Issue date: 4/7/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: File Photo [Click to enlarge]

Before Sports Illustrated broke the news Feb. 7, some baseball fans were convinced New York Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez was the savior of the game.

Some baseball fans thought he would break Barry Bonds' all-time home run record without using steroids or other illegal performance enhancers. Going into the 2009 season, Rodriguez trailed Bonds by 209 home runs.

But the world of baseball was sent into "darkness" when Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts and David Epstein claimed Rodriguez was one of 104 Major League Baseball players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.

For college baseball players who look up to and aspire to be like those making millions of dollars, it was a shock.

"A-Rod was one of those players that we all had no doubt that he wasn't taking steroids," said Texas A&M junior pitcher Travis Starling. "He was kind of the poster child of the perfect baseball player. He worked hard. He showed up every day and he played hard every day and he produced good numbers off of purely his talent and his work ethic, and now we are being told that he did take steroids. So for me individually, as a baseball player, and as someone who enjoys the game of baseball, it is still a shock to me."

Rodriguez admitted taking steroids to ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons in an interview Feb. 10. He told Gammons he took a performance-enhancing drug while he was playing for the Texas Rangers from 2001 to 2003.

"I think when it's admitted, you get it out of the way," said A&M junior infielder Brodie Greene. "People are obviously not going to forget it. You admitted it, and you came out and told your side and that helps you. That's why I think Bonds and [Roger] Clemens are going to end up hurting themselves in the long run because they are just denying it. I guess they are innocent until proven guilty. I feel that they are on the guilty side but haven't really admitted it yet."

On March 9, Rodriguez had successful arthroscopic hip surgery and was expected to return to the field in two months. After Rodriguez admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs, he disappeared from the national eye, but that does not mean other baseball players have forgotten.

"If you're at that level of athlete, you know exactly what goes into your body. At the same time, I know it doesn't make it right, but there are a lot of guys that are cheating," said Texas A&M senior center fielder Kyle Colligan. "A-Rod is still the greatest hitter. You have to hit the ball still, even though he was taking
performance-enhancing drugs, but at the same time, it isn't right and it definitely cheats the game and takes the purity out of the game. I don't think there should be an asterisk next to anything that he has done in his career because he is still the greatest player playing right now."

With the recent revelations, fans do not know which players to trust and players that people did trust are being revealed as users. ESPN's Tim Kurkjian said baseball has dark days ahead as the other 103 names become known over time.

"When somebody you look up to growing up playing and it's the guy that admits to taking steroids, you are kind of taken back and hurt by it," Greene said. "The fact that he used, it hurts you as a player yourself, knowing that you have never used anything."

Career home run leaders
1. Barry Bonds, 762
2. Hank Aaron, 755
3. Babe Ruth, 714
4. Willie Mays, 660
5. Ken Griffey Jr., 611
12. Alex Rodriguez, 553
Bold denotes active player

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