In this story from ESPN, Alex Rodriguez confirmed to Peter Gammons what had been alleged in the recent Sports Illustrated article; that he had taken performance enhancing drugs in the past.
Rodriguez states that between 2001 and 2003 he used PED to keep himself performing at his athletic peak. He cites pressure to perform and live up to his record-setting contract as his reasons for making this choice. A-Rod also cited a different culture during those times, when steroids and PED were used fast and loose.
What we know now, based on his own admissions, is that Rodriguez used substances that were technically banned by baseball to increase his performance. He did not get the body that he had at that time through mere hard work and exercise. Rodriguez says that he stopped using PED in Texas and that his Yankee years have been clean. However, he also claimed that he was entirely clean during a 2007 60 minutes interview, so the public is right to be skeptical of the full-disclosure of his most recent admissions.
So what do we make of this? Clearly, we can not view his accomplishments in the same light anymore. We know that there are at least 3 seasons of stats which were presumably aided by PED. He was named MVP of the AL in his final season in Texas, a year during which he admits to using PED. Any player who can be proved to be clean during that time deserves more credit for what they did clean than he does for what he used assistance to achieve.
Should Carlos Delgado, runner-up for the 2003 AL MVP feel cheated? If he himself was not using PED that season, I say yes. He didn’t enhance himself through unnatural means in that case, and still performed at the peak of AL players that year. Do we know that he or anyone else was clean? No, unfortunately we don’t.
Who can we believe now? Is there anyone who was clean? The SI story indicates that there were over 100 players who returned a positive test for PED of some sort in 2003. This testing was not universally applied. (Apparently all players on a 40-man roster were tested. Still not universal application, but more than I had previously suggested.) Who knows if the SI figure is accurate, and who knows how many players would have tested positive is all of baseball was tested?
Apparently, the players an union agreed to the testing on the condition that it would remain anonymous, and that no disciplinary action would be taken against those testing positive. There were no baseball -issued penalites for taking steroids during the years when A-Rod admits taking them. But now, many will argue that Rodriguez’ legacy is irreparably tarnished. The man many believed would (and still might) break Henry Aaron’s career homerun record is now labeled a cheater. A-Rod admits he made a mistake and shouldn’t have done what he did. Regardless of whether or not this information should ever have been made public (it shouldn’t), Rodriguez should not have put himself in the position to test positive.
I am not naive enough to believe that many other players we don’t know about have used illegal means to enhance their performance. We know about many steroid players, and assume many more. We know also know amphetamines, or “greenies” have long been a part of baseball culture. Many hall-of-fame icons were regular amphetamine users. Gaylor Perry threw spitballs, and Goose Gossage had sandpaper. A bump of cocaine gave many 70’s and 80s players a little giddy-up after a long night. A-Rod wasn’t right, and neither were any of these others.
Without defending A-Rod’s choice, I am really surprised at the reaction of people to this news. Didn’t Terry Bradshaw admit that he and others from the famous Pittsburgh Steelers of the 70’s used steroids? Where is the outcry against this beloved star and his iconic teams? Haven’t players been using various below-boards means to give themselves an edge for as long as sports have been around?I don’t understand how people are so willing to excoriate identified players without stopping to look at the entire situation. Definitively yes, those who cheat are wrong. But how do we know who did and did not cheat? Haven’t more and more players emerged as time goes by? Who can you confidently say did not cheat?
To be clear, I am not arguing that A-Rod cheating is in anyway OK. It wasn’t. I hope its true that he was clean when he was on my team, and that agruably his best offensive seasons came without the aid of PED. What bothers me is that we are learning about who did what piecemeal, and judging as we go. If all MLB players were not tested, and we can’t see the results of everyone’s test, why is it fair that some people are outed as cheaters, while other cheaters go scot-free? Why are people willing to nail divisive players like A-rod, without bothering to investigate whether other beloved players were clean or not. Also, why are football players, who may be the most juiced of all, given a pass on the public scorn?
