A-Rod Steroids Report A Baseball Shocker

Yankees Superstar Who Told CBS News He Never Used Is Reportedly On Long List Of Those Testing Positive In 2003

(CBS/AP)  Baseball power player and celebrity athlete Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez once again became a lightning rod for controversy Saturday, as published reports said the New York Yankee tested positive for steroids in 2003.

Four sources told Sports Illustrated Rodriguez appears on a list of 104 players as having failed a drug test for two anabolic steroids, Primobolan and testosterone, in tests conducted as part of a Major League Baseball investigation. The New York Times also confirmed the story, citing two sources.

At the time, Rodriguez was playing for the Texas Rangers and was the year's American League home run king and MVP. Baseball did not have penalties for steroid use in 2003 and the results were to remain sealed and anonymous -- but in 2004 federal agents seized the records from a Long Beach, Calif., lab.

"I think it's a big deal for Major League Baseball because here was the player that they really had counted on to be their feel-good guy," Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts told CBS News. "Until now he had always said he was the clean one and I think most people believed that."

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Watch more from the interview with Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts

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In a statement issued Saturday but the MLB, Executive Vice President of Labor Relations Rob Manfred said, "We are disturbed by the allegations... 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."

Dozens of baseball greats, including 7-time Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens, were outed for using steroids in George Mitchell's 2007 investigation. But Rodriguez was not known to be involved, and in an interview with CBS News Anchor Katie Couric which aired three days after the Mitchell report was released, he denied ever taking steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance.

"I've never felt overmatched on the baseball field," he told Couric. I felt that if I did my, my work as I've done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn't have a problem competing at any level," he said.

Yankees fans were not kind in the wake of Saturday's report. "It shows that he's a hypocrite. A liar and a hypocrite," said fan Jonathan Ceresa.

So far Rodriguez has not commented on the allegations. CBS News placed calls to his agent Saturday but they were not returned.

Tom Verducci, co-author of the new book "The Yankee Years," told CBS News' Jeff Glor he's not surprised by the news.

"I just think that we've been through this so many times before, and we understand that during that period of what has been referred to as 'the steroid era,' there were so many players who were involved in this kind of activity. As the years go by, we're finding out about more and more of those. It's sad to say, but we can't be surprised any more."

Verducci added: "I think baseball and the union have done a very good job getting their handle on this problem. Listen, they'll never be able to fully eradicate drugs from the game. Just not the nature when you're dealing with competitive people, and when chemistry continues to develop to avoid testing. But the fact is, we are miles away from where we were, even going back to 2003."

Punishment for positive testing is much more severe now than it was in 2003, and it had appeared that MLB was getting over a tarnished hump.

However, Verducci said, "at least publicly this does pull baseball back into the vortex of steroids, and that as a public issue."

The revelations come at a time when baseball's focus on drugs has concerned Barry Bonds and the legal maneuvering leading to the start of his trial March 2. The government is trying to prove the home run king lied when he told a grand jury he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs.

[BradyJ201]

I am really getting fed up on all of the steroid allegations and accusations going on in professional sports now-a-days (especially professional baseball). What really makes me mad, also, is how articles like these seem to consider steroids a part of sports. Need I remind them that steroids are just a fancy way of saying "cheating?" Although Alex Rodriguez has done many great things in the past, his legacy and reputation are both on the cutting board for the rest of his not-so-credible career. However, in A-Rod's defense, articles like these do not do a great job of explaining the other 103 members on "the list" of other steroid users. Because of A-Rod's successful career, he is automatically singled out. In my eyes, this is not fair of reporters to do. Treat everyone the same. Hopefully, stricter punishments for guilty steroid users will become much, much harsher, and articles like these will not need to be written in the future.

[jljames4]

Although it would be easier, I don?t think it is right to accept steroids as an unavoidable part of modern sports. The WADA banned the use of several steroids years ago so they are obviously against the rules. I understand that the competition in baseball, all sports for that matter, is intense but steroids are only a quick way to get a leg up. If you have to cheat and chemically enhance yourself to be better than your opponents then you probably deserve the consequences when you?re caught. You tarnish your own reputation; cause the media to question your peers? accomplishments, and the integrity of the game itself. Whoever leaked names of those players tested positive in those anonymous drug tests by the government broke their deal. It may not be fair to the athletes to get caught in that manner, but they shouldn?t have taken the steroids to begin with so I don?t feel too badly for them. If they are willing to risk their health and career just to cheat, then that?s their choice but it?s ethically wrong and should somehow be put to an end.

