Poll: Little Support For Alex Rodriguez

(CBS)  New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez, who recently admitted to using a banned performance-enhancing substance between 2001 and 2003, is viewed negatively by more than 4 in 10 baseball fans, a new CBS News/New York Times survey finds.

Just 17 percent of fans surveyed hold favorable views of Rodriguez. Another 27 percent are undecided, while 10 percent say they haven't heard enough to make a determination.

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Full CBS Poll On Steroids

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Despite Rodriguez's impressive numbers - he is the youngest player ever to hit 500 home runs in his career - more fans think he should not be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame than think he should.

Forty-four percent say Rodriguez should be kept out of the Hall Of Fame, while 36 percent say he should be eligible; an additional 20 percent don't know.

The revelation that Rodriguez and other baseball players used steroids seems to be weighing heavily on the minds of fans. Sixty percent say they care "a lot" about steroid use in baseball, up from 53 percent in March of last year. Twenty-three percent care "a little," while just nine percent don't care at all.

Fans do not, however, believe that steroid use is widespread. Just 15 percent say most players use banned performance-enhancing substances, while 22 percent say half of the players use them. A majority of those surveyed - 57 percent - think just a quarter or a few use the drugs.

And they appear to be more tolerant of steroid use than they once were. Two years ago - not long after San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who had long been embroiled in a steroids scandal, broke the all-time home run record - half of fans surveyed thought proven steroid users should have their achievements stripped from the record books.

(CBS)

Today, however, just one in three fans feels that way. Forty-seven percent feel that the records should be kept with a note indicating steroids use; 18 percent say the records should be kept as they are for any other player.

The most popular baseball player today is Rodriguez's teammate Derek Jeter, who was volunteered by 12 percent of fans as their favorite. The next most popular players, each volunteered by three percent of fans, are Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Ken Griffey Jr.

Thirty-two percent of Americans call themselves baseball fans. Fourteen-percent of all Americans say they are "very interested" in the game, while 18 percent are "somewhat interested."

Men are more likely to be fans - 40 percent say they are - than women, 26 percent of whom are fans.

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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,112 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone February 18-22 2009. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for baseball fans is five points.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

[enriquecaliente]

How about we lay the blame on the people who actually allowed this to happen. Where were the Owners, GM's, Coaches, and Trainers and sports writers and journalist. They all had access to the clubs houses. And not one of them said a damn word.

Why GREED on both sides of the fence.

As long as the performance of the players filled the seats, sold the magazines, and gave the sports shows on TV and radio highlights and fodder, no one, not one of the above mentioned people said a word.

THEY ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE BROUGHT DISGRACE TO BASEBALL.

Other then performance, what do the athletes have to offer. All they have is what God gave them. Steroids do not make a home run hitter. You must have the hand and eye coordination to get the bat to the ball. Steroids do give you power. You can have all the power in the world, but if you don't have the ability to get the bat to the ball, they do nothing for you.

[toolmangler-2009]

I doubt that there is a poster here that would not give their right 'gonad' to be in A-Rods shoes today. Yes he has let us down, what person hasn't in one way or another. he is human (not GOD). If you want someone to perform in a certain manner, set rules and be consistant in the implementation of them, Dont applaud Bonds and castigate A-Rod or Giambi or any one else. Physical fitness use to mean sweat and aches, If that is what people want, make the rules spell it out and make 'NO' exceptions. Quit your bellyachin' and do something, its too late to point fingers, the horse mis already out of the barn.

[cmc1227]

A-Fraud, LOL
How about A-Roid?

His EX-wife wasn't that bad but I can't believe he hit up that nasty Madonna skank. Then lost his wife and family over it.

[cmc1227]

[Just 17 percent of fans surveyed hold favorable views of Rodriguez. Another 27 percent are undecided, while 10 percent say they haven?t heard enough to make a determination. ]

what about all the rest ... don't care?
Posted by bobnjersey

Dude? Somebody went through all that trouble to make that little pie graph above in the story and you didn't even notice it. C'mon, I hope you at least read the story before commenting. Ah Dude! You're like the rest of the people on here, read the headline and first paragraph and then make a bogus comment. Try harder next time Dude!

[bobnjersey]

[Just 17 percent of fans surveyed hold favorable views of Rodriguez. Another 27 percent are undecided, while 10 percent say they haven?t heard enough to make a determination. ]

what about all the rest ... don't care?