As we edge ever closer to pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, it’s a relatively quiet time in Major League Baseball. Sure, the best hitter on the free agent market remains unsigned, but there don’t seem to be many suitors for him. Anyway, it’s fair to state that early February, right after the Super Bowl, is sort of a lull period where not much happens in sports, with the exception of the fantastic NBA All-Star Weekend.
Oh, and maybe this SI report:
In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated.
Rodriguez’s name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball’s ’03 survey testing, SI’s sources say. As part of a joint agreement with the MLB Players Association, the testing was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004.
When approached by an SI reporter on Thursday at a gym in Miami, Rodriguez declined to discuss his 2003 test results. “You’ll have to talk to the union,” said Rodriguez, the Yankees’ third baseman since his trade to New York in February 2004. When asked if there was an explanation for his positive test, he said, “I’m not saying anything.”
In case you forgot:
The announcers asked Canseco directly: “Has A-Rod ever taken steroids”
Perhaps the most damaging news from the SI article is this bombshell:
Three major league players who spoke to SI said that Rodriguez was also tipped by Orza in early September 2004 that he would be tested later that month.
Just incredible.
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