphia Online, the Inquirer's World Wide Web site, at http://www.philly.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
_____
PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): rodriguez
--
Posted By James Brierton to Matador: News at 2/18/2009 04:46:00 PM
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