Steroid Use
In July 2007, former outfielder and steroid-user Jose Canseco said that he was planning to publish another book about Major League Baseball, to follow his 2005 bestseller Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. Canseco said his new book would have "other stuff" on Rodriguez, and called him a hypocrite, gay and loser. At the time, Rodriguez denied accusations of steroid use. In a 2007 interview with Katie Couric, Rodriguez flatly denied ever having used performance-enhancing drugs.
In February 2009, Selena Roberts and David Epstein of Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez had tested positive for two anabolic steroids, testosterone and Primobolan, during his 2003 season playing for the Texas Rangers, the same season in which he captured his first American League Most Valuable Player award, broke 300 career home runs (hitting 47 that year), and earned one of his ten Silver Slugger Awards. The information had been part of a government-sealed report detailing 104 major league players (out of 1200 players tested) who tested positive for performance enhancers during a 2003 drug survey. Approved by the players themselves with the promise of anonymity, the survey was conducted by Major League Baseball to see whether a mandatory drug testing program might be necessary. At the time, as the result of a collectively bargained union agreement, there was no penalty or punishment for a positive test. Because more than 5% of the samples taken from players in 2003 came back positive, mandatory testing of major league baseball players began in 2004, with penalties for violations.
The 2003 test results were supposed to remain anonymous and the samples destroyed. However, a coded master list of 104 players was seized during the BALCO investigation, turning up in a 2004 federal raid on Comprehensive Drug Testing's facility in Long Beach, California. A month later, the physical samples were seized by federal agents raiding Quest Diagnostics in Las Vegas, Nevada. The list of the 104 positive-testing players was released to the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) in 2004. The players' union later said that the 104 positive samples were in the process of being destroyed when they were subpoenaed by federal authorities in November 2003, making continued destruction "improper."
Although testosterone is available by prescription for some uses, Primobolan has no approved prescription use. Also known as methenolone or metenolone enanthate, it is the same steroid that Barry Bonds is alleged to have tested positive for in 2000 and 2001. A fairly weak steroid on its own, it is generally used in conjunction with other steroids. The drug is generally preferred in injected rather than oral form due to its cost. An official statement by Major League Baseball made shortly after Rodriguez's test results became public expressed "grave concern" without naming Rodriguez, noting that "because the survey testing that took place in 2003 was intended to be non-disciplinary and anonymous, we can not make any comment on the accuracy of this report as it pertains to the player named."
In an interview with ESPN after the report came out, citing "an enormous amount of pressure to perform," Rodriguez admitted to using banned substances from 2001 to 2003. "All my years in New York have been clean,” he added, saying he has not used banned substances since last taking them following a spring training injury in 2003 while playing for the Rangers. "Back then, was a different culture," Rodriguez said. "It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance. And for that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful." Rodriguez said he could not be sure of the name(s) of the substance(s) he had used.
Rodriguez said he was never told that he was among the 104 players who tested positive, only that a tip came in August 2004 from Gene Orza of the MLBPA that he "may or may not have" failed his 2003 test. Orza is accused by three (unnamed) MLB players of tipping Rodriguez to an upcoming drug test in September 2004. Orza and the MLBPA have denied the allegations.
Rodriguez absolved the players' union of any blame for leaking his positive test results, saying he alone was responsible for his mistakes. Friend and former teammate Doug Glanville, while noting the outrage over Rodriguez's years of steroid use, berated Rodriguez's critics for their "lack of outrage about how a confidential and anonymous test could be made public." No Major League player, Glanville wrote, would have participated in the 2003 survey if he had thought the results had even a chance of becoming public. "It has everything to do with privacy. Being A-Rod should not change that fact."
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig briefly considered whether or not to punish Rodriguez for his admitted steroid use, citing the illegality of the situation, among other things. However, at the time of the testing there were no punishments for this sort of activity. Additionally, his admission to three years of steroid use could be damaging to his image and legacy.
Later in the month, Rodriguez called a press conference in Tampa, Florida, and in the presence of many supportive Yankee teammates, answered reporters' questions about his 2001–2003 steroid use. Rodriguez said he and a cousin (whom he refused to name) bought an unidentified drug over-the-counter in the Dominican Republic, where it is “known on the streets as boli or bollee.” At Rodriguez's instruction, the cousin transported the drug into the United States. For six months of the year, Rodriguez injected himself twice monthly with "boli" (a drug name unfamiliar to experts and perhaps a slang term for Primobolan or Dianabol, although the latter steroid is taken orally). Rodriguez said he did not know whether he was using the drug properly or whether it was safe. Although he "certainly felt more energy," Rodriguez said it would be "hard to say" whether it gave him a competitive edge.
Rodriguez said he would become a spokesperson for the Taylor Hooton foundation, which educates young people about the dangers of steroid use. He has since spoken at schools about the dangers of steroids.
A few days later, the cousin who provided Rodriguez with the steroids was identified as Yuri Sucart, a resident of Miami, Florida. Sucart drove Rodriguez home from the first preseason game after Rodriguez's steroid use admission on February 24, 2009; Yankees officials have since informed Rodriguez that Sucart is not permitted at any team gathering.
On February 28, 2010 the New York Times reported that Rodriguez received treatment from Canadian sports doctor Anthony Galea in March 2009. Galea is under joint investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Buffalo Field Office for distributing human growth hormone to athletes. Galea confirmed to the Associated Press that he treated Rodriguez but said he only prescribed anti-inflammatories.
Read more about this topic: Alex Rodriguez