Dec. 16, 2007
A-Rod: I've Never Used Steroids
Tells Katie Couric He's Never Been Tempted To Use Performance-Enhancing Drugs
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Play CBS Video Video 60 Minutes: A-Rod On Steroids Baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez talks about George Mitchell's report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball.
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Video A-Rod: Hi-Tech Practice Alex Rodriguez says his game has been improved by a state-of-the-art batting cage he built near his home. The star says that being a successful hitter is 90 percent mental and 10 percent technical.
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Video A-Rod: 'No' To Doping Alex Rodriguez says that he has never used performance-enhancing drugs and has never been tempted to because he has always been happy with his performance on the field.
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Alex Rodriguez (CBS)
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Timeline Steroids & Baseball Steroid use allegations plague Major League Baseball
"No," Rodriguez said. "But economics always play a part of it. I wanted the best deal the Yankees had for me. Whatever that number was."
"Some people say you overplayed your hand. That there wasn't that much interest in you among other teams," Couric remarked.
"I beg to differ," Rodriguez said.
Asked why, Rodriguez said, "I thought there was a lot of interest out there."
"You thought or you knew?" Couric asked.
"I knew," he replied.
By the time this contract is over, Rodriguez will have made nearly $500 million playing baseball. Life in Coral Gables, Fla., is a far cry from his childhood in Miami, which changed dramatically when he was only nine. His father abandoned his family, leaving his mother to support them.
"My mother's been a rock for a long time," Rodriguez said. "And again, she's working two jobs, secretary in the morning. She was a waitress at night. And it's funny 'cause when she got home and she would pick me up at the Boys and Girls Club in her beat-up car that half the times couldn't start, we would go home. And I was so excited to kind of get all her money out of her pocket. And I would sit there and count, you know, 23, 24, 25, 38, 40. Mom, you did great."
So has her son. Since high school, Alex Rodriguez has been one of baseball’s most promising prospects. At 18, he was the number one draft pick for the Seattle Mariners. Over the years he earned a reputation as a player who could do it all, blasting home runs despite the most determined outfielders, diving for balls, and gunning down runners.
But since he came to the Yankees four years ago, New York fans have had trouble warming up to the enigmatic Rodriguez, especially when they needed him the most.
"Why haven't you done better in the post-season?" Couric asked.
"I've stunk," Rodriguez admitted. "You know? I've done very poorly. And that's not acceptable."
Asked what it is like being booed by his own fans, Rodriguez told Couric, "Oh, that's awful. That's terrible."
This year there was a lot less booing. He seemed more relaxed and says he was finally comfortable enough to laugh at himself.
A state-of-the-art batting cage he built near his home raised his game. Every day in the off-season, he blasts his music and gets to work.
"How much of getting a good hit is technical and how much of it really is psychological?" Couric asked.
"I think it really comes down to 90 percent mental and you know, once Yankee Stadium, the lights are on, you have 55,000 people there. It's all about your mind. You know you better than that guy on the mound, and you cannot let that guy beat you. It becomes a competitive battle, one on one," Rodriguez said.
But the lights are on Alex Rodriguez 24-7, and he’s gotten singed, routinely described in the press as arrogant and disingenuous, not a team player. Then there were the tabloid reports about an alleged extramarital affair.
"It was a challenging time," Rodriguez recalled. "And you know, we’ve learned from it, we’ve regrouped, we’ve stood up and now I think we’ve become much closer because of the whole situation. "
It’s unlikely the media attention will go away, but some of it will focus on his potential to break the homerun record.
"These are the two MVP awards," Rodriguez told Couric in his memorabilia room. "And this right here is the Babe Ruth Award-
for most home runs in Major League Baseball. But I would like to yank all three of 'em and put World Championship there. That's my goal. That's my ultimate goal."
Today, Alex Rodriguez says he’s in a better position than ever to help make that happen. "I feel comfortable my team can expect me to be in the line up every day and at the end of the day, I get paid to be a Major League Baseball player, not anything else, and I do that pretty well."
Produced By Kyra Darnton, Michael Radutzky, and Lori Beecher
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 96 CommentsA-Rod, on the other hand, was impressive and handled her questions with tact and diplomacy.
All in all... it was nice to hear what he had to say and it''s too bad that we all had to be subjected to such an unprofessional interviewER
My gripe is - where does Katie Couric get off asking if Alex is worth is salary? She makes HUGE money and I feel she certainly is NOT worth her money.
She is a poor interviewer, pushy and snarky. Nothing professional about her approach or attack on people.
Loved the interview - hated the interviewer.
The creepy thing is the commissioners all knew everything and were hoping against hope that no one would notice. Well guess what, the roids are out of the bag. Barry Bonds should not be named homerun king if he used DRUGS to get there. Give it back to Hank Arron, at least you saw the struggle, the push, the white hair and finally the motherload. At least he worked for it.
Jboxton - who cares if you saw him cr** in his pants. Maybe that should have been a clue to not eat there.
Katie may not be the best journalist in the world. But I have questioned since she joined CBS how many of you do not like her journalistic style? How many of you do not like that a woman is the anchor of the news? and she interviewed A-Rod.
Congratulations upon a great interview with A-Rod! It was a very interesting interview with A-Rod like I''ve never seen before! I remember the Press Conference with the Yankees when he first joined a few years ago! He''s a great baseball player and he has come a long way! Especially without steroids!
You certainly hit the ball out of the park with this one, Katie! Congratulations! Peter
Couric''s skills as an interviewer are non-existent. That''s been demonstrated time and again. But her unpreparedness for this interview is the major offense. There IS no asterisk (Spelled like it sounds, Katie!) next to Barry Bond''s name. At least not yet. Your suppositions aside.
It''s obvious that Couric feels as if she''s in a position to make all decisions for everyone from the President of the United States right down to the Commissioner of Baseball. The facts need not be damned. She''ll be the judge of what that facts are.
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