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Rodriguez Admits to Use of Performance Enhancers

ESPN, via Associated Press

Alex Rodriguez told ESPN on Monday that he did not know what performance-enhancing substances he took and hasn’t taken anything since 2003.

Published: February 9, 2009

Alex Rodriguez acknowledged Monday that he used performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers from 2001 to 2003, a confession that casts doubt on the achievements of the player widely considered to be the best in baseball.

The admission also makes Rodriguez, who joined the Yankees in 2004 and has 553 career home runs, the most prominent baseball player to admit that he has knowingly used illegal substances. Three other equally famous players — Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire — are widely suspected of having used performance enhancers, and have become infamous for their denials. Rodriguez took the blame in a lengthy interview on ESPN.

“When I arrived at Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure,” Rodriguez told the interviewer, Peter Gammons. “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 it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naïve. 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.”

Rodriguez maintained that he did not know precisely what substances he took and stressed that he has not used performance enhancers since joining the Yankees. His failed test came in 2003, the first year baseball tested for drugs. The testing that year was done on a survey basis, without any penalties, and the results were supposed to be anonymous.

But in April 2004, federal agents seized all of the positive urine samples from the 2003 testing as part of their investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. On Saturday, SI.com, the Web site of Sports Illustrated, reported that Rodriguez’s 2003 sample was seized.

Rodriguez said he stopped using performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 after sustaining a neck injury in spring training. As he lay in bed contemplating his baseball mortality, he said, he considered the possible long-term effects of steroids.

“I realized, ‘What am I doing? Not only am I going to hurt my baseball career, I’m going to hurt my post-career,’ ” Rodriguez said. “It was time to grow up, stop being selfish, stop being stupid and take control of whatever you’re ingesting. And for that I couldn’t feel more regret and feel more sorry, because I have so much respect for this game and the people that follow us. And I have millions of fans out there who won’t ever look at me the same.”

The careers of Bonds and Clemens have been similarly tarnished, though both differ from Rodriguez because of their denials. Bonds has been indicted on perjury charges stemming from his testimony before the Balco grand jury in 2003; Clemens is now under investigation for perjury in connection with his testimony before Congress last February.

At his first formal news conference Monday, President Obama called Rodriguez’s admission “depressing news” that tarnishes an era in baseball.

“What I’m pleased about is, Major League Baseball seems to finally be taking this seriously, to recognize how big of a problem this is for the sport, and that our kids hopefully are watching and saying: You know what? There are no shortcuts; that when you try to take shortcuts, you may end up tarnishing your entire career, and that your integrity’s not worth it,” Obama said.

Rodriguez is not subject to suspension by baseball, because he failed his test before punishments were enacted. Nor does he appear to be in any legal trouble. Baseball enacted drug-testing penalties in 2004, and since then, under guidelines that have been toughened several times, he has likely been tested at least seven times.

In this period, he has never been linked to a positive test.

Rodriguez averaged 52 homers a season with the Rangers, including his career high, 57, in 2002. As a Yankee, he has averaged 41.6 home runs a season, with a high of 54 in 2007. Rodriguez was named the American League’s most valuable player in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Despite that success, Rodriguez has been a focal point for criticism and self-imposed drama. In previous springs with the Yankees, he has irritated Red Sox players by boasting about his workout routine and irked Derek Jeter by announcing they were no longer close friends. Those issues look tame now.

Rodriguez becomes the third Yankee in five years to apologize for using performance-enhancing drugs in February, when spring training begins. Jason Giambi apologized in 2005 and Andy Pettitte did so last spring. Yankees pitchers and catchers report to camp in Tampa, Fla., on Friday; Rodriguez reports with the position players on Feb. 17 in a scene that will test both him and his teammates.

“I’m glad he came clean,” the Yankees’ Johnny Damon said in a telephone interview. “Now he can go out and concentrate on baseball. He had some explaining to do and a lot to deal with, and as a teammate, I’m going to do what I can to try and help him get through a difficult time. I’m sure it’s going to be a rough year, but for us to win, we’re going to need him to be good.”