Alex Rodriguez is the latest MLB player to admit to steriod usage

Photo by Jad Yaghmour

Alex Rodriguez admited to injecting himself with steriods from 2001-2003. 

The sport of baseball took another hit as one of the bright lights in the dark era of steroid use admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. Many hoped Alex Rodriguez would eclipse Barry Bonds’ controversial home-run record and usher in a new era of “clean” baseball superstars. His reputation crumbled on Feb. 7, when Sports Illustrated reported Rodriguez tested positive for anabolic steroids, testosterone and Primobolan in a secret league-wide drug test in 2003. Rodriguez (also known as A-Rod and now referred to as “A-Roid” and “A-Fraud”) admitted to using banned substances and apologized days later. In a teary-eyed press conference, he called himself “young and stupid,” said he had “made mistakes” and declared that in 2001, when he started using steroids, he was “feeling the pressure” after signing a record contract with the Texas Rangers for $250 million over 10 years.

Is this really an excuse? The New York Yankees slugger was already one of the most talented players in the game at that point and has still dominated the league since he stopped using steroids, particularly in his record-setting 2007 season. Now that he’s the youngest player ever to reach the career 500 home-run mark, it’s hard not to look back at the 2001-2003 seasons, some of the best of his career, with a little bit of contempt. Whether or not he was feeling immense pressure, the fact that he knowingly cheated in order to prove to everyone that he was one of the greatest players of all time gives us a taste of his priorities – fame and fortune at all costs.

Won’t somebody please think of the children? In an era of users like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Barry Bonds, the last thing baseball needed was another one of its heroes to be revealed as a juicer. Since 2005, A-Rod is the third Yankees’ player to admit to having engaged in performance-enhancing drug use. He was one of 104 players (of 1200) who tested positive for drugs in 2003. Clearly, this league has a lot of work to do in order to turn its image around. The past decade has been one drug-related disappointment
after another.

When will Major League Baseball (MLB) stand up and defend the sport they sell to millions of people worldwide? Since A-Rod’s revelation, many U.S. dignitaries have weighed in on the issue. Barack Obama called it depressing, adding that “it tarnishes an entire era.” MLB commissioner Bud Selig said A-Rod “shamed the game,” and many others have argued Rodriguez’s name should be kept out of Baseball’s Hall of Fame. No disciplinary action has been taken yet. What happens next – if anything – is sure to be interesting.