Yankees Third Baseman Alex Rodriguez reported to Spring Training today, and had to give a news conference where he confronted his use of banned substances. He gave an opening statement, and then he answered questions from the audience.
"The last couple of weeks have been difficult and emotional," A-Rod said, "on one hand, it's difficult to admit mistakes, but on the other hand, it feels good to be moving forward."
Good start, I thought. First he thanked his teammates, then went with the comment above. Now, we all know that we will not be moving forward with this today. This will stick around, at the least, for a couple of months. It may never go away. However, this was a difficult day for him and I thought that is a good way to start.
Also in his opening statement, he issued a few extra details we did not see in the Peter Gammons interview 8 days ago. He said that his cousin injected him with a substance called "boli" which he said was an "over the counter" drug from the Dominican Republic. He never gave reporters his cousin's name.
"It was his understanding that it would give me a dramatic energy boost and otherwise harmless," he said. "It was pretty evident that we didn't know what we were doing."
He stuck to his story from the Peter Gammons interview. He said he didn't know exactly what he was injecting into his body. He avoided one problem there. People won't be saying that he contradicted himself. However unlikely it is that he just didn't know, at least he didn't change his story. He said that his cousin said they were harmless, yet he was very secretive with it and didn't share it with anybody. That is going to be a big question coming out of this. "Why were you so secretive if you thought what you were doing was okay?" He was asked that during the Q&A and seemed unable to answer the question. He ended up saying that there are some things that you don't want to get out into public, and that this was just one of them. Not a great answer.
"We went without the team doctors, team trainers, just two guys doing it. I'm not even sure if we were doing it right."
Not very believable at all. I believe that he wasn't telling the doctors about it (obvious), but to not know if he was even doing it right, I mean, come on Alex! His cousin didn't explain anything to him? However, I guess if his cousin is just as stupid as he says he is then it isn't very surprising. I guess I could believe that. To a certain extent. I do believe his cousin exists, by the way. How much he was involved in this, or whether there were other people involved too, we may never know.
"I stopped taking it in 2003 and haven't taken it since. I stopped taking the substance for several reasons. In 2003, I had a serious neck injury and it scared me half to death. I was scared for my career and truly my career after baseball - my life after baseball. Secondly, after our voluntary test, all the players voted for a major league drug policy. At that time, it became evident to me how serious this all was, and I decided to stop then."
Now that, I believe! He gave us a good time frame, told us exactly when he stopped, and gave us good, detailed, believable answers as to why. I really liked this part of the opening statement.
"Since that time, I've been tested regularly. I've taken urine tests consistent with Major League Baseball and blood tests for the World Baseball Classic. Before I walked here today, I took a test as part of my physical, and I';; take another blood test next week for the Classic."
You don't really need to believe that, it's a fact. All players have been tested a lot since the new policy came to place.
"It isn't lost on me the good fortune I've received from playing baseball. When I entered the pros, I was a young kid - the major leagues. I was 18 years old, right out of high school. I thought I knew everything, and clearly I didn't. Like everyone else, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. The only way I know how to handle them is to learn from them and move forward. One thing I know is for sure is that baseball is a lot bigger than Alex Rodriguez."
"And to my teammates -"
"Thank you."
Well, thats the most of his opening statement. I thought it was pretty good. There was a little in there that was tough to believe. The fact that he didn't know what he was injecting into his body is really tough to believe. However, there was nothing in there that was absolutely terrible. I think it was a pretty good opening statement. As far as the way he answered the questions, that was his biggest problem. A couple questions just absolutely stumped him. I think it was a mixture of that he was wondering what to say to make the answer come off with the least suspicion, and that he just didn't know what the answer was, maybe for a number of reasons. A few questions he knew right away. The questions that stumped him usually resulted in 5-10 seconds of silence, and I think really hurt his press conference more than anything else. Overall, the opening statement I think was great, and the questions were mixed. The reactions he has been getting has been mixed as well. The Yankees continue to give him mostly praise and encouragement. Most other players also supported him. Cliff Lee, Grady Seizmore, Ryan Braun, and Angels Manager Mike Scioscia. Then there is the middle category, where most reporters are. I watched MLB Network after the conference, and they were all talking a bit more about the bad parts, about how he didn't know about what he was taking, and how they were upset because he kept going back to saying that he was "young" and "curious" and "stupid" and "naive." For all those excuses, I can believe curious and stupid, and, if his far-fetched idea that he didn't know what he was injected into his body is true, I can believe naive too. I can't believe young though. The reporters were right when they said that the "young" excuse could only take him so far. He was 25 years old, that isn't that young. So they were right on that. Anyway, they kept focusing on the bad parts on the interview, but, in the end when asked if it was a good day or bad day for A-Rod, they all said good. And then, you have the people who are giving him no sympathy at all. Roy Oswalt wants all his stats erased, as he said that A-Rod "cheated me out of the game." Lance Berkman said "I don't feel the least bit sorry for him." Cubs First Baseman Derrek Lee said "there should be zero tolerance." David Ortiz (Loser, I'm going to boo him twice as loud when I visit Yankee Stadium this season) suggested that he be suspended for a whole season. And also, a few reporters have been absolutely unfairly bashing him and giving him zero credit, but just pointing out every bad part of his interviews and making them 100 times worse. Overall, it's been pretty balanced to what the reaction to A-Rod has been across the baseball world. I would expect fans reactions would be balanced in a similar way.
So when you look at the overall way Alex Rodriguez has handled this situation, it certainly could be worse. He could have denied, denied, denied, and may have eventually found himself facing perjury charges like Roger Clemens. He went out and told the truth. Maybe not the whole truth, that is for others to decide, but he went out and told people he used steroids, went into pretty good detail, tried his best to explain himself, and sounded sorry and regretful. No matter how much of this you believe, you can at least see that he is sorry for what he did. The way he is talking, the way he sounds, the way his body language is, I honestly think he looks sorry and very regretful. The press conference could have been better, but it wasn't terrible. I don't think it hurts him in any way, I think this only helps him. Alex wants to move forward, he wants to get back to baseball, and he wants to win a championship!
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