Let’s start with the biggest positive here. Alex Rodriguez confessed today that the report from Saturday was true – and he did use steroids in the past. That was the right thing to do…well, not using the steroids…but, confessing that it was true…and doing it today, just a couple of days after the news broke. Then again, really, what could A-Rod have done given his lack of leverage here? You’ve got four sources confirming that he failed a PED tinkle-test in 2003. Trying to fight that rap would be pretty futile.
Personally, while it was the right thing to ‘fess up, I think Alex took the chicken’s way out by having a controlled confessional with Peter Gammons. I think it would have taken more guts to get in front of several members of the media, at once, like Andy Pettitte did, and stay there to answer every question – the easy ones and the tough ones – until there were no more questions to be asked. (As it is, A-Rod may have to end up doing this when he reports to Spring Training. And, it will be interesting to see how he handles that situation.)
Now, on to what Rodriguez said today…that he took PEDs while playing for the Texas Rangers during a three-year period beginning in 2001 – and that’s it. Well, that better be true – because, if he’s withholding anything here, and it comes out later, Pete Rose will look like a saint compared to A-Rod.
Personally, it would not shock me to hear that Alex started using PEDs back in 1999. There’s some numbers to support such a theory. Further, as I have seen the question posed elsewhere on the ‘net today: A-Rod conveniently started using PEDs immediately after he signed the biggest contract in baseball history? Does that make any sense?
Oh, that’s right, it was the “culture” in Texas that led him start using…meanwhile, the team that he played for just before that, the Seattle Mariners, were also, reportedly, a merry band of PED-users. But, for some reason, when he was younger, playing in a park not friendly to hitters, working towards his free agency payday, A-Rod was able to plug his ears with bees’ wax and ignore the PED sirens. I dunno…maybe it’s that Texas heat that just makes one susceptible to temptation? Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Also, it would not shock me to hear that Alex used some form of PED after playing for the Texas Rangers. Sure, as his agent Scott Boras is quick to tell, Rodriguez has been tested several times in the last five years and never came up positive for any banned substances. But, again, they can’t test for everything these days. They don’t test for HGH. And, I’m sure that someone with A-Rod’s disposal income would be able to obtain the cream of the crop, undetectable, designer PEDs that are light-years ahead of what can be tested for…at this moment.
Let’s pause here for a minute – so that I can ensure that I’m being perfectly clear here. I am not claiming that Alex Rodriguez used PEDs before and/or after the period that he confessed to, today, while he was with the Texas Rangers. More so, I’m just sharing that it would not shock me, all things considered, if it was found out that he did use PEDs while he was in Seattle and/or New York (in addition to his time in Texas).
Lastly, on this topic, did you notice A-Rod’s response today when Gammons asked him whether his steroid use took place only from 2001 through 2003? Alex’s answer was: “That’s pretty accurate, yes.”
Hmmm…if that’s not leaving the door open a bit, what is?
There were other issues with A-Rod’s comments today. For example, does he truly think anyone is going to believe that he wasn’t really sure what he was taking back then? That’s what he said, and, I quote: “Peter, that’s the thing. I mean, again, it was such a loosey-goosey era. I’m guilty for a lot of things. I’m guilty for being arrogant, of being naive, not asking all the right questions. To be quite honest, I don’t know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.”
Com’on Alex…you make it sound like it was Woodstock and everyone was passing the peace-pipe and you just took a hit with the rest of the gang. Somehow, I find it hard to believe that’s how it all went down.
Moving along, while I give Alex high marks for confessing albeit tempered because of the delivery method and some vague answers, his attack today on Selena Roberts was a terrible plan on his part. He would have been much better off doing his best Borat impression and saying something like “If Ms. Roberts were here right now, I would say to her ‘Listen pussycat, smile a bit’ and nothing more.”
The whole smear campaign on Roberts this afternoon makes A-Rod sound like he’s sweating something that’s going to be in her new book (on him) and this was a somewhat preemptive strike.
In any event, it’s done now. The story has been broken. A-Rod has offered a confession. And, because of this whole mess, the President of our country, during his first prime-time news conference this evening, had to field a question on Alex – and the CIC offered that, when, “you take shortcuts you may end up tarnishing your entire career.”
And, that’s where A-Rod is today. His career is tarnished. His integrity is to be forever questioned. Think about that for a minute. If Alex hits 55 homeruns this season, many people will wonder if he’s using something that’s beyond detection. If Rodriguez bats .275 with 32 homeruns this season, many people will wonder if he’s been scared straight and this is the A-Rod you get without PEDs. Or, they will wonder if his head is so messed up over the PED situation that he’s now a Jimmy Pearsall case.
But, Alex brought this all on himself, right? It’s just too bad, as Yankees fans, that we have to watch the whole thing go down in our own backyard.
Yankees fans can only hope this is the last “A-Rod situation” that they will have to endure. Then again, nine years is an awful long time for Alex to stay out of the news…and, like I said, beware that Selena Roberts book coming this spring…and, of course, beware the fact that the A-Rod PED file has now been opened. It may just not be an open and shut case…even with Alex’s confession to Gammons today.
