duncan228
02-09-2009, 11:52 PM
Texas dirty as A-Rod comes clean (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/buck_harvey/Texas_dirty_as_A-Rod_comes_clean.html)
Buck Harvey
As liars go, Alex Rodriguez is a smart one.
He said what he should have said Monday. He didn't deny. He apologized. He called himself names.
Roger Clemens would be an acceptable human today had he opted to do the same.
Rodriguez also didn't fudge, as Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte had before. In doing so, Rodriguez became the first to say he got caught up in the culture, which is the most honest account anyone has given.
But, today, it's the residence of this culture that is in the crosshairs.
While Rodriguez looks better, baseball in Arlington, Texas, does not.
Rodriguez made several statements in his interview Monday with ESPN that were inconsistent. When asked why Yankees fans will come around to embrace him, for example, Rodriguez said: “New Yorkers love honesty. And they love great players who know how to win.”
And that helps him how?
His timeline of steroid use also is suspicious because, after all, he's lied before. He could have started shooting up in Seattle, before he got to Texas, and he could have shot up last week. There's no telling in this era.
Still, Rodriguez had reason to quit when he did in 2003, though it has nothing to do with what he said Monday. Then, he claimed he had an epiphany while lying in bed in Surprise, Ariz. He repeated the name of the town, as if the irony could be lost.
But if there's a surprise in this, it's that Rodriguez wasn't more realistic. He quit about the time baseball changed its rules; by 2004, those who failed a drug test would face suspension and ridicule.
For anyone who cares so much about image, the risk would have been too much.
So Rodriguez stopped when he should have, and he started similarly. Then, for a record amount of money, he signed to play for a team that one writer has called The Mitchell Report All-Stars.
The Yankees have their own formidable lineup of steroid names. Clemens-Pettitte-Giambi-Rodriguez makes for a murderer's row.
But the Rangers are the dynasty at this game. The franchise has won zero playoff series in its time in Texas, yet has become ground zero for steroids.
Rodriguez skirted that Monday. He said it would be “unfair” to say this was only going on in Texas.
True. But he also said he never even heard of the stuff in Seattle, yet within months, he was taking chemicals he says he can't name. Did he come across the stuff on his flight into D-FW or in the Rangers' clubhouse?
When Rodriguez arrived, Ivan Rodriguez was already there. Jose Canseco, a member of the Rangers seven years before, said he introduced I-Rod to a few vials of magic.
Joining Alex Rodriguez that spring in Texas was Ken Caminiti, the most tragic tale of steroids. Caminiti was released that summer, but Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro joined the team in 2002.
Why Texas? Maybe Canseco laid the foundation, and the players passed along what they knew. And maybe there was an element at play that encouraged them to find strength.
Alex Rodriguez said the heat was a factor. “Just to get out there and play every day,” he said.
No matter the explanation, baseball has never had such concentrated misuse in one franchise. Three Rangers combined to win four MVP trophies after 1996, and all have been linked to steroids.
The numbers were as striking when the Mitchell Report was released in 2007. Of the 75 active and former players named in the report, 16 had ties to the Rangers.
One name missing then? Alex Rodriguez. That's what caused Canseco to publicly wonder why.
Canseco knew, as did seemingly everyone else except for Rangers management. Tom Hicks, the owner, expressed his outrage Monday. But bodies were getting bigger, and balls were flying out of the park. The Rangers took on some — such as Caminiti and Gonzalez — who had all the traits.
What followed were bad teams with worse habits. And there was Alex Rodriguez on Monday, pinpointing precisely where baseball's disease had festered.
Sadly for the Rangers, this time Rodriguez was telling the truth.
Buck Harvey
As liars go, Alex Rodriguez is a smart one.
He said what he should have said Monday. He didn't deny. He apologized. He called himself names.
Roger Clemens would be an acceptable human today had he opted to do the same.
Rodriguez also didn't fudge, as Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte had before. In doing so, Rodriguez became the first to say he got caught up in the culture, which is the most honest account anyone has given.
But, today, it's the residence of this culture that is in the crosshairs.
While Rodriguez looks better, baseball in Arlington, Texas, does not.
Rodriguez made several statements in his interview Monday with ESPN that were inconsistent. When asked why Yankees fans will come around to embrace him, for example, Rodriguez said: “New Yorkers love honesty. And they love great players who know how to win.”
And that helps him how?
His timeline of steroid use also is suspicious because, after all, he's lied before. He could have started shooting up in Seattle, before he got to Texas, and he could have shot up last week. There's no telling in this era.
Still, Rodriguez had reason to quit when he did in 2003, though it has nothing to do with what he said Monday. Then, he claimed he had an epiphany while lying in bed in Surprise, Ariz. He repeated the name of the town, as if the irony could be lost.
But if there's a surprise in this, it's that Rodriguez wasn't more realistic. He quit about the time baseball changed its rules; by 2004, those who failed a drug test would face suspension and ridicule.
For anyone who cares so much about image, the risk would have been too much.
So Rodriguez stopped when he should have, and he started similarly. Then, for a record amount of money, he signed to play for a team that one writer has called The Mitchell Report All-Stars.
The Yankees have their own formidable lineup of steroid names. Clemens-Pettitte-Giambi-Rodriguez makes for a murderer's row.
But the Rangers are the dynasty at this game. The franchise has won zero playoff series in its time in Texas, yet has become ground zero for steroids.
Rodriguez skirted that Monday. He said it would be “unfair” to say this was only going on in Texas.
True. But he also said he never even heard of the stuff in Seattle, yet within months, he was taking chemicals he says he can't name. Did he come across the stuff on his flight into D-FW or in the Rangers' clubhouse?
When Rodriguez arrived, Ivan Rodriguez was already there. Jose Canseco, a member of the Rangers seven years before, said he introduced I-Rod to a few vials of magic.
Joining Alex Rodriguez that spring in Texas was Ken Caminiti, the most tragic tale of steroids. Caminiti was released that summer, but Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro joined the team in 2002.
Why Texas? Maybe Canseco laid the foundation, and the players passed along what they knew. And maybe there was an element at play that encouraged them to find strength.
Alex Rodriguez said the heat was a factor. “Just to get out there and play every day,” he said.
No matter the explanation, baseball has never had such concentrated misuse in one franchise. Three Rangers combined to win four MVP trophies after 1996, and all have been linked to steroids.
The numbers were as striking when the Mitchell Report was released in 2007. Of the 75 active and former players named in the report, 16 had ties to the Rangers.
One name missing then? Alex Rodriguez. That's what caused Canseco to publicly wonder why.
Canseco knew, as did seemingly everyone else except for Rangers management. Tom Hicks, the owner, expressed his outrage Monday. But bodies were getting bigger, and balls were flying out of the park. The Rangers took on some — such as Caminiti and Gonzalez — who had all the traits.
What followed were bad teams with worse habits. And there was Alex Rodriguez on Monday, pinpointing precisely where baseball's disease had festered.
Sadly for the Rangers, this time Rodriguez was telling the truth.