Selena Roberts’ much hyped book, A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez, was released May 4. The New York Times had already reported that Major League Baseball began investigating Rodriguez shortly after meeting with MLB officials on March 1. According to the Times, MLB “heightened” its investigation when learning that allegations in the book contradicted what Rodriguez had told them. Roberts said she was contacted by MLB as part of their investigation but declined to cooperate.
“I said that as a journalist, I cover MLB, and cooperating with them on this would be a conflict of interest, and he said that he understood the position that I am in.”
These are the claims that likely have drawn the attention of MLB.
- An unnamed former teammate said Rodriguez began using steroids in high school
- Rodriguez’s teammates noticed side-effects of steroid use, specifically rapid weight gain and Gynecomastia, before the 2005 season with the Yankees
- A unnamed MLB player witnessed Rodriguez and former Yankee, Kevin Brown, with HGH at Yankee Stadium
- Banned trainer, Angel Presinal, may have been involved with Rodriguez’s use of PED’s
Rodriguez has refused to comment thus far, as has commissioner, Bud Selig. Some of those associated with Rodriguez in high school have come to his defense however. Doug Mientkiewicz, who played with Rodriguez in high school, is certain Rodriguez was clean.
“From my perspective, it would be 99.9% impossible for us not to know,”
“You’re basically accusing every kid that’s gone through puberty that they’re on steroids too, huh? He gained a couple of inches height-wise too, if I remember right… I knew what he looked like in ninth grade. He was skinny. Who isn’t in ninth grade? He was very dedicated back then, he worked harder than anyone else.”
Former coach, Rich Hoffman, told the Associated Press that he too doesn’t believe Rodriguez used in high school.
“What would be alarming is if somebody didn’t work and got a lot bigger. But the fact is, he was the hardest-working guy around. No reason to be alarmed. I was in the weight room, I was in the classroom, I was in the field every day that he was there. And the work ethic was definitely there.”
Roberts acknowledged that some of her information was circumstantial, but defended her assertions from the book.
“I’ve talked to players who say he was using in high school, but if you want to discard that, you look at the physical evidence,” she told the AP. “You look at a player who by his own coach’s account was unrecognizable his junior year because his body had changed so much. Scouts didn’t recognize him. In his sophomore year he could barely bench press 100 pounds. By his junior year, he was bench pressing 300 pounds.”