[swin5]

Say it ain''t so, Joe - say it ain''t so!

And to pdx007 - before you comment on something, shouldn''t you read it first?

[barbaram99]

They must be. The stars let their fans down, They think it won''t hurt or they won''t get caught..They do. The dream jobs have a dirty secret they try to hide..Clean house with them all, They wrote their ticket..If they are barred from the hall of fame..Others should mot pull the same to get there.

[patrik1974]

Rodriguez, like Bonds and McGwire are/were elite ball players, and to retain their status over those with inferior talents who used steroids, they need use them too. While, I believe these players acted apprehensible but their action were enabled by the inaction of MLB. MLB did nothing to curtail this behavior, instead rejoice at the new crowd drawing results of this behavior, the Home Run race. Now, I find it horrifying, that McGwire is being denied entry into the Hall because of his actions, as he, along with Rodriguez and Bonds, played by the standard presented and expected by fans, sport writers and the MLB.

While, I do think these elite players should be elected to the Hall, I believe the records they set, should be placed into content and noted with asterisks.

Food for thought, many are condemning Athletes for using performance enhancing drugs, but why don%u2019t you have the same negative reaction for the movie stars, CEOs, Musicians, etc who also use drugs, drug some would say also are performance enhancing?

[honestabe8]

Barbara: Perhaps. The makers of these drugs seem to always be one step ahead of those policing it.

[barbaram99]

I had no role models in the foster homes..My heores were yes space men,and base ball players. I was used for the money..I had poor role models..Any way yer right it should br mum/dad..It is not but some star..''My scool teachers were , They booted Pete Rose out and he bet on the game,,it not ok to use drugs in order to play better and lie about it. They know better. They will clean it up..

[honestabe8]

gr8: not to mention that the company who dropped Phelps as an endorser had no problem with his DUI.

[gr82bcn]

It seem strange that a proven history of cheating is to be ignored for this hot shot but Micheal Phelps gets castrated for just a picture of him smoking a bong.
Some thing is wrong with our society.

[wvu74621]

Why are''nt they listing the names of the other 103 players on the list?

[honestabe8]

BarbaraM99: Why should they leave the game? It is a paycheck (a very good one at that). How many people stay working for the money? I do. Do you? If not, why not leave your job and find something you love to do? And, this role model thing...parents are role models, not strangers.

[barbaram99]

I still love baseball. The players are not not only hurting themselves but kid look up to them as role models..When they abuse their bodies - sends the wrong message. Ye really don''t love the game..It is is greed of money..If yer heart is not in baseball -hang up yer uniform and leave the game. Saw A-Rod when he played in Seattle..

[tincup356]

I guess the message from corporate America is that it is ok to bribe and steal via the lobby dollar,,,and it is ok to taint our foods with poisons.....but if we people use any kind of drug by our own choice,,,we are shameful and criminal......Is this what we call freedom of choice?

[tincup356]

Some shock...the highest paid baseball player is dirty.

Sheesh...

Posted by exusmcsgt at 05:10 PM : Feb 08, 2009,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Seems like the highest paid on wall street were dirty too,,,,,imagine that!

[tincup356]

Athletes on steroids ,or politicians taking bribe or lying,,,why would ANY actions by either party be a surprise?......Both groups are filled with egotistical greedy people who would not give a common citizen the time of day,,,,,on the ladder of worth in life ,,,both these groups of people belong at the bottom with the scum of the earth.

[exusmcsgt]

Some shock...the highest paid baseball player is dirty.

Sheesh...

[honestabe8]

tucson: i agree. stats are there for hype.

[honestabe8]

czymeat1: you must remember that truthislife1 speaks for the almighty through a book written by bronze age sheepherdes. after all, what could be more relevant to the 21st century than that?

[andrewsac]

So...Michael Phelps is losing sponsors, but Gilette is still sticking with A-Rod? Nice.

[tucson23]

Records aren''t to be taken seriously anyway, because sports is entertainment. The people that own and run sports leagues want to make money by entertaining people, and that''s all. Keeping stats on that is a little like paying on opera singer by how many times they''ve sung a particular aria. People need to stop acting like baseball stats are important pieces of history which should be remembered like the outcomes of wars. Once fans put baseball in the same perspective that players and owners do, that it''s a money-making entertainment operation, then no one will care nearly as much about HOW they''re being entertained, and will focus on whether they ARE being entertained.