This Date In SOS History: Alex Rodriguez Admits To Steroid Use

What Do You Make of the Alex Rodriguez Case?
2/9/09

First Alex Rodriguez gets nailed for testing positive for steroids in 2003 with Texas.

I wasn’t at all surprised, because he always wanted to please people and always cared about his public perception. The title of this blog as of this morning was “Are You Really Surprised A-Rod Took Steroids?”. It made a lot of sense that he took ‘roids since not only is he so very competetive, he always cared about what other people thought and he wanted to meet the expectations of each and every human being who ever existed.

My perception of A-Rod didn’t change at all, he is, was and always will be a huge phony, a fraud, call it what you’d like. Then during journalism class I read that Rodriguez admitted to taking steroids not only in 2003, but in the two previous years in Texas.

“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure.” Rodriguez said in a small snippet of his interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons before they released the full version that aired this evening on SportsCenter. “

I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day.

“Back then, was a different culture,” Rodriguez said. “It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance. And for that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful.”

Finally, the most honest moment in A-Rod’s life comes when his back is up against the wall. At that point, the title for this blog was “Alex Rodriguez Comes Through In The Clutch.” Then I heard the entire interview with Gammons, and he says he didn’t know what he took, and went off on Selena Roberts, the Sports Illustrated writer who had first broken this story, claiming that she stalked him in Miami and New York and tried to break into his Miami Beach house while his daughters were sleeping.

He didn’t pull an Andy Pettitte or a Jason Giambi, coming clean and apologizing to his fans like he should have, but he didn’t do what Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are doing, standing behind the truth like a pathetic coward, which if I had to bet a large amount of money, is what I thought Rodriguez was going to do. But for the most part, he took the right approach, and took this like a man. And for that he made me think of him in a better light, and I have forgiven him, and he’ll go down as the greatest home run hitter who ever lived this side of Babe Ruth.

Rodriguez may be blasted for being disengenuous in the interview, but on this day in February, Rodriguez bought himself a ticket to Cooperstown, and an apology accepted from many baseball fans, including myself.