From Mark Hale (NY Post):
Derek Jeter said Alex Rodriguez should be given a chance to address allegations he used steroids before passing judgment.”You have to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Jeter told reporters today at the Yankees’ training complex.
“My initial reaction is, let him respond,” Jeter said. “Give him the respect to respond to it before you pass judgment.”
Sports Illustrated reported Saturday that Rodriguez tested positive for two steroids in 2003 while a member of the Texas Rangers.
“Yeah, of course, everybody was shocked by it,” Jeter said. “You’ve got to find out both sides of the story before you make any assessment.”
I think Jeter’s response was fine and appropriate. He also said that you should not expect his name to be on the list of 104 players who tested positive in 2003.
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5 Responses to Jeter defends A-Rod (again)
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TIQ IQ
Thank god for that. It seems that Derek has finally come to terms with what he needs to do as captain.
There’s also this bit from Posada:
“I’ve gotta say Alex is my teammate and is gonna be my friend forever,” Posada said. “I’m gonna support him any way I can.”
And this about whether or not he thought he’d be on the list:
“I hope not. I think I’ve done things right,” Posada said.
One thing we haven´t talked about is how pissed some borderline HOF players that didn´t take steriods feel right now about their numbers because they played against unfair competition.
For example Moose. His numbers could look a lot better is he´d pitched against non-steriods hitters that took away some wins and scored more runs on him. How about Posada? His numbers as a hitting catcher would be a lot better. And hitters like McGriff? Think about it. It´s not only Bonds, Clemens, McGwire or Arod not making the HOF, it´s all those players that their numbers suffered from playing in this era.
The thing is, I’m starting to have doubts about everybody. I read somewhere today that some pitcher admitted tking steroids in the 70′s, as did Steelers of that era. Who is to know whether anyone over the last 35 years was clean. That’s why I think punishing those who had the temerity to get caught is silly.
That’s been discussed in several different baseball discourses Chofo, but to take it a step further, think about all the clean career minor leaguers who never made it to the big leagues because so many of their peers were juicing and consequently having sustained major league “success.”