He knew he wasn’t taking tic-tacs.
Like a child being scolded by his parents, Alex Rodriguez’s bottom lip trembled as he addressed the baseball media on Tuesday and admitted and apologized for using performance enhancing substances from 2001-2003. The question that is circulating sports minds all over America is whether or not the three-time MVP was lying.
With his hair gelled back and his cheeks rosy, the red-eyed Rodriguez would have looked more natural in a low-budget porno. He constantly referred to himself as “ignorant” and “immature” when describing his past steroid use. He said that if had went to college he would have gained the maturity necessary to be a professional athlete.
He is right; he did enter the league when he was a ripe 18 years-old. But his alleged steroid years were 2001-2003 when Rodriguez was in his mid-twenties, and had already been in the Major Leagues for six seasons. He was still “immature” and “ignorant” after six seasons as a pro?
No longer is A-Rod focused on breaking Barry Bonds’ (tarnished) home run record – his goal is to eventually restore his image in the minds of baseball fans. He agreed to become a spokesman for the Taylor Hooton Foundation and will educate young people in America about the dangers of using steroids. That’s great, but it doesn’t change the fact that his career statistics, like Barry Bond’s and Mark McGwire’s, are tainted.
A quick glance at three, three-year spans of his career reveals a clear increase in his home run total in the years 2001-2003. In Rodriguez’s final three seasons with Seattle, 1998-2000, he averaged 41.67 home runs. He became a free-agent after the season and a signed a then record $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers. Once in Texas, and once he began using steroids, A-Rod’s all-star numbers became legendary: he was the first player since 1932 with 50 home runs and 200 hits in a season, and led the American League with 52 home runs, 133 runs scored, and 393 total bases.
In his three seasons with Texas, his steroid years (2001-2003), A-Rod averaged 52 home runs per season. He had secured his place as the greatest hitting shortstop ever and was on the verge of signing the most lucrative deal in major league history, again.
Before the 2004 season Rodriguez was traded to the New York Yankees for second baseman Alfonso Soriano. The wealthiest player in the league came to the wealthiest team. (Check out my article about A-Rod and the Yankees from April, 2008)
In his next three seasons, 2004-2006, Rodriguez averaged 43.7 home runs per season, a sharp decline from his three years in Texas. It is clear that Rodriguez’s home run numbers reflect his admitted steroid use from 2001-2003, yet A-Rod refused to acknowledge getting any edge from the drugs. “I’m not sure what the benefit was…” he said.
Leave a Reply