NEW YORK — A new, unflattering biography of Alex Rodriguez says he might have used steroids as early as high school and even after he joined the Yankees.
Rodriguez admitted in February to using steroids while with the Rangers from 2001-03, but insisted he stopped before he was traded to the Yankees in February 2004. He brushed off a question Thursday about details from Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts’ upcoming book “A-Rod” that cast doubt on his earlier statements.
“I’m not going there,” he said after homering in an extended spring-training intrasquad game in Tampa, Fla. Rodriguez has been rehabbing from hip surgery in March and hasn’t played for the Yankees this season.
“I’m just so excited about being back on the field and playing baseball,” he said. “My team has won two games (in a row) up there and hopefully I can come back and help them win some more.”
The Daily News reported Roberts’ book portrays the three-time AL MVP as a needy personality who wanted his ego stroked constantly and a player who tipped opponents to pitches in blowout games, hoping the favor would get returned someday.
A high school teammate of Rodriguez’s told Roberts that the future No. 1 draft pick was on steroids as a prep player and his coach knew it — an allegation the coach, Rich Hofman, denied.
“What would be alarming is if somebody didn’t work and got a lot bigger,” Hofman said. “But the fact is, he was the hardest-working guy around.”
But, Hofman said it would be “far-fetched” to say that he kept track of his star player’s every movement.
In the book, an unidentified major- leaguer is quoted as saying Rodriguez and former Yankees pitcher Kevin Brown, who was named in the Mitchell report on performance-enhancing drug use, were seen together with human growth hormone in 2004.
Rodriguez could rejoin the Yankees in Baltimore from May 8-10.
Footnotes.
Red Sox right-hander John Smoltz, recovering from shoulder surgery last June, will be shut down for a week, manager Terry Francona said.
• Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton (rib cage muscle) is expected to remain out of lineup until at least next week.
• The Dodgers recalled right-hander Jeff Weaver from Triple-A Albuquerque, optioned infielder Blake DeWitt to their Pacific Coast League club and activated right-hander Cory Wade (shoulder). The Associated Press
