A-Rod calls himself a 'jackass' for PED use
It's been more than a year since Alex Rodriguez last suited up in a major-league uniform, but his use of performance-enhancing drugs is still weighing on him.
The 42-year-old recently appeared on "Undeniable with Joe Buck," where he admitted he used PEDs to help recover from injury so he could make good on the $275-million contract to which the Yankees re-signed him.
"Obviously it wasn’t (about) performance. I had six (actually seven) home runs (in 2013). I was awful, right? After having two hip surgeries, I just wanted to get back on the field and give the Yankees their money’s worth,” Rodriguez told Buck, according to Christian Red of the New York Daily News. "I just needed to do anything … It was my responsibility to the fan base, to management, to ownership to get out there and play. I was in too much pain. I couldn’t play. That doesn’t give you an excuse to break the rules.
"I made a mistake and I paid a penalty."
Rodriguez was suspended 211 games - which was eventually reduced to 162 - for his involvement in the Biogenesis doping scandal. He called the scandal, which cost him nearly $40 million in legal fees, the worst moment of his career.
"There’s so many frustrating things when you look back at that. Number one, you have a guaranteed contract for hundreds of millions of dollars. Literally you can sit on the couch and get fat. How stupid can you be? In the time of the whole Biogenesis, in my 23-year career, it was by far the worst year of my career," Rodriguez said. "I think I had six home runs (actually seven in 2013). This thing cost me over $40 million, cost me my reputation, and it may have cost me the Hall of Fame and a number of other things.
"I remember sitting there at night, at four or five o’clock in the morning - I probably did this 100 times - and I would look up with tears and say, ‘How the f--- did I get myself in this position?’ I’m the only jackass that has pocket aces and figures out a way to lose the hand."
Rodriguez, who hit 696 career home runs, is providing postseason analysis for FOX Sports.