A-Rod’s Non-Admission Admission

“You know, one thing I’m learning as I get older, and hopefully a little wiser, is that honesty, the truth will set you free.” – Alex Rodríguez, Feb. 9, 2009.

Alex Rodríguez is guilty of being stupid and naïve, he told ESPN’s Peter Gammons today.

He says he doesn’t know what, exactly, he put in his body that triggered a positive test for testosterone and the steroid Primobolan. He says he doesn’t know who gave it to him. He says he didn’t even know he failed a steroid test until Sports Illustrated’s Selena Roberts—more on her below—told him about it on Thursday.

Rodríguez said he discontinued his steroid use after suffering a severe neck injury in Spring Training in 2003, but he reportedly failed the test during the 2003 season. It was after that season that Major League Baseball began drug testing players with disciplinary ramifications.

At least Rodríguez copped to it, which is more than one can say about Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens. He could have denied the report, or he could have said that whatever triggered the positive test he took unwittingly. He took responsibility. Just not for everything.

He says he knew what he was taking was illegal—though he wouldn’t use that word, citing the “culture” in baseball at the time—but he doesn’t know what it was. That’s pretty difficult to believe.

But last offseason, Rodríguez sat down with Katie Couric on “60 Minutes.” Couric asked him a direct question: Had he ever used steroids, human-growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing drug? Rodríguez answered unequivocally: “No.”

Gammons asked him today: “You were asked if you ever used steroids, human growth hormones or other performance-enhancing substances. You said no, flat-out no. In your mind, that wasn’t a lie?”

Rodríguez’s answer revealed just how detached from reality he remains: “At the time, Peter, I wasn’t even being truthful with myself. How am I going to be truthful with Katie or CBS? Today, I’m here to tell the truth, and I feel good about that. I think my fans deserve that. I’m ready to put everything behind me and go play baseball. You know, we have a great team this year. I couldn’t be more excited about the guys that we've brought in, Mark Teixeira, A. J. Burnett and CC Sabathia. It’s an important time in my life to turn the page and focus on what’s next.”

He also, bizarrely, accused Roberts of harassing him and his family, a charge Roberts, in a statement, called “absurd.” Rodríguez said, “I mean, what makes me upset is that Sports Illustrated pays this lady, Selena Roberts, to stalk me. This lady has been thrown out of my apartment in New York City. This lady has five days ago just been thrown out of the University of Miami police for trespassing. And four days ago she tried to break into my house where my girls are up there sleeping, and got cited by the Miami Beach police. I have the paper here. This lady is coming out with all these allegations, all these lies because she's writing an article for Sports Illustrated and she's coming out with a book in May.”

SI and Roberts responded quickly. Roberts, in a statement, said, “The allegations made by Alex Rodríguez are absurd. I’ve never set foot in the lobby of Alex’s New York apartment building, never spoken to the University of Miami police, and never set foot on his home property or been cited by the Miami Police for doing so.”

Forgive your humble diarist if he believes a respected former New York Times sports columnist over Rodríguez, who has every reason to lie, and everything to hide. After all, he has been hiding and lying about his steroid use from the public for at least eight years.

To be sure, Rodríguez’s admission today is a start. It’s better than most of the more narcissistic players have done. But, beyond the surface, a lot of what Rodríguez said today rings hollow.