Spring Break
A-Roid comes clean
Terry Horstman
Issue date: 2/10/09 Section: Sports
A shock went through the baseball world this weekend as yet another player was named as a steroid user in modern day Major League Baseball. That name was none other than Alex Rodriguez, one of the biggest names in the sport.
On Monday, A-Rod admitted that he indeed used banned substances while playing for the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, after signing the most expensive contract in the history of professional sports.
He signed for 10-years at $252 million making him the highest paid professional athlete ever and also putting more pressure (that he possibly couldn't have been ready for) on himself.
"When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt like I had all the weight in the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a very high level everyday," Rodriguez said in an interview with ESPN.
The pressure no doubt got to A-Rod, as he was already thought of as one of the best ever without steroids. Yet when you pay someone that much money, sometimes you get a bit more than you bargained for.
In his three seasons with the Rangers A-Rod hit 52, 57 and 47 home runs and won the MVP award in 2003. However, the Rangers (as a team) accomplished far less than anticipated. Signing A-Rod was supposed to make the team champions of the AL West, but they never achieved anything close to contender status - until they traded Rodriguez for a pile of young talent from the Yankees.
A-Rod's numbers in the three seasons he used steroids are much higher than the rest of his years in baseball by a long shot. He averaged 13 more home runs and 12 more RBIs per season when he was on steroids versus seasons in which he was not.
The numbers make it pretty obvious (in case there was any doubt left) that A-Rod was juicing. But since this was 2003, when the league was not suspending players for steroids, A-Rod will not be in any type of trouble with the MLB, especially since there's no proof that he's gone back to the stuff since his 2003 season.
On Monday, A-Rod admitted that he indeed used banned substances while playing for the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, after signing the most expensive contract in the history of professional sports.
He signed for 10-years at $252 million making him the highest paid professional athlete ever and also putting more pressure (that he possibly couldn't have been ready for) on himself.
"When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt like I had all the weight in the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a very high level everyday," Rodriguez said in an interview with ESPN.
The pressure no doubt got to A-Rod, as he was already thought of as one of the best ever without steroids. Yet when you pay someone that much money, sometimes you get a bit more than you bargained for.
In his three seasons with the Rangers A-Rod hit 52, 57 and 47 home runs and won the MVP award in 2003. However, the Rangers (as a team) accomplished far less than anticipated. Signing A-Rod was supposed to make the team champions of the AL West, but they never achieved anything close to contender status - until they traded Rodriguez for a pile of young talent from the Yankees.
A-Rod's numbers in the three seasons he used steroids are much higher than the rest of his years in baseball by a long shot. He averaged 13 more home runs and 12 more RBIs per season when he was on steroids versus seasons in which he was not.
The numbers make it pretty obvious (in case there was any doubt left) that A-Rod was juicing. But since this was 2003, when the league was not suspending players for steroids, A-Rod will not be in any type of trouble with the MLB, especially since there's no proof that he's gone back to the stuff since his 2003 season.
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