By Mary Granath Posted February 18, 2009
On the night of February 10, 2009, Alex Rodriguez admitted to ESPN that he had used performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. This confession comes as quite a shock after he famously denied the use of steroids to CBS anchor Katie Couric over a year ago in an interview that was prompted by the release of the Mitchell Report.
In that same interview, A-Rod verified that he hadn’t even been tempted to use steroids, stating that he “never felt overmatched on the baseball field.”
However, on February 10, Rodriguez attempted to sell a completely different story. “When I arrived in Texas I felt an enormous amount of pressure,” said Rodriguez, “I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day.”
Notoriously known for being the highest-paid baseball star in the league, Rodriguez is now making 300 million-plus playing for the New York Yankees. Rodriguez is claiming that he never used steroids while with the Yankees and his team stated that they will “take him at his word,” nevertheless, the rest of America won’t.
A-Rod isn’t the first beloved baseball player to have his reputation tarnished by the alleged use of steroids. He now follows in the footsteps of many great players, among them are Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Yankee teammates Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte.
In a well-rehearsed apology to his fans, Rodriguez said, “I did take a banned substance, and for that, I’m very sorry and deeply regretful.”
Well, Alex, that’s really nice of you, unfortunately, we don’t want your apology, just our money back for every time we paid to watch steroid-user play baseball.
