This wasn’t supposed to happen. Alex Rodriguez was going to restore sanctity to the all-time home-run record, turning Barry Bonds into a joyless asterisk. Only 33, armed with 553 home runs, “A-Rod” sat five, perhaps six seasons away from eclipsing Bonds’ suspicion-drenched 762 blasts.
Now everything’s different.
Like Bonds, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Roger Clemens before him, Rodriguez was pinned Saturday with a scarlet letter as Sports – alleged that the Yankees third baseman tested positive for steroids in 2003 during anonymous survey testing.
Rodriguez, the game’s highest-paid player with a 10-year, $275 million contract, declined to comment, referring to the union.
“Information and documents relating to the results of the 2003 MLB testing program are both confidential and under seal by court orders,” the players association said in a statement. “We are prohibited from confirming or denying any allegation about the test results of any particular player(s) by the collective bargaining agreement and by court orders.”
In a 2007 interview with CBS’s Katie Couric, Rodriguez denied ever using steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance. He said he was never tempted.
“I have always been in a very strong, dominant position. And I felt that if I did my work as I have done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level. So, no, (there was no temptation),” Rodriguez said.
That makes Saturday’s revelation anything from a potential “Gotcha” moment to a Hall of Fame-candidacy-destroying allegation at best.
Rodriguez, a three-time American League MVP, has long been a polarizing force despite his stunning accomplishments.
The Denver Post spoke to several former and active players Saturday regarding Rodriguez’s situation. While almost all were reluctant to speak on the record because of the sensitivity of the story, their reactions fell into two camps. They weren’t shocked — a reflection of a sport that has seen many stars embroiled in doping scandals over the past decade — but also sympathized with Rodriguez for being singled out.
According to the report by Selena Roberts and David Epstein, Rodriguez tested positive for the anabolic steroid Primobolan and testosterone. He was one of 104 players who tested positive in 2003 when anonymous tests were conducted to determine whether Major League Baseball would implement mandatory drug tests in 2004.
Rodriguez won AL MVP honors in 2003, hitting 47 home runs.
“How can they put his name to the test if it was anonymous?” said Astros pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, a teammate of Rodriguez’s last season in New York. “They have been trying to put this on him since Day One, it seems. I have seen him and can defend his work ethic. I believe only the man upstairs really knows the truth.”
Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball’s executive vice president of labor relations, said he was disturbed by the allegations but offered no further insight as to how Rodriguez was identified.
“Because the survey testing took place in 2003 was intended to be nondisciplinary and anonymous, we cannot make any comment on the accuracy of this report,” Manfred said.
A former Rockies player in 2003, without defending Rodriguez, fumed over the idea that names were attached to the tests. Had this report been about a pedestrian major- leaguer, no one would have blinked. The public has grown numb to baseball players accused of cheating, highlighted by the December 2007 release of the Mitchell Report that named 89 players who are alleged to have used performance-enhancing drugs, including Bonds and Clemens.
Rodriguez has so much to lose because of his status. He has averaged 42 home runs a year in his first 13 full seasons. Even with a dip for aging, he stands as a legitimate threat to Bonds’ home-run mark by about 2013.
Even if Rodriguez passes Bonds, the steroid claims will be difficult to overcome. McGwire has provided a road map for disgraced sluggers. Accused of using performance-enhancing drugs by former teammate Jose Canseco and ridiculed for his testimony in front of Congress in 2005, McGwire received just 21.9 percent of the vote in his second year on the Hall of Fame ballot. A player must receive 75 percent to be enshrined.
Like Rodriguez, McGwire’s alleged use occurred before baseball implemented testing or punishment. That distinction, however, could ring hollow with the public.
Rodriguez was going to make people forget Bonds. Now, he faces the possibility of being forever linked to him.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
