The revelation has caused seismic shockwaves that have reverberated beyond baseball and throughout the entire sports world for several reasons: A-Rod was considered an extremely marketable athlete with boundless potential who happened to play for arguably the nation’s premier sports franchise. He was publicly endorsed by baseball and the media as the more desirable heir apparent to Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record; A-Rod was viewed much more favorably to the ornery anti-hero, Barry Bonds, who currently holds the record. Thirdly and most importantly, the results of that 6-year-old test were supposed to be sealed by a court order and never made public under any circumstances. How the results landed in the hands of a reporter has yet to be determined. And why the Major League Baseball Players Association didn’t destroy the 2003 test results before the feds could come after them is another perplexing question.
Sports Illustrated magazine first broke the news that four independent sources have confirmed that A-Rod, the record-breaking third baseman for the Yankees, is but the latest of transcendent baseball megastars to have concrete evidence surface against them that they tested positive for illicit substances six years ago. A-Rod joins Bonds and seven-time Cy Young pitcher Roger Clemons as sure-fire, first-ballot Hall of Famers to be tainted by the steroids scandal that has sullied America’s pastime. Bonds, a seven-time MVP, is scheduled to go on trial soon for lying to a grand jury about knowingly taking steroids, while Clemons is being investigated by the Justice Department, which is trying to determine whether he perjured himself on Capitol Hill about his unequivocal denial of steroids use.
Rodriguez will not subject to prosecution, however, even if the reports of his steroid use are true. A-Rod denied using steroids in an interview with Katie Couric, not of in front of a grand jury or before Congress, as Bonds and Clemons have. Yet, A-Rod’s reputation, which was damaged by former manager Joe Torre’s book, The Yankee Years, that paints A-Rod as “A-Fraud” and of being jealous of his superstar teammate, Derek Jeter, has perhaps been damaged beyond repair with the reports of his steroid use. –terry shropshire
