Baseball's richest player as a New York Yankees superstar, Rodrigues' admission comes two days after Sports Illustrated magazine's website reported "A-Rod" had tested positive for steroids in 2003
Major League Baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez admitted on Monday that he took performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers from 2001 through 2003.
Rodriguez, baseball's richest player as a New York Yankees superstar, made the admission to the ESPN television network two days after Sports Illustrated magazine's website reported "A-Rod" had tested positive for steroids in 2003.
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"I did take a banned substance. For that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful," Rodriguez said.
A 12-time All-Star whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez was traded from Texas to the Yankees in 2004, three years into a then record 10-year contract worth 252 million dollars.
"I had just signed this enormous contract," Rodriguez said. "I felt like I needed something, a push, without over-investigating what I was taking, to get me to the next level."
The shame of Rodriguez, who inked a record 10-year deal with the Yankees in 2007 worth 275 million dollars, follows upon doping links by several top stars and sparked President Barack Obama to comment upon the situation's sadness.
"It's depressing news on top of what has been a flurry of depressing items when it comes to Major League Baseball," Obama said at a news conference, adding the new admission "tarnishes an entire era to some degree".
There was sympathy for Rodriguez, however, from the Yankees, a team which has faced steroid confessions before, notably pitcher Andy Pettitte last year and slugger Jason Giambi before that
"We urged Alex to be completely open, honest and forthcoming in addressing his use of performance enhancing drugs. We take him at his word that he was," the club said in a statement.
"Although we are disappointed in the mistake he spoke to today, we realize that Alex - like all of us - is a human being not immune to fault."
Rodriguez said he took steroids from the time he started playing for the Rangers through 2003, when he was the American League Most Valuable Player.
"When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure, felt all the weight of the world on top of me to perform, and perform at a high level every day," Rodriguez said.
"Back then, (there) was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naive. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time."
Instead, Rodriguez joined a list of shamed stars whose feats have been clouded by doping accusations, one that includes US all-time home run king Barry Bonds and star pitcher Roger Clemens. Bonds faces a perjury trial next month for lying to a grand jury when he said he did not take performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens is being investigated for possibly lying under oath to US lawmakers when saying he was clean.
"I'm just going to have a blanket cloud over my career, but it feels really good coming out and being completely honest," Rodriguez said. "I've learned as I've gotten older and a little wiser is that the truth will set you free. I've been stupid. I've grown up. Until you have that monkey off your back, it's hard to be that person you know you can be. It's hard to realize your potential."
Living down to critics who dubbed him "A-Fraud", Rodriguez said he hopes he will be judged on his non-steroid seasons when it comes time to consider him among the game's greatest legends. "I hope people give it time and realise this was three years I'm not proud of, but judge me on prior Texas and post-Texas. I have nine years left in my career that I think I can do some very special things."
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